Family Safety Network's High School Interns present the
4th Annual Art Competition
in honor of
Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month!
Below are this year's amazing submissions.
2025 Theme: UNHEARD VOICES
Submissions were asked to amplify the voices of those who have been silenced. Express resilience, hope, and the power of speaking out through your art.
Please scroll through all the options and vote for your favorite at the bottom of the page.
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Prizes will be awarded to 1st, 2nd and 3rd place!
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VOTING WILL BE OPEN UNTIL WEDNESDAY MARCH 12TH
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Thank you so much to our artists this year for all the amazing submissions.
#1
ARTIST STATEMENT:
This image is of a small stone with its big brother, a large mountain behind. I took this photo on Mt. Meek pass.
Although big things like domestic violence or winning a nobel prize are widely addressed and recognized, their mountainous presence overshadows the smaller problems and achievements more of us face. I know I, along with many other adolescents, feel that our internal struggles or victories amount to nothing compared to the high-profile problems or triumphs everyone sees in the media. But, just like this small stone pictured here, we all deserve a moment to be recognized.
#2
'Help Yourself'
ARTIST STATEMENT:
This man is driving this girl to an unknown place. He is metaphorically in control of her life. She is full of color, emotions, and unspoken words. In the rearview mirror there is yellow, the happiness and freedom she once knew. Her future is void of color and agency. All the signs are telling her that she needs to take control of the car, (her life), but she feels powerless; fear, uncertainty, and delusion hold her back. She knows she is in the wrong place, but doesn’t truly understand how bleak and grey her future is going to be. So she continues, wearing her yellow shirt, pretending everything will be fine.
#3
ARTIST STATEMENT:
As loving and caring human beings, we feel an incessant need to protect those we love. This is a beautiful thing, but often it can result in the pushing down or ignoring of our own needs and emotions. This song highlights that feeling: caring so deeply for someone and wanting them to be happy, all while your own emotions are locked underground in a bomb shelter. They’re safe down there, but they have to breathe eventually.
You deserve to breathe. You deserve to be heard.
#4
ARTIST STATEMENT:
For my entry, I made a digital drawing of my four grandparents, who have unfortunately passed. Using a laser printer, I then etched my drawing onto a piece of wood. While they are no longer with us, and their voices can no longer be heard, their love persists. Their eyes can still be found in the faces of my cousins, parents, uncles, and aunt. The way they smiled, their speech patterns, and their stories continue.
#5
ARTIST STATEMENT:
My piece represents feeling like you can't speak up for yourself no matter how bad you need or want to. I wanted to show the emotion and fear behind her eyes because I feel that is the only way we express our emotion at times.
#6
ARTIST STATEMENT:
Rabbits represent innocence and purity but they are known to be timid and reserved. Rabbits have instincts as all animals, including people, do. Teen dating violence is scary and so is being vulnerable. There is hope for victims, survival is possible. Help is available. You can thrive.
#7
ARTIST STATEMENT:
This paining captures a moment of vulnerability and self discovery. As a young woman buries her head in a bouquet of flowers, seeking hope and her own voice. The flowers, full of color and life, symbolize the strength and renewal found in nature. By pressing her face into them, the woman embraces her need for solace while beginning the journey toward reclaiming her voice. This piece reflects the quiet power of hope; how in moments of surrender, we can find the strength to rise and reconnect with ourselves.
#8
ARTIST STATEMENT:
My piece is a ceramic mask with a pleasant expression on the front and a small frowny face on the back. Most victims of dating violence and domestic abuse don't show signs of physical or mental pain/destress, I wanted my piece to reflect that.
#9
ARTIST STATEMENT:
I decided on drawing this because it shows the fear behind wanting to speak up. It's like you want to but there are so many things holding you back. Whether it's your partner or sometimes even your friends. You want to speak up but you feel as if you can't and if you do you're afraid of what they might do to you. No one deserves to feel unheard. Everyone has a voice and thoughts just some are afraid to speak up.
#10
ARTIST STATEMENT:
This is a picture of a woman who has been trapped in an abusive relationship, who felt silenced by her abuser. The tape peeling off her mouth represents her finding her voice again. I think the hand holding up her chin could be viewed as the abuser or as someone helping her, depending on what you see when you look at it.
#11
ARTIST STATEMENT:
This song was a collaboration between two students, one wrote the lyrics the other sang and added chords.