Mixed media art refers to a visual art form that combines a variety of media in a single artwork. For example, if you draw with ink, then paint over it with watercolors, then add some highlights in colored pencil, and these drawing can be enhanced with addition of collage of photos/recycled papers which can also be coloured or penciled over, and cotton balls, and tree branches, or any material including recycled material can be glued to give a 3D look for the artwork - that's mixed media!

You are expected to create a unique and quirky artwork to showcase an environmental focus (choosing at least one environment/related UN SDG goal as inspiration). Your artwork should be in 3D form, and including glued colored papercuts incorporated into the artwork would be enough to give a 3D look to the artwork. Students are highly encouraged to use recycled materials, including paper, old postcards, newspapers, cans, fabric, etc., to provide a 3D mixed media work. Also, make sure that your artwork backing is strong enough to carry your artwork. The depth of the artwork should not be more than 12cm (8"). For mixed media art examples, 3D Project ideas, and more

Artwork guidelines

• Dimensions: 46 cm x 61 cm (18" x 24"), with maximum depth of 12 cm (8"). 

• Techniques: Any technique is acceptable as long as it is used safely and purposefully. Students are highly encouraged to use recycled materials to create their artwork.

• Topic: You should create an artwork that addresses issues relevant to 2 or 3 of the 17 SDGs, at least one of which has to be environmental.

• Use of generative AI is not permitted!

• Once your masterpiece is done and ready, you will have to prepare an artist's statement.
  
  

Submitting your artwork

• You should take a photo of your artwork on a neutral backdrop (a wall, a table, or any flat surface with plain colour). The backdrop can be visible in the artwork photo, but try to minimise it.

• Prepare a 2-page PDF document where:

  •  the first page is the artist's statement (must include SDGs you selected as the topic for your artwork),

  •  the second page is a snapshot of your artwork. 

• File name should have this format: BOSEPO 20xx - Project Title, e.g. "BOSEPO 2026 - The Final Gallop".

• Your mentor will submit that document in the "Research Paper" section of the registration system. 

• In the system, there is also a segment for adding an "Abstract". This section should be left blank for art projects.

An artist's statement is a general introduction to your work, a body of work, or a specific project. 

General instructions

• 1.5 spacing on all pages.

• Use one‐inch margins on all sides.

• Number all pages at the bottom in the middle.

• Use a plain font (like Roboto, Calibri, Times New Roman, or Arial).

• Except for the headings, use 11 pt font.

• Title should use bold 16 pt font.

• You must include:

  • name of your artwork project,

  • your name and surname,

  • your school name with the school logo.

• It should be a single-page document. This statement you will use most often; it speaks generally about your work, the methods you may have used, the history of your work, etc. It may also include specific examples of your current work or project.

• Include the UN Sustainable Development Goals used as the topic and how these goals guided your work. Remember, you must state 2-3 SDGs in your project, at least one of which must be an environmental goal.

Structure

• It should open with the work’s basic ideas in an overview of two or three sentences or a short paragraph.

• The second paragraph should go into detail about how these issues or ideas are presented in the work.

• If writing a full-page statement, you can include some of the following points:

  • • Why you have created the work and its history.

    • Your overall vision.

    • What you expect from your audience and how they will react.

    • How your current work relates to your previous work.

    • Where your work fits in with current contemporary art.

    • How your work fits in with the history of art practice.

    • How your work fits into a group exhibition, or a series of projects you have done.

    • Sources and inspiration for your images.

    • Artists you have been influenced by or how your work relates to other artists’ work. Other influences.

    • How this work fits into a series or longer body of work.

    • How a certain technique is important to the work.

    • Your philosophy of art making or of the work’s origin.

• The final paragraph should recapitulate the most important points in the statement.

Style

• This most often depends on the context where it will appear. Who is your reader? What assumptions can you make about their knowledge? Select a tone and stick to it: emotional tone, theoretical (but not over-the-top), academic (but not dry), analytic, humorous, antagonistic, political, professional, etc.

• Ask yourself:

  • “What are you trying to say in the work?” 

  • “What influences my work?” 

  • “How do my methods of working (techniques, style, formal decisions) support the content of my work?” 

  • “What are specific examples of this in my work?” 

  • “Does this statement conjure up any images?”

• Use a word processor so that you can make changes and update it often. You should keep older copies so that you can refer to them if you need to write or talk about your older work or if you have a retrospective.

• Refer to yourself in the first person, not as “the artist”.  Make it come from you. Try to capture your own speaking voice. Make it singular, not general, and reflective of yourself and your work.

• Make it clear and direct, concise and to the point. Be honest.

• Avoid repetition of phrases and words. Look for sentences that say the same thing you said before but differently. Choose the better of the two.

• Vary sentence structure and length. The length of a sentence should relate to the complexity of the idea.

• Organisation of detail is important. Significant ideas should be at the end of each sentence for emphasis.

• Pomposity, writing a statement about your role in the world.

• Grandiose and empty expressions and clichés about your work and views.

• Technical and full of jargon.

• Long dissertations or explanations.

• Discourses on the materials and techniques you have employed.

• Poems or prosy writing.

• Folksy anecdotes about some important event in your life.

• Nothing about your childhood or family unless it is very relevant to your work.

• Not a brag fest or a press release.