The Illinois High School Art Exhibition program is one of the country's largest and most influential student art exhibition programs. Each year, over 100 city, suburban, public and private Illinois high schools from across the state converge on the Bridgeport Art Center in Chicago to participate in various exhibition programs.  This year's exhibition features over 1,000 works of art from young artists in over 10,000 square feet of galleries. 

The exhibition opens on Friday March 15th during the Bridgeport Art Center's monthly 3rd Friday Open Studios from 7pm - 10pm Admission is free and open to the public. 

Galleries are open daily Monday — Saturday 8 AM — 6 PM Sunday 8 AM — 12 PM. 

Students will be representing their high school and competing for the top prizes on Sunday, April 21, 2024 at the Bridgeport Art Center from 11am-5pm during the closing ceremonies.

The Senior Scholarship Exhibition (3rd floor Gallery) is truly a unique exhibition that serves both as a celebration of students’ artistic achievement and as a means of providing talented young artists with opportunities to succeed in higher education. Over 300 Portfolios are received each year and reviewed by our collegiate sponsors for scholarship consideration and each scholarship recipient is reviewed by a judge panel for inclusion in the annual exhibition.

This year's Seniors received a total of $100 million dollars in tuition scholarships.

The Northern Regional Exhibition  (4th floor gallery) is the “Best of the Best” competition. It’s a truly unique show that celebrates artistic achievement and provides talented young artists with opportunities to showcase their artwork and compete at a state level. Student artwork is judged by category and prizes are awarded for the top entries in each of the 8 categories: Drawing, Painting, Photography, Design, Mixed Media, Ceramics, Sculpture, and also Time Arts.

As part of the Northern Illinois Regional Art Exhibition, (4th and Corridor gallery) IHSAE also offers some of the most promising underclass high school students an opportunity to compete for an Early College Program scholarship sponsored by our college and university partners. These programs offer a fantastic and unique summer opportunity.

Lastly, the Art Throwdown (5th Floor Skyline Loft) is a live, fast-paced, head-to-head, interscholastic Visual Arts competition where students face a visually creative challenge for public viewing. Students put their artistic skills to the test, competing against other area Illinois high school students while the audience gets to witness the creative process first hand as they root for their favorites. The challenge involves a 90 minute, hands-on, and creative problem to be solved. Noon on Sunday April 21, 2024.

The IHSAE Mission: ArtConnectED’s mission is to advance art education for young people by providing art exhibitions, educational opportunities and events that celebrate students' artistic achievement and facilitate post-secondary opportunities. 

About ArtConnectED: Started in 2013 with the IHSAE, now Art ConnectED is 100% powered by teacher volunteers and has grown out of the passion they bring to making a difference for students, and has since facilitated $695+ million in tuition scholarship offers to more than 3,500 students. ArtConnectED advocates for the power of art with exhibitions and other incentives for creative exploration and connections to innovative careers.