Working at the intersection of Ocean science and arts education since 2011, Bow Seat, the world’s largest environmental youth program dedicated to the creative arts, provides an innovative space for global youth to connect, create, and communicate for our planet. In this chapter, we share lessons learned from over a decade of empowering youth through Bow Seat: Creative Action for Conservation (formerly Bow Seat Ocean Awareness Programs), which inspires young people to explore Ocean issues and become environmental advocates through the creative arts. Our award-winning Ocean Awareness Contest, hosted annually, has engaged more than 44,000 students aged 11–18 from over 142 countries and has elevated diverse youth voices and fostered dialogue and participation in Ocean conservation. Through creative expression, students experience interdisciplinary learning in which conservation topics become personal, experiential, and multisensory as they produce unique images, stories, poems, and media. By sharing the history, methodology, and outcomes of this unique program, we explore the empowering role of the creative arts in introducing students worldwide to complex Ocean challenges. We also highlight the broader implications of our findings, which demonstrate the creative arts’ critical role in advancing Ocean Literacy through three key pillars of student impact: building knowledge, fostering empathy and interest, and cultivating youth empowerment.