Introduction
The 2022 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest received 2,482 entries, from 2,251 participants in 56 countries!
Artists from the following countries took part:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, USA, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Vietnam.
Thank you to all the artists, teachers and schools who took part!
Watch This Video Featuring The Winning Artwork
Enjoy this video featuring the winning frog art of 2022! You will see the winners, finalists and semi-finalists. Feel free to embed it on your website to help spread the word about the SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest.
Be sure to subscribe to the SAVE THE FROGS! YouTube Channel. You can leave your comments there as well.
Grand Prize Winner – Gabriel Zavaleta, Mexico
“My work is titled “The Surreal Night Of The Alebrije Frogs”.
It was made by hand using colored pencils, markers and gel pens on black paper. I decided to use a cheerful and extroverted style inspired by the folk art of my country, through the use of bright colors as well as the use of foliage effects and transparencies, to represent the semi-aquatic habitat of frogs.
What I want to imply with this drawing is that we must preserve this species, which is very important for the natural balance of rivers, lakes, swamps, and other aquatic ecosystems. The message is implied with the sad spirit of a frog that represents extinct species, singing to everyone from the bottom of his heart, to raise awareness of the importance of these beautiful animals through the phrase SAVE THE FROGS!; and at the same time shows us the beauty of frogs in their main stages where we can appreciate eggs, tadpoles and the adult stage. Different behaviors are also shown, such as: hunting, their way of jumping, swimming and inflating the throat before making sounds; and the representation of transparent frogs to show a little of their interior.
Finally, the vivid and bright colors of the other frogs represent the beauty of the species that are still with us and it is our responsibility to take care of them and preserve them so that future generations can enjoy their beautiful song.
In the past, I studied at the University of Veracruz.
I have loved frogs since I was a child and in my neighborhood it was very common to hear their nocturnal song in the streets because there were swamps nearby, which ended when they built more houses. This is what motivated me to make this drawing and its message about the care and importance of frogs.”
– Gabriel Zavaleta
“Mi obra se titula: La noche surreal de las ranas alebrije, fue realizada a mano mediante lápices de colores, plumones y bolígrafos de gel sobre papel negro.
Decidí usar un estilo alegre y extrovertido inspirado en el arte popular de mi país mediante el uso de colores vivos así como el uso de efectos de follaje y transparencias para representar el hábitat semiacuático de las ranas.
Lo que quiero dar a entender con este dibujo es que debemos preservar a esta especie que es muy importante para el equilibrio natural de ríos, lagos, pantanos y otros ecosistemas acuáticos. Se da a entender el mensaje con el espíritu triste de una rana la cual representa a las especies extintas cantándole a todos desde el fondo de su corazón para crear conciencia de la importancia de estos bellos animales mediante la frase: Save the frogs y al mismo tiempo nos muestra la belleza de las ranas en sus principales etapas donde podemos apreciar: huevecillos, renacuajos y la etapa adulta, tambien se muestran distintos comportamientos como: la caza, su forma de saltar, nadar e inflar la garganta antes de emitir sonidos así como la representación de las ranas transparentes para mostrar un poco de su interior.
Finalmente los colores vivos y brillantes de las otras ranas representan la belleza de las especies que aun están con nosotros y es nuestra responsabilidad cuidarlas y preservarlas para que las futuras generaciones puedan disfrutar su hermoso canto.
Agradezco mucho la oportunidad de haber participado en este maravilloso concurso el cual ha sido muy importante para mi porque es el primer concurso de arte en el que participo y haber ganado significa mucho para mi ya que es para una noble causa como lo es salvar a las ranas y anfibios del mundo.
Estudiaba en la Universidad Veracruzana. Yo amo las ranas desde que era un pequeño y en mi vecindario era muy común escuchar su canto nocturno en las calles debido a que había pantanos cerca lo cual se termino cuando construyeron mas casas, esto es lo que me motivo a hacer este dibujo y su mensaje sobre el cuidado e importancia de las ranas.”
– Gabriel Zavaleta
“I am very grateful for the opportunity to have participated in this wonderful contest, which has been very important to me because it is the first art contest in which I have participated, and having won means a lot to me since it is for a noble cause such as saving the frogs and amphibians of the world.”
Congratulations to Gabriel, and best of luck with your future environmental art projects!
2nd Place Winner – Yu-Wei Chang, Taiwan
“Frogs must work together to fight for themselves and protect their forest.”
Congratulations to Yu-Wei, a student of Hui-Wen Senior High School in Taichung!
3rd Place Winner – Zhong wei Zhang, Taiwan
Congratulations to Zhong wei, a student of Taichung Municipal Siang Shang Junior High School!
4th Place Winner – Oleg Alexeyev, Russia
Congratulations to Oleg, for his art entitled “At The Frog Place”.
5th Place Winner – Evangelina Sarett, Russia
“Hello! I participated in the contest because I worry about the problem of ecology and of course, I want to save frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and all amphibians!
The idea of the drawing is that there are a lot of indifferent people in the world, they are not interested in the problems of frogs and other small inhabitants of the planet – and they pass by frogs. But due to the fact that people occupy their habitats, these wonderful creatures are reducing their numbers. And pay attention to the little dude: he points a small paw at the inscription and, seemingly, says to all of us: guys, please, let’s save the unfortunate frogs!
I always participate in ecological contests, as this is one of the ways to get people to think about important things. So this is a way to change the world for the better. I am a young artist, and my works are cartoons. Already many have received international awards; they have become winners in Canada, Australia, South Korea, etc. At the Climate Changemaker Teen Film Festival in Santa Monica (California, USA), my cartoon became the winner in 2021, and 20 trees were planted in my honor – as an act of combating climate change.
This is my small contribution to change the world for the better. I would like the problem of ecology to be solved in the world. Thank you for doing an important thing and for holding the SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest!”
– Evangelina
You can find Evangelina on YouTube and Instagram.
Watch These Videos Featuring The Honorable Mentions
These videos features the Honorable Mentions, and lots of relaxing frog calls! Enjoy them and please share.
“These are all very good, really creative and well-done.” – Corey Cleven
“This is a great video.” – Char
“Thank you so much for doing this contest every year, my kids really enjoy it.”
Candace Greene, Teacher, Alhambra Elementary School, Phoenix, AZ
Please subscribe to the SAVE THE FROGS! YouTube Channel and leave a comment there…it helps our videos climb up the YouTube algorithm and get viewed by more frog enthusiasts and artists.
2022 SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest: More Stats
We awarded five winners; 11 finalists, 12 semi-finalists; and 230 honorable mentions.
The countries with the most participants in 2022 were China (731 participants), USA (560), Russia (213), India (196), Hungary (92), Serbia (60), Kazakhstan (45), Spain (37), Taiwan (34) & Ukraine (32).
The countries with the most artists who advanced past the first round (i.e. gained Honorable Mentions or higher) were Russia (62 artists), USA (48) & China (27).
We awarded five Winners; 11 Finalists, 12 Semi-Finalists; and 230 Honorable Mentions.
Of the entries from China, 616 participants were from Hong Kong and 115 were from elsewhere in the country.
2,034 participants were under 18 years old; 8.4% of these artists advanced past the first round.
181 participants were 18 or older; 48.6% of these artists advanced past the first round.
“Thanks a lot! We really enjoyed participating in the competition, we hope to participate next year!”
– Natalia Rogacheva, Art Teacher, Kazakhstan
About The SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest & Judging
All art was judged without knowledge of the artist’s age, gender, nationality or other identifying information.
The SAVE THE FROGS! Art Contest runs year round, is free to enter and is open to any artist inspired to SAVE THE FROGS! 🐸
The cutoff for each year’s judging is November 1st, and winners get announced December 1st. Any art received after the cutoff automatically gets entered in the following year’s contest. Certificates are e-mailed to participants by December 10th.
“Thank you very much! It was a pleasure to participate! Save The Frogs is an amazing project!”
– Jen Portes
