Odin Plourde is in the top 1% of all competitors moving into the quarterfinals that opened up today.

The son of Alaina Gendron and Joe Plourde of Norway started the process alongside more than 40,000 emerging young artists about five weeks ago and has consistently held onto the top spot as public voting continues to support his progress.

The winner of the inaugural competition will be announced in early May. In addition to receiving a grand prize of $20,000, they will be flown to Florida to appear on an episode of “The Joy of Painting” and have their artwork on display in the Bob Ross exhibit at the Minnetrista Museum in Muncie, Ind.

In early January, Gendron came across a Facebook advertisement for the competition. “I thought of Odin immediately and entered him with a few of his favorite pictures, then kind of forgot about it,” she said.

Odin Plourde shows off one of his favorite dinosaur drawings. The 9-year-old from Norway is in a national competition to be named “America’s Most Artistic Kid.” (Terri Castelaz/Daily News)

On Jan. 30, she received a text notifying her that he had been selected to compete.

Plourde’s love for art began at an early age. “He has been drawing since he could hold a pencil,” Gendron said. “He can look at it one time and hours later he has created it on a piece of paper.”

Plourde said his favorite art form is drawing with pencils or colored pencils.

He has recently been working more with watercolor markers.

“I love to draw dinosaurs,” he said. “I will watch YouTube for references.”

One of Odin Plourde’s favorite artworks, a portrait of a dog. (Terri Castelaz/Daily News)

“He also really got into ‘Jurassic World,’ and gets a lot of inspiration from the movie,” Gendron said. “He is always using his imagination and pays attention to every detail to recreate whatever he is working on.”

Another one of Plourde’s favorite pieces is a pencil sketch portrait of a dog.

“He’s always creating artwork for his family,” Gendron said. “I have bins full that he has done for us and his brother and sister that we will cherish forever.”

The 9-year-old said that his friends often ask him to draw something for them, which he is happy to do.

“They are all cheering me on,” he said. “So is my art teacher.”

Plourde has also started to sign and name his artwork pieces.

His mother said if he’s not drawing, he is creating in another form.

“He has made street signs out of Capri Sun straws and paper, and even crafted several functional board games using just paper and his imagination,” she added. “He is known to build some elaborate lego structures as well.”

He is also the “certified birthday card maker” for the family.

“I especially love that I always hear him humming while he draws — I can tell he truly enjoys it,” she added.

The community can view a small fraction of Ploude’s artwork, which starts with his most recent pieces going back to age 5, on the voting link.

Gendron noted she had a hard time choosing from the hundreds of projects he has done over the years.

He hopes the community will continue to vote to keep him in the running.

To support Plourde, go to https://artistickid.org/2026/odin-4664. His mother is also sharing the link on Facebook. Voting for the quarterfinals will end Thursday.

“I’m really excited,” Plourde said. “I’m surprised I’m still going and in first place in my group.”

His mother noted that the group is made up of young artists ranging in age from 6 to 17.

Voting is free for the first vote each day. Additional votes are $1 per vote as a contribution to Blood Cancer United, formerly The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, for blood cancer research in honor of Ross, who promoted that anyone could be an artist in his PBS show that ran from January 1983 until May 1994. Ross passed away from complications related to lymphoma in 1995. A new version of the show, led by Bob Ross Art Workshop and Gallery instructor Nicholas Hankins, began broadcasting in 2023.

“Winning this competition would be an amazing opportunity for him,” said his mother Alaina Gendron. “He told me when he was very young he wanted his artwork in a museum, now those wishes might come true.”

Gendron will keep the public updated on his progress on her Facebook page.

“We are so proud of our little artist,” Gendron said.

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Terri Castelaz can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85241, or tcastelaz@ironmountaindailynews.com.