The N.C. Department of Transportation is asking young people to take flights of imagination — and then put their thoughts to paper for the 2018 N.C. Aviation Art Contest.

Students who live in and/or attend school in North Carolina and were born between Jan. 1, 2000, and Dec. 31, 2011, are encouraged to submit artwork with the theme “Flight Into the Future.”

Prizes to each artist and his or her school will be divided by age group: junior, intermediate and senior. The top three entries in each age group will be forwarded to Washington, D.C., to be judged in national competition. National winners’ artwork will go to Fédération Aéronautique Internationale headquarters in Switzerland for international judging.

Submissions must be postmarked no later than Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Mail artwork and a certificate of authenticity to:

N.C. DOT Aviation Art Contest

N.C. Division of Aviation

1560 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1560

For more information, visit https://www.ncdot.gov/aviation/events/highlight/art_contest.html.