Calling young artists: Kimball Art Center announces 2026 Wasatch Back Student Art Show

Student work at an exhibition. Photo: Kimball Art Center.

PARK CITY, Utah — Kimball Art Center is accepting submissions for the 2026 Wasatch Back Student Art Show, inviting K-12 students in Summit and Wasatch counties to explore the theme “Nature’s Wonders.”

The annual exhibition is open to all students in grades K-12 who reside in or attend public, private, charter or home schools in Summit and Wasatch counties. Students may submit one original artwork created during the 2025-26 school year.

The student exhibition will be presented alongside work by international artists exploring wonder and awe in the natural world, from microscopic details to the vastness of outer space.

Students are encouraged to consider questions such as what fills them with awe when outdoors, how nature changes through seasons, what patterns exist in the natural world and how being in nature makes them feel.

• What fills you with awe or wonder when you’re outside?
• What are some specific memories you have about being in nature?
• What are you curious about in the natural world? What do you want to learn more
  about?
• How does nature change through the seasons, or how do elements and landscapes
  shift over time and how can you show that in your art?
• What patterns or rhythms do you notice in the natural world (like waves, tree rings, or
• animal tracks)?
• How do plants, animals, and people depend on one another?
• What’s something in nature that seems tiny up close but huge in importance?
• What’s something in nature that feels endless or too big to fully understand?
• How can you show the power, beauty, or mystery of nature through your art?
• How does being in nature make you feel?

All media and artistic approaches are welcome.

If the center receives more submissions than the exhibition space can accommodate, artwork that aligns more closely with the theme will receive priority.

Two-dimensional work should be framed and wired for hanging. All artwork must be ready to exhibit and must represent the student’s original work.

Artwork must be dropped off at Kimball Art Center between Feb. 23 and March 8, 2026. Students must pick up their work between May 4 and May 17, or it will become the property of the center as of May 18.

Submission instructions can be found on the Kimball Art Center website. Forms require contact information for students, parents, or teachers to ensure artwork can be returned.