Alessia Leathers thought it was going to be just one year.
Oh, was she ever wrong.
The Children’s Environmental Art Contest, Coloring the Earth, has been running for two decades.
“The first Earth Day was in 2005,” Leathers said, right after judging for the 20th annual event wrapped up at the Cape Coral-Lee County Public Library. “In 2006, I came up with the idea to celebrate Earth Day with an art contest. Let the youngest in the community express themselves and their environmental concerns through art. I never imagined I would be doing it for 20 years.”
Since 2006, a total of 6,415 children have participated in the contest — backed by Cape Coral Public Library and the Friends of the Cape Coral Library — and 333 have won awards.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” said Leathers, who is the contest’s chairperson. “If someone has entered the (age) 10-11 category when this started, they’d be over 30 now.”
And the first 10 years, Leathers did it all on her own — deciding on the contest’s theme, finding a keynote speaker (like representatives from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, MOTE Marine and Sierra Club Florida), writing and sending news releases, promoting the contest at events (like the Burrowing Owl and SWFL Reading festivals), arranging for judges, buying the prizes, contacting the winners and so much more.
“The best part is the phone calling the winners,” she said. “You always hear people screaming in the background, celebrating.”
Monica Rahman, chair of Friends of the Cape Coral Library art gallery, has helped for the last 10 years.
“She is such a big help,” said Leathers, who is an adjunct instructor at Florida Gulf Coast University and, as a longtime volunteer with the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife, takes care of the Special Population’s butterfly garden. “She puts each winner’s drawing in a frame. It comes out beautiful. And she does most of the publicity.”
And there’s a lot to frame. First, second and third place, plus two honorable mentions, are awarded in each of four categories (ages 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 and 11-12).
Gopher tortoises, dolphins, manatees, more have been featured
With themes of Save the Planet, Save Our Wildlife and Protect Our Waters, there were 50 entries in each of the first three years of the contest. As themes got more specific, numbers rose. In 2015, 367 entered the Protect Our Bald Eagle contest, followed by 520 for the Florida panthers in 2017 and 594 in 2018 for the loggerhead sea turtles. The most came in 2013 when the Protect Our Dolphins contest saw 620 entries.
“I pick themes based on what needs attention at the time,” Leathers said. The last few years, she’s focused on the Florida scrub jay, smalltooth sawfish and mangroves. “Kids learn about the species and how to protect them through their art.”
Leathers is moving on to focus on other volunteer projects soon, and this year’s contest is her last. The future of the contest has yet to be determined.
“I’m not sad about stepping down,” she said. “I’ll be sad if no one steps in.”
Before she walks away, though, there’s the current contest …
Protect our Florida black bears in 2026
A total of 455 entries were submitted for this year’s contest, which put a spotlight back on Florida’s black bears. It’s the only species Leathers used twice.
“I chose it because FWC decided last year to resume hunting, without any science, our one and only Florida black bears,” she said.
Twenty winners will be honored during an awards ceremony at 6 p.m. May 13 at the Cape Coral Library. All are invited to attend the event, which will feature keynote speaker Cris Costello, state campaign director of Sierra Club Florida. She was one of the contest judges, along with Rahman, local artists Sharyn Dahn and Kim Carioto, and Robyn George, a reporter for The News-Press.
The winning artwork will be displayed at the Gallery of Cape Coral Public Library (921 SW 39th Terrace) over the summer and featured at capefriends.org.
2026 Children’s Environmental Art Coloring the Earth winners
5-6 years old
First: Greyson Vaughan (6) Trafalgar ElementarySecond: Juliette Pabon (6) Oasis South ElementaryThird: Greyson Hunt (6) River Hall ElementaryHonorable Mention: Kylee Zefri Berry (5) Pinecrest Academy Avalon and Dashiell Courtright (5) Whiz Kids
7-8 years old
First: Nico Bartley (7) St. Francis Xavier SchoolSecond: Lincoln Swinto (7) HomeschoolThird: Clara Laursen (8) Heights ElementaryHonorable Mention: Emma Romero (8) St. Francis Xavier and Elena Yang (8) Heights
9-10 years old
First: Annie Miller (10) HeightsSecond: Dominic Joseph (9) St. Francis Xavier SchoolThird: Mila Salazar (10) HeightsHonorable Mention: Lydia Hoffman (9) St. Francis Xavier and Camille Millsap (10) Heights
11-12 years old
First: Federico Beltran-Velez (11) St. Francis XavierSecond: Weston Mecsics (11) Oasis MiddleThird: Zoey Snyder (11) St. Francis XavierHonorable Mention: Ayva Whitehurst (11) Heights and Isabella Evalle (11) St. Francis Xavier
Robyn George is a food and dining reporter for The News-Press. Connect at rhgeorge@fortmyer.gannett.com
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This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: In Cape Coral: Saving our environment one critter, one crayon at a time
Reporting by Robyn George, Fort Myers News-Press & Naples Daily News / Fort Myers News-Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
