One of the most important topics in the upcoming presidential election is immigration reform. Here’s your opportunity to express your opinion creatively and collectively make a difference as part of the Student Voices community. Create an illustration, political cartoon or piece of art about Mexican/American immigration reform and you could win $500! Demonstrate the current ideas and attitudes towards immigration reform in your town or school and show us what your friends and family think by showcasing your artistic talent. Support your ideas by voting in your next election!

Open to anyone who is a resident of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia or Mexico, has access to the Internet, and is 18 or older at the time of entry. Deadline is 17 July 2008. Visit the site to learn more.

Over $15,000 in prizes to be awarded in the latest MyToons animation contest including trip to NYC to see winning animation in Times Square! Deadline is 4 September 2008.

MyToons.com – now in HD – today announced the launch of its latest innovative and imaginative contest for animators all over the world. “Get with the Times!,” an HD animation contest sending one Grand Prize Winner to New York City to see their animation played on a Clear Channel billboard, powered by Adobe Flash technology, in Times Square. Animators are invited to submit their HD animations at MyToons.com/contests/TimesSquare.

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You’ll have to have your head in gear for this one, as it’s due this Sunday, 29 June! Fiat, in association with Don’t Panic, wants artists to design a poster on the theme of ‘Everyday Masterpieces.’ This is to celebrate the spirit of classic design inherent in the recently revamped Fiat 500.

The theme can be interpreted pretty broadly. Look at the brilliant designs that they might take for granted but couldn’t live without, like the new Fiat 500, for example. The poster design doesn’t need to include the Fiat, so don’t think of it as an ad for the car. Instead, reinterpret the classic designs around you – the drawing pins, tea pots, scissors, chopsticks (okay, most things on your desk) – and creatively re-envision them. Rethink the icons of the everyday.

The winning poster design will be printed on one side of our Future poster in July, and distributed in 160,000 Don’t Panic packs around the globe. Plus, the winner will be sent exclusive invitations to the 500 Picnic. This will be hosted at Alexandra Park on 5 July, and guests will be presented with designer Guzzini hampers, brimming with Italian food and drinks. The afternoon will be packed with events, from volleyball games to tai chi lessons, and they have personally guaranteed glorious weather. Picnic attendees will also be able to enter competitions to win their own brand new Fiat 500 and many other prizes. Learn more at the Don’t Panic (seriously!) Web site.

Architecture for Humanity is teaming with Google SketchUp to host “Sportables,” a one-week design sprint. Nothing connects kids like the power of play. Yet, too often kids cannot afford necessary equipment and do not have access to competitive facilities. How can they build a unit that turns would-be play spaces around the world into instant stadiums–equipment and all? Help them design a demountable play space and equipment library. Designs will be showcased on the Open Architecture Network and on Google SketchUp’s 3D Warehouse. The winning team will receive $1,000 design stipend to further develop their concept.

Deadline for this competition is 30 June 2008.

At right: Sleepwalker, Josephine Sacabo.

Fifteen photographer’s portfolios are to be featured in Artists’ Showcase, The Center for Fine Art Photography’s new print publication.

Additional awards include:

• Cover photo in Artists’ ShowCase
• Portfolio exhibition in the Center’s gallery
• Online gallery exhibition of the 15 selected portfolios for two years
• Inclusion in the Center’s Annual Collection CD that goes to publishers, collectors, designers, and brokers

The Deadline for submissions is July 25, 2008. For more information or a prospective about this and other call for enties please visit the Center’s website.

You can help to design San Diego’s Fashion Week’s even t-shirt and win $500 cash. Fashion Week San Diego is the world’s only bi-national fashion week. slated for fall 2008, the event will highlight the fashion industry that thrives in Southern California, presenting designers from both the U.S. and Mexico.

Enter as many designs as you like from now through 11 July 2008. Go to the site to download the template and to learn more about this contest’s guidelines.