Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, is inviting local high school students to submit art pieces for the annual Congressional Art competition. Submissions must be received by a local congressional office by 5 p.m. April 29.

According to Capps’ office, pieces must be two-dimensional, no larger than 30 inches by 30 inches to the outside dimensions of the frame and no more than 4 inches in depth. The winning artwork will hang in the Capitol for the entire year of the exhibition and cannot be returned to students earlier, so students should submit artwork they will not need for other purposes. Artwork categories include paintings (oil, acrylics, watercolor); drawings (pastels, colored pencil, pencil, charcoal, ink, markers); collage (must be two dimensional); prints (lithographs, silkscreen, block prints); mixed media (use of more than two mediums such as pencil, ink); computer-generated art; or photography. The contest is open to high school students in ninth, 10th, 11th or 12th grades.

Each entry must be an original in concept, design and execution, and may not violate any U.S copyright laws. Any entry that has been reproduced from an existing photo, painting, graphic, advertisement or any other work produced by another person is a violation of the competition rules and will not be accepted.

“I encourage all local students to consider submitting a piece of art work for our annual Congressional Art competition,” Capps said in a statement. “I love walking from my congressional office to the Capitol and getting to see our local piece of artwork. Visitors from throughout the Central and South Coasts and across the country admire this art every day and it is a point of pride for our entire congressional district.

“I look forward to seeing the submissions from our talented local art students. It’s always difficult to just pick one winner, but each year we are fortunate enough to get a remarkable piece to represent the 23rd Congressional District.”

Capps’ district offices are located at 301 E. Carrillo St., Suite A, Santa Barbara 93101; 2675 N. Ventura Road, Suite 105, Port Hueneme 93041; and 1411 Marsh St., Suite 205, San Luis Obispo 93401.

For morel information, contact Capps’ aides, Cara Lane at 805.730.1710 or Emily Ghan at 202.225.3601.

— Emily Kryder is communications director for Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara.