2026 CREATIVE YOUTH AWARDS – OFFICIAL RULES

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. MAKING A PURCHASE OR PAYMENT OF ANY KIND WILL NOT INCREASE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

PROMOTION: The Creative Youth Awards (the "2026 CYA") begins on October 15, 2025 at 12:01 a.m. and ends on December 10, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time (the "Entry Period"). The sponsor of the 2026 CYA is Bay Area Creative Foundation (“BACF”).  

WHO MAY ENTER: 2026 CYA is open to high school students both residing in and currently attending school within the following nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area, California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma. BACF, and its respective parents, creative agencies, subsidiaries, subsidiaries and affiliates and their respective employees, directors, officers, and shareholders (collectively, the “BACF Partners”), and BACF Partner’s immediate families and persons living in their households are not eligible to enter the 2026 CYA. The 2026 CYA shall be staged in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and is void where otherwise prohibited.

HOW TO ENTER: To enter, go to the Apply tab (the “Submission Website”) on BACF website, during the Entry Period, and submit your artwork according to the category requirements detailed on the Submission Website. The entry must fulfill all 2026 CYA requirements, as specified, to be eligible to win a prize. Entrants may not submit more than one entry. Entries that are not complete or do not adhere to the Official Rules may be disqualified at the sole discretion of BACF. If an entry was developed by more than one person, only the entrant who submitted the entry into the 2026 CYA may be awarded a prize(s). 2026 CYA entrants may not enter more times than indicated by using multiple email addresses, identities or devices in an attempt to circumvent the Official Rules. Use of fraudulent methods or otherwise attempting to circumvent the Official Rules shall be grounds for immediate removal and ineligibility from the 2026 CYA, at the sole discretion of BACF.

All submissions must be received by the December 10, 2025 deadline. BACF is not responsible for late or unsuccessful attempts to enter. BACF reserves the right to allow for minor fluctuations between the entrant’s timing device and the actual runtime of the submission on the Submission Website, based on clear intent to comply with the Official Rules, as determined in BACF’s sole discretion. The entrant should be able to provide on request all appropriate clearances, permissions and releases for the submission(s), including releases from the submitting entrant and any third parties appearing in the submission. Incomplete, corrupted, untimely or unintelligible entries may be disqualified. If for any reason an entrant’s entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, corrupted or otherwise destroyed, entrant's sole remedy is another entry in the 2026 CYA. BACF reserves the right to determine in its sole discretion which entries have satisfied the entry requirements.

ODDS OF WINNING: The odds of winning will depend on the number of Qualified Entries received per Submission Category.

REQUIREMENTS OF ENTRIES: 

Requirements of Entries: By submitting an Artwork Entry (“Entry”) you agree that it conforms to the guidelines and content restrictions below and that BACF, in its sole discretion, may disqualify your Entry from the 2026 CYA if it believes such Entry fails to conform. Your Entry must comply with the following and by entering you represent, warrant and agree that:

1) Your Entry is created by you and is not infringing on any other copyrighted work and does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person or entity. 

2) Your entry was not created with generative AI technology. All entries are subject to the CYA’s interpretation/determination of the use of AI. 

3) Your Entry must be submitted under your legal name. Double entries submitted under an alias with the intent to mislead the BACF will result in the participant’s disqualification from the 2026 CYA.

4) Your Entry does not depict any recognizable person for whom you have not received permission to enter such person in the 2026 CYA and does not infringe upon the publicity rights of any third party, and you have received the requisite permission/consent to use the Video/Photo from anyone who has any rights to the Video/Photo.

5) Your Entry must not disparage the BACF, or any other person or party affiliated with the 2026 CYA, in BACF’s sole discretion.

6) Your Entry must not contain material that BACF deems to be inappropriate, indecent, obscene, hateful, tortious, defamatory, slanderous, or libelous.

7) Your Entry must not contain material that BACF deems to promote bigotry, racism, hatred or harm against any group or individual or to promote discrimination based on race, gender, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age.

8) The Entry must not contain material that is unlawful, in violation of or contrary to any applicable laws or regulations.

By entering, you represent and warrant that your Entry (and BACF’s use thereof) does not and will not defame or otherwise violate the rights of any third party and does not and will not violate any federal, state or local laws, regulations or ordinances. You further represent and warrant that you have secured the requisite consent from any person referenced or appearing in your Entry/ies. To the extent that anyone under the age of eighteen (18) appears in a video, you represent and warrant that the minor's parent or guardian has consented to the minor's appearance in the video and the public display of the video. BACF reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any entry that it believes violates any of the Requirements, does not otherwise comply with these Official Rules, or that is not consistent with the spirit and theme of the 2026 CYA. BACF reserves the right to contact the artist, their parents/guardians, school staff, or relevant parties to seek support services for artists if BACF has reason to believe that a submission indicates active self-harm or violence towards others.

Entrants will retain copyright in their submission, but each entrant grants to BACF and BACF Partners an exclusive, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual, assignable, royalty-free license to publish, reproduce, distribute, display, modify, perform, create derivative works, transmit and disseminate the submission, and all attachments, in all media or platforms whether now or any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity, without compensation or additional consents from entrant or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so. Entrant also waives any and all moral rights in the submission with respect to any use by BACF or BACF Partners.

AGREEMENT TO RULES: By participating in the 2026 CYA, you unconditionally accept and agree to comply with and abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of BACF, which shall be final and binding in all respects. The Official Rules may have additional rules located on the “Frequently Asked Questions” page for the 2026 CYA, which supplement or supersede parts of these Official Rules. Any reference in these Official Rules to “Official Rules” with respect to the 2026 CYA shall be deemed to be a reference to these Official Rules and the Frequently Asked Questions for the 2026 CYA, taken as a whole. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between these Official Rules and the rules or other information provided on the Frequently Asked Questions, the rules or such other information posted on the Frequently Asked Questions page shall govern. BACF is responsible for the collection, submission or processing of entries and the overall administration of the 2026 CYA. Entrants should look solely to BACF with any questions, comments or problems related to the 2026 CYA. BACF may be reached by email at info@bayareacreativefoundation.org.

SUBMISSION CATEGORIES:  Entrants may submit to one of the following categories: (1) Creative Writing: (a) All original creative writing accepted Fiction & non-fiction limited to 500 words. (b) Plays and screenplays limited to five pages or five minutes in length (c) Poems; maximum of 3 poems. Combined word count across all poems must not exceed 500 words total (d) Illustrated writing submissions are limited to 500 words and five pages (e) Written submissions should be submitted as a single consolidated .pdf file. (f) In addition to the required PDF/JPEG file of the written piece, students may submit an additional video file reading or performing the work (ie, spoken word, theater monologues/dialogue, acted screenplays) Video file size not to exceed 6 GBs (g) Video attachments must be hosted on YouTube as well as being submitted as a video file. (2) Dance (a) All approaches to dance are embraced (b) Submissions must be original choreography by submitting/lead student artist (c) The submitting/lead artist must be the choreographer (d) The lead artist may or may not be a performer (e) If there are multiple performers, they can be listed as “Collaborators” (f) All performers must  be enrolled in high school (or lower) grades and listed by name as collaborators (g) Maximum duration is no more than 5 minutes (h)Video attachments must be hosted on YouTube as well as being submitted as a video file. Video file size not to exceed 6 GBs (3) Film: (a) All original approaches to filmmaking, video art or filmed storytelling are accepted (b) Maximum duration is no more than 5 minutes  (c) Permission from all actors or participants who appear must be obtained (d) Films that include narration or dialog in a language other than English must be subtitled (e) Video attachments must be hosted on YouTube as well as being submitted as a video file. Video file size not to exceed 6 GBs. (4) Music Performance (a) performance of music not authored by the student (b) All approaches to music performance are accepted inclusive of singing, instrumental solo or group renditions (c)Maximum duration is no more than 5 minutes (d) All students in an ensemble or team must be enrolled in high school (or lower) grades and listed by name as “Collaborators” (e) Video attachments must be hosted on YouTube as well as being submitted as a video file. Video file size not to exceed 6 GBs (f) Note: the scoring emphasis is on creativity; please consider your personal and creative interpretation of existing material when choosing submission. (5) Original Music: (a) All original music accepted, inclusive of song-writing, music composition, DAW-based productions and improvisational pieces (b) Maximum duration is no more than 5 minutes (c) Required to submit an audio file (MP3) AND a .pdf of at least one of the following: the score, chord charts, lyrics. DAW screenshots are also accepted. Audio file size not to exceed 6 GBs.  (d) A video of the music must be hosted on YouTube as well as being submitted as a sound file attachment. (6) Photography: original digital or film photography accepted. Multi-image artworks (ie, diptych, triptychs, etc) must be presented as a single image / 1-page file. Required to submit a digital file.  File size not to exceed 20 MB. (7) Visual Art (a) Original visual art* in all mediums accepted except photographic entries. *Please submit digitally manipulated photos or digitally created photo collage to the Photography category (b) Multi-image artworks (ie, triptychs, product design projects, 3-D pieces, etc) must be presented as a single image / 1-page file (c) Required to submit a digital file of the artwork. File size not to exceed 20 MB. The 2026 CYA will be open to a maximum of 2500 Qualified Entries total. Upon receipt of the 2500th Qualified Entry, the 2026 CYA will be closed for further entries.  

JUDGING & WINNER DETERMINATION: (1) A team of qualified judges selected by BACF (the “Judges”), will select from the Qualified Entries (as defined below) per Submission Category based on certain factors determined by BACF, and award $100,000 USD among the following award categories: Creative Artist Award: Review Panel ($1,000 USD); Superior Award ($500 USD); Exceptional Award ($200); and Special Award ($100). BACF shall also reserve up to $25,000 in bonus awards, including but not limited to the Creative Artist Award(s) and Presidential Award(s) of $1,000 USD each, which shall be awarded at the discretion of BACF. (2) Without limiting the preceding sentence, the judging criteria for the 2026 CYA shall be a points system based on: 1) originality and concept; 2) expressive impact and communication; 3) technique and execution; and 4) overall creative synthesis. The entries must first satisfy the qualification round (the “Qualification Round”) wherein submissions are vetted for meeting submission and formatting guidelines. (3) Upon satisfaction of the Qualification Round, the Qualified Entries with the highest point rankings from the Judges are referred to in these Official Rules as the "Awardees," and will be eligible, subject to the other provisions of these Official Rules, to receive the prize(s) designated for such place of finish in the Official Rules. (4) From the Awardees, the Judges shall select certain entries (the “Prize Winner (s)”) based on the above criteria, and provide anonymously written feedback to each Prize Winner  of the Creative Artist, Presidential and Superior Awards. (5)  In the case of a tie, the tie will be broken by an additional judging round (the “Tie Breaker Round”). All decisions of the Judges are final.

 WINNER NOTIFICATION & ANNOUNCEMENT: The potential Prize Winner(s), as determined by the Judges, will be notified by e-mail provided on or about April 15, 2026 and will be required to respond (as directed) to the notification attempt. Prize(s) shall be awarded on or around May 1, 2026. The failure to respond to the notification may result in forfeiture of participation in the 2026 CYA and, in such case, BACF may select an alternate Winner(s) according to the Judges' results. The potential Winner(s) must have agreed to the Affidavit of Eligibility and Liability/Publicity Release (the “Affidavit”) upon submission of their Entry, and any other documents as required by BACF within seven (7) business days of notification. 

PRIZES: Upon satisfaction of the Qualification Round, each Qualified Entry will be awarded a 1-year digital membership subscription to MasterClass (up to 2500 Entrants total), subject to separate terms and conditions. To accept the MasterClass subscription prize, consent or acceptance by an Entrant’s guardian is required. Based on the number of Qualified Entries received: (i) a certain percentage of Qualified Entries (approximately 60%) will receive a Special Award of $100 USD; a certain percentage of Qualified Entries (approximately 30%) will receive an Exceptional Award of $200 USD; and (iii) a certain percentage of Qualified Entries (approximately 10%) will receive a Superior Award of $500 USD. BACF shall also award up to $25,000 in Bonus Awards, including but not limited to Creative Artist Award(s) and Presidential Award(s) of $1,000 USD. The total approximate retail value or “ARV” of all available prizes in the 2026 CYA: $100,000 USD. 

The specifics of the prize(s) shall be solely determined by BACF. No cash or other prize substitution is permitted except at BACF’s discretion. All prizes are non-transferable. Any and all prize related expenses, including, without limitation, any and all federal, state, and/or local taxes shall be the sole responsibility of the Prize Winner. BACF does not make any warranties, express or implied, as to the condition, fitness or merchantability of the prizes.

 RIGHTS IN SUBMISSIONS: By participating in the 2026 CYA and submitting entries, you authorize BACF, BACF Partners, and any entities affiliated or in privity with BACF to utilize, for eternity and in any manner they see fit, the submission submitted to BACF, and to make derivative works from such materials solely in connection with the 2026 CYA and BACF’s lawful business purposes (i.e., to create promotional materials). You release BACF and BACF Partners from any and all claims or liability (now known or hereafter arising), including, but not limited to, any claims for defense and/or indemnity, in connection therewith. You agree and acknowledge that participation in the 2026 CYA, including, without limitation, your decision to provide your submission to BACF for purposes of the 2026 CYA, shall not give rise to any confidential, fiduciary, implied-in-fact, implied-in-law, or other special relationship between BACF and you, does not place BACF in a position that is any different from the position held by members of the general public with regard to elements of the your submission, and that the only contracts, express or implied, between BACF and you are as set forth in these Official Rules and the release forms.

By participating in the 2026 CYA and submitting entries, you hereby grant permission for BACF and BACF Partners to use your name and likeness for the purpose of advertising, trade and promotion without further notice, permission, or compensation in any and all media now known or hereafter developed throughout the universe. Except as required by law or permitted pursuant to these Official Rules, BACF will not share your personal information with any third parties.

TERMS: BACF reserves the right, in its sole discretion to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the 2026 CYA should (in its sole discretion) a virus, bugs, non-authorized human intervention, fraud or other causes beyond its control corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness or proper conduct of the 2026 CYA. In such case, BACF may select the recipients from all eligible entries received. BACF reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any entrant who tampers or attempts to tamper with the entry process, the operation of the 2026 CYA or the Submission Website and/or violates these Official Rules. BACF has the right, in its sole discretion, to maintain the integrity of the 2026 CYA.

INDEMNIFICATION; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY: By entering, you agree to release and hold BACF and BACF Partners harmless from any liability, injury, loss, litigation, claim or damage of any kind to persons or property, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, arising out of or related to (i) your participation in the 2026 CYA and/or your acceptance, entry submission, possession, use or misuse of any prize or any portion thereof, (ii) the use of your (or any third parties included in your submission(s)) name and likeness for advertising, trade and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity by BACF, without compensation or additional consents from you or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so; (iii) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited, to the malfunctioning of any computer, cable, network, hardware or software; (iv) the unavailability or inaccessibility of any transmissions or telephone or Internet service; (v) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the 2026 CYA; (vi) electronic or human error which may occur in the administration of the 2026 CYA or the processing of entries. Under no circumstances will you be permitted to obtain awards for, and you hereby waives all rights to claim, punitive, incidental, exemplary, indirect, special or consequential damages, or any other damages, whether foreseeable or not and whether based on negligence or otherwise, including attorneys' fees.

GOVERNING LAW: The 2026 CYA is governed by and subject to the laws of California, and all disputes will be decided in accordance with the laws of the state of California, notwithstanding any provisions concerning choice of law. The parties consent to the jurisdiction of the state courts of California and federal court located with such state and county with respect to any action, dispute, or other matter pertaining to or arising out of this Contest.

 PRIVACY POLICY: By entering the 2026 CYA, you grant BACF permission to collect and use both the student applicant’s and their parent or guardian’s email addresses for the purpose of program-related communication, including updates, deadlines, opportunities, and other information related to the Creative Youth Awards and other BACF programs or initiatives that may be of interest. BACF may also share this information with trusted BACF Partners solely for administrative purposes or prize fulfillment. Recipients may unsubscribe from future communications at any time using the opt-out instructions provided in each email.To the extent that BACF publicly discloses a winners list, if any, such list will only include a winner’s first name and first initial of last name, unless the winner(s) request anonymity.

OFFICIAL RULES: To obtain a copy of these Official Rules, send your request along with a stamped, self-addressed envelope to BACF. To the extent applicable, the 2026 CYA shall be in compliance with California Business and Professions Code § 17539.2.