Courtroom Artist Contest

2024 First Place Courtroom Artist

Daily Adams, Timberline High School

2023 First Place Courtroom Artist

Taelyn Baiza, Boise High School

2022 Fourth Place, National Courtroom Artist Contest

Lydia Colby, The Ambrose School

2021 First Place Idaho Courtroom Artist Contest

Lily Giordano, Centennial High School

The Idaho Courtroom Artist Contest, open to students in grades 9 to 12, allows artistically talented students the opportunity to participate in the mock trial program. Artists observe trials and submit sketches that depict actual courtroom scenes.

After completion of the state contest, the top three artists receive cash prizes for their entries. The top artist is eligible to represent Idaho at the National Courtroom Artist Contest.

Registration

Artists can register as part of an existing mock trial team or enter on their own. The registration fee is $30 per artist. Artists who are not registering as part of a mock trial team will use this form to register for the contest.

Rules and Resources

Each high school or junior high (9th grade only) may register multiple artists. An artist who participates with a team will still compete solely on their own efforts and will NOT be considered as part of their school’s team in terms of advancement to the state or national competitions.

The National High School Mock Trial website has a training video to help students become familiar with the competition. The Library of Congress has a collection of sketches you can view online and the National High School Mock Trial has posted photos of recent National submissions. Additionally, we have collected a series of courtroom photos that artists can use to practice sketching courtroom details.

Submission and Judging Criteria

Courtroom artists must supply their own paper and drawing tools and follow these parameters:

• The submission may be done in color or in black and white.
• The drawing must be on 11” X 14” paper in a horizontal/landscape format.
• The drawing may be completed using any of the following media: Color pencil, pen and ink, pastel, marker. No watercolors or paint are allowed.
• The art submission must NOT have the artist’s name, team name or code, or signatures on the front of the submission.

Sketches are evaluated and scored anonymously by a judge or judging team. The highest scored sketch will be named the winner. This sample scoresheet includes information on how sketches are scored.

Recent Results

Congratulations to the 2024 Top 3 Courtroom Artists. More results can be found on the Awards & Results page.