in 2021 we launched the Nova Institute Art Award to celebrate our relationship with the Nova Institute for Health of People, Places, and Planet. We invited any work that seeks to provoke or inspire change for the health of people, places, and planet!

Why we think this is important
CLOSED: NOVEMBER 15, 2021
Please send inquiries to thenovaprize@gmail.com
Creativity of all kinds is vital for our future. Artists challenge the status quo, provide inspiration, and help create new narratives. Through our art we hold a mirror to societies that we may better see ourselves, celebrate what is beautiful, and understand what is broken. Bringing the conversation directly to the heart helps us all feel connected to something bigger with greater kindness, love, and compassion. Creativity provides new perspectives and possibilities for change, a stronger sense of community, belonging, and shared purpose towards overcoming challenges at every scale. This is something that everyone can be part of…because we can all find joy in creating!

Inviting people of all ages and perspectives to share

Sharing creativity is also a special opportunity to invite children into important conversations about change and give voice to their hopes and imaginings for the future. This helps remind us all what is important, encourage authenticity, and break down barriers. It creates a place of respect and meaning where we can find fulfilling self-expression as well as shared solutions and mutual benefits with the health of all people, places, and planet in mind. 

Thank you to all the artists who submitted their creations!
The submissions in each category (below) have been compiled in the short videos below for you to enjoy!
Art Submissions: 12 years and under
Art Submissions: over 12 years
Photography

Award Winners (and judges comments)

General Art Award: (for ages 13 years and over).
  • First prize ($500): “Genius III” by Ava Carney
    “In this piece there is a delightfully playful juxtaposition of a whimsical figure within the lushness of nature.  Person and nature feel equally important and in harmony. The large eyes of the figure give an aura of quiet listening and mindful awareness of the surroundings, while the fronds of the ferns shelter, protect and embrace the figure. The kneeling posture of the figure suggests reverence, and the cradled bowl seems to represent both gathering, providing and sharing.”
  • Second prize ($250): “Heart of the Ocean” by Jane Walsh:
    “There is a dreaminess and graceful quality to the elements of this image that addresses the beauty and interconnectivity of people, place and planet.  The woman's expression as the light hits her face is of peacefulness and she exudes a sense of ease in her natural state. Her embrace of the natural world is gentle and the sea creatures glide from it in an elegant spiral up  around the globe that is both of the oceans and of the cosmos around it.” 
Young artists award: This category is especially for pre-teen children (12 and under).
  • ​​First prize ($100): Samuel Hsu - 6 years of age
    Really captures the relationship of people, place and planet.  The use of color vividly depicts the duality of a healthy and unhealthy planet.  The art materials are thoughtfully used to drive the narrative of story, like the scumbled smog or the color and movement in the trees. 
  • Second prize ($50): Eleanor Orrow 8 years of age
    A beautiful depiction of how the earth and people can be in harmony.  It shows how humans can live off of the land, interacting with it, only taking what they need. There is an equally thoughtful harmony to the people from all abilities, races and gender enjoying time with one another. 
Photographic Award (all ages):
  • First prize ($500): Tree Banks by George Kaplan
    “The abstract rendering of this photograph dramatically juxtaposes human versus nature, light versus dark, and technological versus organic.  The use of light feels both artificial and natural. The tree is lit as though in the headlights of a car, and yet it's as if there's an artificial backdrop of a sunset. The image is organic and natural in the structure and shapes of the tree, but the image quality is digital and feels almost synthetic.  The haunting glimpse of light and nature in a dense void of darkness transports us back and forth across these dualities”.
  • Second prize ($250): Turtle on the beach by Peter Hsu
    “This vibrant image speaks immediately of the beauty of nature.  However, as we look longer there is an also an unsettlingly ominous quality that emerges. Storm clouds loom overhead and the pink on the horizon seems too vibrant as if from some unnatural cause. The turtle on the beach looks still, almost defeated.  All around him, the footsteps in the sand are a messy reminder of the ever-presence of humans and our effects on the natural world.” 
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