Submissions Are Now Open for the Next Wave Summer Showcase. Here's What You Need to Know in Order to Submit
- Jun 3
- 2 min read
The Next Wave Summer Showcase is an online youth creative competition and digital exhibition created to celebrate teen artists, writers, innovators, entrepreneurs, and creators across the East Coast. Through submissions, features, and awards, the showcase aims to highlight the ideas, creativity, and voices of the next generation while giving students a platform to be recognized beyond the classroom and their local communities.
Selected creators will be featured through the Next Wave website, social media platforms, and a digital magazine showcasing standout work from this summer’s competition.
Too many young creators keep their work hidden in notes apps, sketchbooks, folders, and drafts. The Summer Showcase was created to change that. At Next Wave, we believe creativity deserves visibility. Whether someone is writing stories at midnight, designing products in their bedroom, building business ideas between classes, filming short movies with friends, or creating artwork quietly without ever sharing it publicly, their work deserves a space to be seen and appreciated. The Summer Showcase expands the mission of Next Wave by creating a larger opportunity for young people to share their work, connect with other creators, and gain recognition for their ideas and talent.
Who Can Submit?
The showcase is open to rising students in grades 7-12 located across the East Coast of the United States. Seniors that graduate this summer are also allowed to submit.
Creators can submit work in categories including:
Visual Arts
Photography & Film
Poetry
Fiction & Nonfiction
Journalism
Scriptwriting & Playwriting
Product & Engineering Concepts
Business Ideas & Entrepreneurship
Whether your work exists in a Google Doc, camera roll, notebook, sketchbook, slideshow, or prototype folder, this showcase was built to give it a place to exist publicly.
What Creators Can Receive
Selected creators may receive:
Features on the Next Wave website
Social media spotlight posts
Digital certificates
Publication in the Summer Showcase digital magazine
“Next Wave Creator of the Summer” recognition
Additional awards and recognitions may also be announced throughout the summer.
Why This Matters
Young creators are constantly making things—stories, ideas, inventions, designs, films, businesses, and art—yet many students never receive opportunities to showcase that work outside of school assignments or personal projects. The Next Wave Summer Showcase was created to help change that by building a youth-led space centered around creativity, originality, and recognition.
This showcase is about more than competition. It’s about visibility, community, and creating opportunities for young people to feel supported in their creativity rather than pressured to hide it.
Important Dates
Submissions Open: June 3
Submission Deadline: July 20
Judging Period: July 22-August 5
Winners Announced: August 14 (subject to change)
Digital Magazine Release: September 1
Submit Your Work
If you’re a teen creator with something you’re proud of, this is your sign to share it.
The next wave of creators is already here.
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