Picture the Music

Showcase your students' imagination and creativity with Picture the Music (PTM), now in its 33rd year of celebrating student artwork from throughout the region. PTM, a free cross-curricular art competition, invites students in grades K-6 to discover an orchestral work and respond with paintings or drawings that express creative thought and emotion inspired by the music. 

How to Participate

Participation in this cross-curricular program is free and online submission allows for quick and easy entry. Guided by you, students listen to this year's musical selection and respond to its impact and structure through drawing, paintings, or colorings. Finalists are celebrated in an awards ceremony at Powell Hall and will have their artwork displayed in a traveling exhibit.

See the Teacher Guide below for specific details including how to prepare and submit student entries.

Teacher guide

Information for the 2023-24 school year coming soon. If you’d like to be notified about future Picture the Music opportunities, please complete the Interest Form below.

INTEREST FORM

Congratulations to the 2023 Picture the Music Finalists!

Thank you to all the teachers who participated in PTM! During the 2022/2023 school year, more than 16,000 students from 85 schools explored the Jupiter from Gustav Holst's The Planets and created paintings and drawings that expressed their own creative thought and emotions inspired by the music. The top 100 finalists were selected from 522 pieces of art that were submitted. Here are your 2023 Picture the Music winners:

Maestro Awards Winners

Grades K-3: Avery LaBeaume | Grade 3, Campbellton Elementary, The Rainbow Keys
Grades 4-6: Maxine Conner | Grade 6, Immaculate Conception, Galaxy of Harmony

To see a complete list of the top 100 finalists, click here.

Or view the finalists' artwork in the online gallery below.