The International Student Art Contest, a competition established by the Space Foundation to encourage interest in students about art and space, has been held annually since 2011. This year, Victoria Bulych, a Ukrainian student artist, was awarded the 1st place trophy in the 17-18 age category. She will receive an astronaut’s autograph, a certificate, a ribbon, and an art kit.
The 2021 contest generated more than 4,500 entries from 88 countries, with participants aged 5 to 18. Among them, the 25 winning entries will be on display at Space Foundation’s 36th Space Symposium, to be held Aug. 23-26, 2021, at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs. After the Space Symposium, the winning art will be displayed at Space Foundation Discovery Center and headquarters in Colorado Springs. Winning artwork can be seen on the website gallery at art.spacefoundation.org.
In 2018, Dr. Max Polyakov stepped in to assist the competition from being closed due to lack of funds, and has since supported it via Noosphere Ventures. This year, on Dr. Polyakov’s initiative, the main theme was chosen to be: “How Space Technology Helps Improve Life on Earth.”
“This year’s theme of the International Student Art Contest is very close to our philosophy here at Noosphere Ventures. It is very exciting to see how the younger generations realize this concept through their own creative artwork,” said Dr. Polyakov, founder of Noosphere Ventures and non-profit space advocacy organization Noosphere Association.
In Ukraine, the Noosphere Space Art Challenge has been established with the support of Dr. Max Polyakov and Noosphere Association.’, Over the 3 years of its existence, more than 25,000 children from all of Ukraine’s regions have taken part in it. In 2021, the competition was dedicated to the anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. The works of the winners can be found on the website noospherespace.art.
In 2019, at the initiative of Dr. Polyakov, Firefly Aerospace launched the DREAM program, a global competition to host academic and educational payloads, free of charge, on the inaugural flight of the Firefly Alpha launch vehicle. The program is intended to support and stimulate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) interest on a global scale.
