Philly Student Artists Awarded in Green City, Clean Waters Contest

Winners from the K-2nd grade category celebrate along the Schuylkill with judge Tiffany Ledesma. Photo: Brian Rademaekers 

Dozens of budding artists from schools all over the city came out to the Fairmount Water Works to claim their prizes after taking top spots in our Green City, Clean Waters 2015 Art Contest, hosted by Philadelphia Water and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary (PDE).

Looking at the truly impressive quality of their work, it’s clear that Philadelphia Water is also a big winner this year. Thanks to the more than 1,300 students who took time to create posters and videos reflecting our “Only Rain Down the Storm Drain” theme, we now have tons of incredible art to help spread the word about protecting our watersheds.

“It was really tough for us to pick winners this year because there were just so many amazing submissions to pick from,”  Tiffany Ledesma, a judge for K-2nd grade entries and member of the Green City, Clean Waters public engagement team, told students and families at the April 28 ceremony.  

Winning students and their teachers from Germantown Friends School, Maritime Academy Charter School, C.C.A Baldi Middle School, St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, Archbishop Ryan High School, Philadelphia Center for Arts and Technology (PCAT) at Foundations, Inc. and Aspira, Inc. of Pennsylvania took home gift cards, a variety of art supplies for their schools, framed certificates, and a contest calendar featuring their artwork.

In addition to the calendar, the winning artwork was used to create street art and SEPTA advertisements that will be seen around the city in the coming months and help spread the word about keeping litter and pollutants off of our streets and out of our waterways. Winning videos were posted to Philadelphia Water’s Vimeo page  and shared on social media sites for Green City, Clean Waters and PDE.

Stop by the Water Works center next to the Philadelphia Museum of Art for a free copy of the calendar and check out the videos on the sites above. 

Congratulations to all the winners, and a big thank you to all the students who submitted work and helped get the Green City, Clean Waters message out! 

Click here to check out more photos from the awards ceremony.