SPRINGFIELD – The Teen Board at Rachel’s Table is calling for submissions of artwork for their ArtsFest 21 event. Art pieces will showcase the topic of food insecurity and its relationship to health.

The Teen Board at Rachel’s Table consists of more than 50 teens who work together to raise awareness and educate the community about local food insecurity, childhood hunger, racism and classism.

ArtsFest 21 will be hosted virtually this year and submissions are accepted until March 10. Submissions can range from sculptures, paintings, poetry, dance and more. Those interested in submitting art for ArtsFest 21 can reach out to Rebecca Marmor, teen board director, at rebeccam@jewishwesternmass.org    “We’re hoping to really raise awareness about how food insecurity and health interact, so art pieces can be anything around that topic,” said Rebecca Marmor, teen board director at Rachel’s Table. 

After submissions close on March 10, a group of three community leaders and artists will begin the judging process. Art will be judged based on adherence to theme, creativity and artistic skill. On March 21, three winners will be announced. There will be one winner from the category of under age 13 artists, another from ages 14 to 18 and a final from ages 19 and up. Winners will receive a $75 gift card as a prize.

Marmor said she is most excited about the questions that might come from this event and the community organizing that it could spark.

“I’m extremely excited about the ArtsFest as an opportunity to raise awareness about food insecurity. It’s such an incredibly prevalent issue in our world right now especially now with one in four children, since COVID, facing food insecurity. That’s just a really hard statistic to wrap your head around, so I think it’s really important that we start really raising awareness about food insecurity and how that interacts especially with issues like inequality,” she said.

All submitted artwork will be showcased on the ArtsFest 21 website. The website also features educational information on food insecurity and health, put together in partnership with University of Massachusetts nursing students. This information can be used as lesson plans for local teachers to help educate middle and high school students on these topics, said Marmor.

Those interested in learning more about ArtsFest 21 or viewing the submitted art pieces are encouraged to visit their website at https://sites.google.com/view/rachelstableteenboard-artsfest/home.