The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) and Let’s Save Michigan have announced a poster contest to inspire Michiganders to revive their state. This is a great opportunity for artists, illustrators, and graphic designers to show off their talent and Michigan pride.
The posters should be a call to action to rally citizens to help revive the state and must include the phrase “Let’s Save Michigan” in the design.
The hope is to highlight the actions and assets that are critical to moving the cities forward, whether that is renovating historic homes, planting community gardens, extensive public transportation and bike lines, public art, or whatever the artist believes will carry Michigan through the 21st century—and beyond.
Ideally, the new posters will be in the fashion of Works Progress Administration artwork of the 1930s, which is the subject of DIA exhibition, and depict regional, recognizable subjects—ranging from portraits to cityscapes and images of city life that remind the public of quintessential American values such as hard work, community and optimism.
The deadline to submit poster designs is February 15 via the Let’s Save Michigan website. Judges will choose 25 finalists and then voting will open to the public. Winners will be announced in March, with a grand prize of $1,000 and a runner-up prize of $250. All finalists’ designs will be on display at a special reception in the spring.
Need inspiration? Check out the DIA “Government Support for the Arts” exhibit, and find out more about the Let’s Save Michigan campaign at letssavemichigan.com and on Facebook.
Hi, I wanted to thank you for your recent mention of the poster contest involving the Let’s Save Michigan effort and the Detroit Institute of arts. With the help of you and many others, we had an amazing 300+ entries for this contest—this far exceeded our expectations! We have since narrowed the entries to 60 finalists and you can view them here http://www.letssavemichigan.com/posters. We’re now asking people to vote for their favorite poster among the finalists and we’re hoping you could inform your readers about the voting, which runs from Feb. 23 to March 15.
Thanks again for your support in this contest that aims to highlight the numerous outstanding artists out there. To view the full press release about the contest and voting, visit http://www.letssavemichigan.com/posters.
Thanks – Sean Mann of Let’s Save Michigan