The 14th Youth World Cup Painting Competition Begins!

The 14thYouth World cup Painting Competition

First Half Works Collection Session

The Youth World Cup Painting Competition, officially supported by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for the first time, is hailed as the “Olympics” of youth painting art. The inaugural competition kicked off in 2012 in Vancouver, Canada, and by 2025, it had successfully completed thirteen editions. Annually, it draws over 100,000 participants from over 50 countries and regions, including China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, and Canada, receiving strong support from the Governor General of Canada, the Prime Minister, various consulates, artists, and the media.

The 14th Youth World Cup Painting Competition is now set to simultaneously open worldwide, with the selection period from

March 1, 2026 – May 30, 2026

The Competition Organizing Committee hereby extends an invitation to young artists passionate about painting and calligraphy around the world: use your paintbrushes to depict the colors of the future and share your visions of “Friendship, Environmental Protection and Dreams”. We hope young painters from all over the world will show their talents and join this global painting feast together.

⬆️ Official Support Letter of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2025, Congratulatory Letters from Many Heads of State and Government.

Zheng Yonghe, Chairman of the Youth World Cup Painting Competition, John Nsabimana, Envoy of UNICEF, Yang Shu, Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Vancouver, Wilson Miao, Member of the Canadian House of Commons, Parm Bains, Member of the Canadian House of Commons, Zeng Zhi, Deputy Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Vancouver, Helen Gardner, Director of Communications and Protocol at the Consulate of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, and Svetlana Bardos, Representative of the Competition Jury, delivered speeches for the competition.

01 HOSTS Hosted by

Organizing Committee of the Youth World Cup Live Painting Competition

Canada Youth Arts Development Foundation

Jointly-Organized by

North America Artists Association

North America Chinese Painting &Calligraphy Research Institute

Supported by

United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF)

Guiding Unit

China Yellow River Culture and Economic Development Research Association

Artistic Director

Emily Carr University of Art + Design

Stage One Academy

Organizing Units

Jiahe Zhonglian (Beijing) International Art Education Consulting Co., Ltd.

Singapore Co-organizer

TREE ART

YOUTH AND CHILDREN EDUCATION SOCETY SINGAPORE

02 AGENDA Registration Period

Start Date | March 1, 2026

Deadline | May 30, 2026

Judging Period

Judging Date | June 15, 2026

Result Announcement Period

Result Announcement | July 1, 2026

Certificate Mailing | July 30, 2026

03 AGEGROUP GROUP A

Preschool age 4-6

GROUP B

Children age7-12

GROUP C

Youth age13-17

GROUP D

Young Adult age18-25

04 THEME Peace Hope Future 05 REQUIREMENT Painting Category

Subject Matter: Pen, Pencil, Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, etc. Any drawing tools (including digital art) and materials can be used.

Form of Expression: Unlimited; realism, abstraction, anime/comics are all acceptable.

Work Size: 8K or 4K paper size accepted.

Calligraphy Category · Subject Matter: Both hard – brush and soft – brush calligraphy works are acceptable

· Work Size: For hard – brush calligraphy, A4 size is preferred. For soft – brush calligraphy, four – foot size is preferred, and it should not be smaller than two – foot

06 EVALUATION Judgment Criteria

Theme,Creativity,Techniques,Color, Composition: 20% each

Judging Principles

Works shall conform to the competition theme; adopt expressive forms suitable for the age group and have unique creative ideas; the competition encourages teenagers and children to express their true perceptions and insights.

Award Settings

The competition awards are divided into First Prize, Second Prize, Third Prize and Excellence Award. All participants will receive a customized certificate of award, a medal and a recommendation letter from the competition.

07 PROCEDURES Contest Fee: $65 SGD

How to Register: Please visit any Tree Art campus to register.

Registration Guidelines

The intellectual property rights of the submitted artwork shall be owned by the Singapore co-organizer authorized by the Competition Organizing Committee: TREE ART INTERNATIONAL PTE LTD (hereinafter referred to as “TREE ART”). The author retains the right of attribution. TREE ART has the right to retain the submitted artworks and use them in related activities (including but not limited to exhibition, auction, promotion, publication, production and sale of derivatives, etc.) without payment to the participant.

TREE ART has the right to use participants’ images and recordings (photos, videos, audio-visual materials, etc.) from the competition events for promotion and publicity through its official Little Red Book, official WeChat, official website, and other channels.

Participants must ensure that the submitted artwork is their own original creation.

Participants must also ensure that their submitted works do not infringe upon the rights of third parties (including but not limited to copyright, portrait rights, reputation rights, and privacy rights). Any liability arising from the work or participation in the competition shall be borne solely by the participant. If the Competition Organizing Committee’s use of a participant’s work results in infringement of another party’s copyright or other rights, TREE ART is authorized to claim compensation from the participant on behalf of the Competition Organizing Committee for any losses incurred thereby (including but not limited to legal fees, preservation fees, travel expenses, etc.).

Individuals shall bear the consequences arising from errors in filling out registration information.

Fees are non-refundable once registration and payment have been completed.

The Organizing Committee of the Youth World Cup Painting Competition and the hosting organization reserve the right of final interpretation of this competition.

ABOUT US

The Youth World Cup Painting Competition is the only international painting competition officially supported by UNICEF, with more than 100,000 teenagers from over 50 countries and regions participating. It stands as the pinnacle and the Olympic Games of international youth competitions. The competition has received strong support and assistance from the Governor General of Canada, the Prime Minister of Canada, consulates of various countries, artists, media outlets and people from all walks of life.

The first session of the competition was launched in Vancouver, Canada in 2012, and by 2025, thirteen sessions have been successfully held. The competition consists of a collection round and an on-site competition. Contestants can obtain recommendation letters issued by UNICEF and other organizers, which serve as an important bonus for future university applications. Over the years, many contestants have been admitted to world-renowned universities such as the Rhode Island School of Design, California Institute of the Arts, Maryland Institute College of Art, Harvard University, Yale University, University of Chicago, Boston University, New York University, University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. Among the contestants, there have been full scholarship winners of the Rhode Island School of Design, and a total of hundreds of scholarship winners from other prestigious universities, with scholarships ranging from 200,000 US dollars, 100,000 US dollars to 50,000 US dollars.

The Youth World Cup Painting Competition is not only a grand event for teenage painting art, but also a charitable platform for benevolence and a competition with global public welfare attributes. The purpose of the competition is to raise funds for UNICEF’s “School-in-a-Box” project, which provides educational facilities for 40 students, equivalent to the scale of a small community school. All proceeds from the competition will be donated to UNICEF to help children affected by disasters obtain necessary health and education support. By 2025, the competition has donated 1,080 “School-in-a-Box” units and helped 43,200 children in poverty-stricken and war-torn areas access educational opportunities!

More

Wonderful Moments of On-site Competitions and Award Ceremonies Over the Years