An organization known as Creative Communication offers contests in the area of art and writing to students of various ages.
There is no fee to enter and they publish a book (which they then sell) of winning entries. This can be a fun motivator if just working toward a grade or even just to get an assignment finished is getting a little old.
From the coordinators:
We have three contests . . . Each year we have several homeschoolers accepted in our
contests and we admire their impressive work. The following is
information on each contest, if you have any questions please feel
free to contact me!
Here are the websites for more information:
Art Contest
www.celebratingart.com
Poetry Contest
poeticpower.com
Essay Contest
poeticpower.com