Folsom Street Events, the producers of the Folsom Street Fair^tm, invites entries for the annual Folsom Street Fair Poster Competition. The competition is open to all forms of flat art (2D) including photographs. Submissions must be provided digitally on CD-ROM with an accompanying 18" x 24" print. Entries will be judged by a panel consisting of the Folsom Street Events Board of Directors.

Prizes

Up to ten finalists will vie for prizes of $400.00, $200.00 and $100.00 for first, second and third place. In addition a "Peoples' Choice" award of $100.00 will be given to the finalist receiving the most votes cast by viewers on this web site and at the 2008 Folsom Street Fair^tm. Prize money may optionally be donated to the charity of the winner's choice in their name. Finalist artwork will be viewed by hundreds of thousands of people either through this web site or via a public gallery to be setup at the 2008 Folsom Street Fair^tm.

NOTE: The awarding of any prize in this contest in no way obligates Folsom Street Events to utilize the work in any way.

Important Dates

• April 1, 2008 - Competition begins. Entrant registration opens.
• September 5, 2008 - Entry deadline. All artwork entries must be received by close of business on this date.
• September 18, 2008 - Finalists announced
• September 28, 2008 - Finalists displayed in a gallery at the Folsom Street Fair
• October 31, 2008 - Winners announced
• November 19, 2008 - Prizes awarded

Eligibility

Although we hope to encourage new artists, this competition is open to all artists be they amateur, student or professional. Winning entries from any other art competition or art previously published in periodicals, web sites, logos, fliers, palm cards or any other form of public distribution with or without compensation to the artist may not be entered. Employees, directors or associates of Folsom Street Events or the sponsors and beneficiaries of Folsom Street Events and their immediate families and those living in the same household may not enter this contest. Artists may enter year after year. Previous winners may re-enter as well.

Number of Entries

Each registered artist may submit up to three artworks.

Subject Guidelines

Given the potential subject matter of entries the following guidelines are provided to describe artwork that will be acceptable for public distribution and by our sponsor organizations. Specific questions on any of these guidelines should be directed to the contest administrator by clicking:

• The judges encourage artists to incorporate the theme of "Community". Another suggestion is the re-working of a classic iconic image from the art world into the world of Leather. Works celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Folsom Street Fair are also welcome.
• No logos, brand names, trademarks or copyright material may be included in submitted artwork except the official Folsom Street Fair^tm logo. Description of the fair location and date, the words: 'Folsom' or 'Folsom Street Fair 2008' or 'San Francisco' may be included if so desired.
• Each artist is free to explore any and all forms of erotic imagery however explicit sex acts and/or clear images of male or female genitalia or full nudity will prevent artwork from being judged.
• Artwork degrading or demeaning the human condition, depicting illegal activities or artwork with specific religious or political references will prevent artwork from being judged.
• All works entered for the competition must be original.
• All work submitted must be representative of Folsom Street Fair's slogan, "FUN, FROLIC & FETISH", and be in line with our Mission Statement:

All artists are highly encourage to visit our web site and view photos from previous fairs to gain a better understanding of our events and purpose.

• View photos from our events

We also suggest that artists take a look at posters that we have produced for the Folsom Street Fair from previous years.

• Poster Samples from Previous Years

Submission Format Requirements

Each submission may consist of 1, 2 or 3 images. Images must be provided in digital form via CD-ROM, and optionaly on physical media (paper for example) measuring 18" x 24". Please Note: If an entry is chosen as a finalist we will require you to provide an 18" x 24" print which we will frame and put on display at the Folsom Street Fair.

The technical requirements for the digital images are as follows:

• The preferred image format is Photoshop native format (PSD), at 300 dpi, in CYMK mode.
• Text layers should be editable and all fonts used should be provided on the CD-ROM.
• The background image should be in one layer.
• In order to best accommodate poster production, the digital images should measure 18.25" x 24.25" when printed.
• If Photoshop native format is not available, TIFF format is also acceptable at the same resolution and size specified above.

Artists wishing to submit multiple entries at one time can submit one CD-ROM with all the images, and (optional) prints of each image together in one package. In addition each artwork submitted must be accompanied by a brief description (under 250 words) and title (these may also be on the CD-ROM).

Prospective entrants without access to a computer capable of writing a CD-ROM can visit a local copy/print center, where such equipment is available. The cost quoted at contest announcement time was less than $5.00 per CD-ROM.

Judging

The Board of Directors of Folsom Street Events will judge all entries by closed ballot. Up to ten finalist entries will be selected for continuation in the competition on September 18, 2008. All winning entries will be selected from these finalists. The prize-winning entries will be announced on October 31, 2008 with a press release. Folsom Street Events reserves the right to disqualify any and all submissions. All decisions of the Folsom Street Events board are final.

Winning Entries

The winning entries will become the sole property of Folsom Street Events.

• Neither CD-ROM, nor prints will be returned to any entrant.
• No additional compensation will be given to the winners other than the prize money. The winning artists will be permitted to promote themselves at their own cost with their winning image, however Folsom Street Events must grant permission in writing. Folsom Street Events will reserve all rights to the winning images and their distribution in perpetuity.
• Folsom Street Events reserves the right to reproduce, without additional payment, any entry in any publications and/or advertising related to Folsom Street Events with credit given the artist by name.

Sales

Folsom Street Events may elect to sell any artwork submitted to this competition at some future date. Artists wishing to sell their work at our Fairs may enter the juried Folsom Street Fair artist's area competition or they may apply for exhibitor booth space at Folsom Street Fair and/or the Up Your Alley Street Fair.

• Fair exhibitor information

How to Enter

All artists wishing submit artwork to this competition must first register via our web site.

• Registration is CLOSED at this time

After registering, you will receive a unique registration ID. With this in hand, artists can submit up to three artwork entries by sending them to the address below on CD-ROM. The CD-ROM should contain properly formatted image(s), entry description(s), entry title(s). Each entry must have an accompanying 18"x24" print. All items must be clearly marked with the entrants registration ID. The postal address to send artwork entries to is:

Folsom Street Events 
Poster Art Competition
965 Mission St.
Suite 200
San Francisco, CA 94103
USA

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