Court Artist Contest
Craig Harding Memorial Court Artist Contest
2025 Season Contest Registration
Registration will be completed online, and the deadline is Friday, January 17, 2025.
Submit your registration by completing the form at this link: Click Here for Court Artist Registration.
Registration fees may be paid by credit card at this link: Click Here to Pay for Court Artist Registration.
If paying by check, the registration fee must be received by the Mock Trial office by Friday, Jan. 17.
Contestants are responsible for reading and understanding the Rules of the Court Artist Contest prior to the competition.
Schools fielding one team may enter a maximum of three students; schools fielding two or three teams may enter a maximum of four students. Contestants must attend a school fielding a team in the 2025 Georgia HSMT competition.
Contestants will accompany their school's mock trial team to the Regional Competition. Contestants will be allowed to view rounds only with their own mock trial team.
Format of the Contest
Artists may submit up to two entries for the Contest. The drawings must be completed in Round 2 or 3 of the Regional Competition. Artists may join their mock trial team in Round 1 to practice and get a feel for the contest.
A student who is competing as a lawyer or witness on only one side of the case (and idle on the other side of the case) is permitted to participate in the Court Artist Contest.
Once completed, the Artist will submit their drawing to the regional coordinator for judging.
Background of the Contest
In 1996, the High School Mock Trial Committee entered into a special relationship with the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), which sponsored a court artist, Craig Harding—a student at SCAD—to accompany the 1996 and 1997 Georgia state mock trial champion teams to the national competition. The product of that work has illustrated mock trial publications since 1997. In the fall of 1998, after Craig Harding’s death in June of that year, SCAD sponsored the first statewide court artist contest in his memory for students who attend high schools that compete in our program.
The Court Artist Contest is open to any enrolled student at a school/organization fielding a competing High School Mock Trial team. Each team may enter up to 3 Court Artist Contestants. Contestants submit up to two drawings made during the course of the Regional Competition using the guidelines outlined on the registration.
Katie Smith, Washington County HS, Region 10 (Macon), State Champion and National Champion, 2024
Michelle Cao, Northview HS, Region 17 (Cumming), State Champion, 2019
Katie Dodgen, McIntosh HS, Region 13 (Newnan), State Finalist, 2019
Michelle Cao, Northview HS, Region 17 (Cumming), State Champion, 2018
Nicole Harris, Cambridge HS, Region 17 (Cumming), State Champion, 2017