{"id":20187,"date":"2026-03-31T17:05:59","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T17:05:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/?p=20187"},"modified":"2026-03-31T18:08:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:08:24","slug":"international-festival-of-owls-art-minnesota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsmidwest.org\/stories\/international-festival-of-owls-art-minnesota\/","title":{"rendered":"Minnesota Owl Birthday Party Takes Off as a Global Art Competition"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Every winter, thousands of bird artworks from across the world flock to this small city. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2003, the International Owl Center<\/a> has hosted its children\u2019s art competition in Houston, Minnesota. It started as a way for local kids to celebrate a hatch-day party for an owl at the center, inviting young artists to submit finished coloring pages.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-some years later, anywhere from 2,000 to 4,000 entries come in from 30 to 50 countries for its International Festival of Owls<\/a>, Executive Director Karla Bloem says. It\u2019s unlike any event in the country, she says. <\/p>\n\n\n

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\n \n\n\n\n<\/g>\n\n\n\n<\/clipPath>\n<\/defs>\n<\/svg> Photo Credit: International Festival of Owls<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
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\n Kawalin Artsungnoen, a 7-year-old from Thailand, won first place in the age 6-9 category.\n <\/span>\n <\/figcaption>\n \n \n <\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt wound up taking on a life of its own,\u201d says Bloem, crediting the internet as well as a prize for art received from the furthest away. \u201cIt\u2019s indescribable to see.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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  • The who: children from birth to age 18, from just down the street or from Indonesia or Australia, send in their art every year.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The what: handmade, 2D art of an owl, with no help from adults or artificial intelligence.  <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The why: teaching people about owls, raising money for a new center, and promoting tourism toward the end of winter. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    A local artist panel judges the submissions on technique, composition, and emotion. All the entries are kept and displayed at the International Owl Center, local galleries, museums, and history centers. Some are even featured on streetlamp banners in town, year-round.  <\/p>\n\n\n

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    \u201cWe’re catching people who were not coming to look at art that just become fascinated with the art because you see different cultural styles, all different kinds of media options, realistic, fanciful, some have messages in them . . . It’s just everything, all over the board.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n KARLA BLOEM, INTERNATIONAL OWL CENTER<\/cite>\n <\/blockquote>\n\n