CONGRATS to the Award Winners of the 2025-26 GEM Art Contest for Suicide Prevention Awards Ceremony
We packed the Eichelberger Auditorium in the Dayton Metro Library and presented 51 students from 46 schools with prizes ranging from $50 to $1,000 at this year's GEM Awards Ceremony, totaling more than $15,000. We will update the website with photos and video of the ceremony soon, but here are a few photos and our senior team members' video that introduced our program and shared what we do with all the artwork we receive from the contest. You can view winning entries here.
We received 135 entries from 28 high schools and 18 middle schools. Every school with a participant was guaranteed at least one winner. Our diverse team of judges consisted of students, professional artists, and mental health professionals. We couldn't do this without the support of our generous sponsors. Please be sure to thank them for their support with your business or a kind word if you see them.
We are excited about the new artwork and look forward to sharing our plans for how we will include it in our prevention messaging materials and signage for the community.
GEM Writers' Kickback
We hosted our first opportunity for students to create and share their writing inspired by the GEM artwork in November 2026. We offered food, journals, artwork, prompts, and comfy spaces for students to create messages of hope and resilience that will encourage others to keep going.
We will use the words to accompany the artwork in our outreach projects, such as the calendar and posters, and provide awards for students whose writing we use.
We hope to offer more GEM Writers' Kickback sessions in the future, so check back if you are interested in joining us!
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Look for Our New Ad in RTA Buses!
GEM Project Dayton is excited to announce that we have a new PSA in all 200 RTA buses that serve Greater Dayton. The ad features award-winning GEM artwork created by Northmont freshman Mame for the 2024-25 GEM Art Contest and shares information about the 988 crisis line. This ad will help spread the word about this vital nationwide service available 24/7 for FREE, and we couldn't have created it without the support of our community! Thank you for helping us make Dayton a suicide-safer community!
Winning artwork of the 2024-25 GEM Art Contest for Suicide Prevention
Winners of the 2024-25 Art Contest for Suicide Prevention with the GEM Team Members at the awards ceremony on February 23, 2025
To view all photos from the 2024-25 GEM Awards Ceremony, please click here.
Thank you to Gene Peters for photographing our GEM Awards Ceremony each year.
Click here for the video of the 2024-25 GEM Awards Ceremony.
Thank you to Cameron Krause for filming our awards ceremony and
to Zach Hanna for creating the video of our awards ceremony this year.
Check Out
Our Calendar!
Our 2024-2026 JumpstART Conversations calendar features the GEM artwork from the first three years of our contest! You can view the calendar here.
These calenders were mailed to schools and organizations that work with youth and we look forward to printing our 2027-2028 calendar next year! If you would like to get one next fall, please send your mailing address to gemprojectdayton@gmail.com. If you would like to have your company logo on our calendar, go to our Support Us page for details.
Not an Artist?
You can still particpate!
We are actively looking for high school students from different schools in the Dayton area to join our GEM student leadership team. You can read about the responsibilities of student team leaders here. If you are interested, please reach out to us at gemprojectdayton@gmail.com. We would LOVE to have you.
Note: If you are an artist, you probably don't want to join our team because you would not be eligible to enter our contest.
© 2023 by GEM Project Dayton - a local nonprofit, dedicated to fighting suicide in the Dayton area.