About the Show

The contest

Make Your Mark is the Harlow Public Library's summer art contest. Anyone ages 5 to 13 could enter one piece in one of four categories: drawings and paintings, clay animals, collages, or comics. There was no theme and no rule about materials, except that it had to fit through the Children's Room door. Entries were due July 31, 2026, and 118 artists sent in 142 pieces.

How judging works

Three volunteer judges looked at every entry on September 19: Rosa Delgado, the art teacher at Harlow Elementary; Martin Pike, a retired sign painter; and Dana Whitcomb, the children's librarian. They judged each piece within its age group (5 to 7, 8 to 10, and 11 to 13) and looked for big ideas, hard work and surprises rather than neatness. Every entry is in the show, ribbon or not.

The artist statements

Every entry form asked three questions: What is it? How did you make it? What do you want people to notice? Younger artists could tell their answers to a grown-up who wrote them down. The statements on this site are in the artists' own words, and the artists are listed by first name and age only.

Thank you

To the Friends of the Harlow Public Library, the Harlow Arts Guild, cartoonist Benny Ortiz, our three judges, and every family who drove a wet painting or a fragile clay whale to the library.