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Imagine A Day Without Water
2020 Imagine a Day without Water Art Contest Important Updates
2020 Imagine a Day without Winners Announced! - Read about the winners below.
Due to COVID-19 there will be no in person awards ceremony to honor the winners. However, we will be holding a special program during Cville360 on January 5th, 2021 at 11:00am to honor the contest winners and participants!
You can tune in through the City's social media accounts and Channel 10- and can view later on-demand.
Could you go a day without water? No water to drink or use to make food. No water to shower, flush the toilet, or brush your teeth. Firefighters couldn’t put out fires, pools would be closed, and farmers couldn’t water their crops.

We are excited to announce that the City of Charlottesville, Albemarle County Service Authority, and Rivanna Water & Sewer Authority are holding their 6th annual Imagine a Day without Water Art Contest. Each year, we ask youth to show us why we must value and save water in our community. This year’s contest has been modified to allow for more flexibility as our community has to adapt to life during COVID-19. Our goal is to provide the youth in our community with an opportunity for them to illustrate the importance of water.
This year’s art contest will kick-off on October 21, 2020, the National Imagine a Day without Water Day. The contest will once again be open to all students in grades K – 12th in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle County. Youth can submit original 2-D creations of any size, including original photography. For this year’s theme, we are asking the youth to consider: “What Water Means to Me” in their creation.
New this year, submissions will be accepted via direct mail, electronically through our submission and online voting platform, or in person at one drop off location. Submissions can be submitted by scanning the original work, uploading an image of the work, uploading an original photograph, or developed digitally; however, note that the means of submission may impact the quality of the artwork.
The Imagine a Day without Water Art Contest will accept artwork from October 21st to November 23rd. Top entries will be made available for fan favorite voting from December 2nd to 11th. Winners will be announced on December 18th. Awards of a cash gift card and water conservation goodie bag will be given to the top entry in the four grade and fan favorite categories. Four teachers will also be honored for their support of the contest through a random drawing.
We are excited to see the youth’s creativity and what water means to them!
You can learn more about the Value of Water Coalition and the National Imagine a Day without Water Campaign on their website.
2020 Imagine a Day without Water Art Contest Winners!
First we would like to thank all the youth that submitted artwork this year and the parents, guardians, and teachers that supported this contest. We had 120 amazing entries from youth in Charlottesville and Albemarle County; all of whom really showed us "What Water Means to Me". We also were excited to see 870 online votes to help us select our fan favorite winner!
All contest winners will receive a $200 gift card and a water conservation goodie bag. If you are are a contest winner, we will be in contact with you soon to arrange the delivery of your prize!
Typically, we hold an awards ceremony to honor the winners; however, we have decided to modify this event due to COVID-19. Check out Cville360 on January 5th, 2021 at 11:00am for a special program honoring our Imagine a Day without Water Art Contest winners and participants. You can tune in through the City’s social media accounts and Channel 10 - and can view later on-demand.
The winners for the 2020 Imagine a Day without Water Art Contest are:
- K – 2nd Grade: Ruihan (Jennifer) Xue, Venable Elementary School, Grade 1
- 3rd – 4th Grade: Claudia Van Clief, Peabody School, Grade 4
- 5th – 6th Grade: Ruby Reed Guy-Wolnick, Mountaintop Montessori, Grade 5
- 7th – 8th Grade: Shoukufeh Alizada, Buford Middle School, Grade 7
- 9th – 12th Grade: Emily Zhu, Albemarle High School, Grade 9
- Fan Favorite: Vivian Foutz, Henley Middle School, Grade 6
In addition, teachers were encouraged to promote student participation and four teachers were selected to receive a $200 gift card to be used for classroom projects:
- Emily Hudson (Greer Elementary School)
- Brittany Kaufman (Red Hill Elementary School)
- Nicole Eyerman (Walker Upper Elementary School)
- Kimberly Taylor (Village School)
K– 2nd Grade Winner: Ruihan (Jennifer) Xue, Venable Elementary School, Grade 1
3rd – 4th Grade Winner: Claudia Van Clief, Peabody School, Grade 4
5th – 6th Grade Winner: Ruby Reed Guy-Wolnick, Mountaintop Montessori, Grade 5
7th – 8th Grade Winner: Shoukufeh Alizada, Buford Middle School, Grade 7
9th – 12th Grade Winner: Emily Zhu, Albemarle High School, Grade 9
Fan Favorite Winner: Vivian Foutz, Henley Middle School, Grade 6
2020 Theme: "What Water Means to Me"
Important Dates:
Accepting Art Entries: October 21st - November 23rd 5:00 PM
Fan Favorite Voting: December 2nd - December 11th 11:59 PM
Winners Announced: December 18th- afternoon
Media Types Accepted:
- Multiple submissions are allowed! Make sure you convey the contest theme: "What Water Means to Me".
- Entries must be the work of one individual youth, no collaborations.
- Any original 2-dimentional artwork or photography.
- Artwork can be any size and made with any type of medium.
- Suggested sizes for drawings: 11" x 8.5" (horizontal)
- Suggested sizes for photography: 4:3 ratio (horizonal)
How to Submit your Media?
- Digital Submission Option: Available starting October 21st - November 23rd 5:00 PM ET
- Submit media using our Art Contest Platform Uploader Form. Files must be JPEG/JPG, PNG, or GIF image file types.
- Note: You can scan or take a picture of your entry; however, please note this could impact the quality of your entry.
- Mail Option: Entries must be postmarked by November 23rd. Official Entry Form (PDF) must be attached to each entry.
Water Conservation
Department of Public Works
305 4th Street NW
Charlottesville, VA 22903
- In Person: ONLY AVAILABLE JMRL Central Library during their curbside hours. Official Entry Form (PDF)must be attached to each entry.
Online Submission and Online Voting Website
Art Contest Flyer & Submission Form (PDF)
Art Contest Poster (PDF)
Contest Prizes
$200 Gift Card and Water Conservation Goodie Bags!
Youth Prizes
- K - 2nd Grade Top Entry
- 3rd - 4th Grade Top Entry
- 5th - 6th Grade Top Entry
- 7th - 8th Grade Top Entry
- 9th - 12th Grade Top Entry
- Fan Favorite (Voting Online from December 2nd - 11th)
Teacher Prizes
- Four teachers randomly selected that participated, where the more students that participated from that teacher increased the odds of that teacher winning.
Previous Imagine a Day without Water Art Contest Winners
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2016 7th – 8th Grade Winner Marco Lopez
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2015 3rd – 4th Grade Winner Reese Coggeshall
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2015 7th – 8th Grade Winner Esther Juwon Lee
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2019 3rd – 4th Grade Winner Timothy Choo
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2019 1st – 2nd Grade Winner Lucy Sutton
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2016 1st – 2nd Grade Winner Sarah Ni
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2018 5th – 6th Grade Winner Jamie Kwon
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2019 7th – 8th Grade Winner Emily Zhu
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2016 5th – 6th Grade Winner Olivia Kim
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2018 7th and 8th Grade Winner Bryce Yates
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2018 Fan Favorite: Manan Jani, Agnor Hurt Elementary, Grade 5
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2017 Fan Favorite Winner Elisabeth Shin
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2019 Fan Favorite Winner Manan Jani
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2017 3rd – 4th Grade Winner Sophie Rubin
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2018 3rd – 4th Grade Winner Rowan Powell
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2017 5th – 6th Grade Winner Annie Meng
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2015 5th – 6th Grade Winner Phoebe V. Rebhorn
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2015 1st – 2nd Grade Winner Harper Jewel Ullrich
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2017 7th – 8th Grade Winner Savannah Gale
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2017 1st – 2nd Grade Winner Nathan Jordan
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2016 Fan Favorite Winner ShiLu DeBerry
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2015 Fan Favorite Winner Krishabh Ban
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2019 5th – 6th Grade Winner Beatrice Mitchell
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2016 3rd – 4th Grade Winner Jingyi Li
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2018 1st – 2nd Grade winner Ben O’Hare