Fredericksburg Eighth Grader is Statewide Winner of International Lions Club Peace Poster Contest
The contest, in its 39th year, asks young artists to express through art what peace means to them.
By Adele Uphaus
MANAGING EDITOR AND CORRESPONDENT
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For almost four decades, Lions clubs around the world have been inviting young people in the midst of some of their most turbulent years—ages 11-13—to think creatively outside themselves about the concept of peace.
The International Peace Poster Contest gives middle school students the opportunity to be recognized at local, state, national, and international levels for sharing through visual art what peace means to them. The contests are sponsored by local Lions clubs at schools or other youth organizations.
This year, Cadence Rubin-Halterman, who is finishing up her 8th grade year at Walker-Grant Middle School in Fredericksburg City, won at the school, district, and statewide levels.
Cadence also won the school and district level last year, the first year that any student from Walker-Grant Middle placed at the district level.
Each year, the Peace Poster Contest has a theme. For 2025-26, it was “Together as One” and for 2026-27, it’s “Harmony in Humanity.”
“When we treat each other with respect and kindness, peace can flourish,” the description of the 2026-27 theme reads. “This year, we invite young people to imagine a world where people of every culture and background live together peacefully — celebrating differences, finding common ground and creating true harmony in humanity.”
Rebecca Rubin, Cadence’s mom, said the fact that the Lions host such a contest for young people, and have done so for 39 years, is important.
“Who sponsors a peace contest?” Rubin said. “That’s the coolest idea. To ask young artists who are sitting there doodling to conceptualize peace, visualize peace, and have them put it on paper is amazing.”
There are 50,000 active Lions clubs across the world, on every continent except Antarctica. That makes the Peace Poster Contest truly global—last year’s overall winner was a 13-year-old from China, and merit winners came from Canada, Taiwan, Italy, Japan, Nicaragua, Ireland, Lithuania, Cyprus, Korea, Slovenia, Indonesia, and the U.S.
Rubin said Cadence gifted the original of her poster to a family friend, Joshua Barrett, who graduated this spring from a Ph.D. program.
Barrett wrote about her art: “When I see this art, this to me is the epitome of what a human being is. I see all of the color, I see all of the love … I see love, I see anguish, I see joy, I see questioning. I see all of this with every little stroke that you made, Cay. This is what it means to be a human. I've never seen anybody capture the soul of a human being like this.”
Find out how to sponsor the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest at your school or community group here.
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I've had the privilege of knowing Cadence since she came home from the hospital, and watching her artistic journey unfold has been one of the great joys of my life.
When Cadence was very young, she created a portrait of me that I would characterize as boldly abstract. I framed it immediately, and it still hangs on my wall today—a reminder of where her creative vision began. Even then, she saw the world differently.
Over the years, I've witnessed her tackle increasingly ambitious projects with remarkable ingenuity. She constructed elaborate three-story dollhouses entirely from cardboard, scotch tape, and scissors, furnishing each room with detailed miniature pieces she crafted herself. Then she'd spend hours animating those spaces with small dolls, her imagination transforming simple materials into entire worlds. She's also created delicate clay renditions of nature in miniature that now reside on my fireplace mantel—small treasures that capture her ability to observe and render beauty at the most intimate scale.
In recent years, her sketches and paintings have grown increasingly sophisticated and beautiful, demonstrating the technical skill and emotional depth that earned her statewide recognition in the Lions Club Peace Poster Contest.
What the article doesn't mention is that Cadence is also an accomplished musician who plays violin and flute, sings in the school choirs, and is an avid soccer player. She approaches all of these pursuits with the same creativity, dedication, and heart that define her artwork.
I am proud to be her uncle by heart, and I look forward to seeing where her talents take her next.