Google launches K-12 Art Contest

I won first place in Massachusetts in a grade 4-6 art poster drawing contest promoting US Savings Bonds ran by the US Treasury in the 90's, and met the Lt. Governor as well as receiving a $1,000 Savings Bond (the 2nd and 3rd places in each state also won $500 or $200, respectively). In contrast, state winners of the Google contest win a paid trip to New York City (presumably with a guardian) and get to meet other winners, and do not win money unless they are top three in the nation.

Another difference is that the judging criteria for my contest was split up in percentages, one of the largest being originality. My design was original in many ways, probably helped by the fact that I had just moved to the United States a year prior and avoided stereotypical patriotic symbols like the statue of liberty, the liberty bell, and eagles. However, the the 2nd place national winner (the top three got to visit Washington D.C. as well as winning an additional $5,000, $2,000, or $1,000) was simply a giant eagle perched on a tree branch, and even the first place winner the prior year was a drawing of the statue of liberty (both at the skill level of a middle-school student.)

It appeared that the national judges did not familiarize themselves with the judging criteria as much as the state judges. First of all, the theme was "Invest in your future today", so what a painting of an eagle perched on a branch had to do with originality or theme is very vague, and the art wasn't anything special, so I don't see how it could have even been in the top except for the patriotic angle, considering that those three factors was supposed to make up the majority of the judging criteria.

In contrast, I notice that the judging criteria for the Google contest is delegated to the bottom of the FAQ page instead of having its own section. Additionally, it doesn't list the relative importance of each of them (artistic merit, creativity of the use of google logo, how well the theme is expressed, and an essay).

All in all, while I'm happy there is a replacement for the Savings Bonds contest (which ceased in the early 2000's due to a combination of budget cuts and controversy over judging), and that it's a great way for Google to get brand recognition as an important company with the K-12 crowd, it would be nice for Google to 1) provide more specific criteria and 2) stick to it, since lots of children will be spending a month or more on the poster (about how long I spent, for example) with little chance of actually getting recognition or an award.