Have a little time on your hands? Meet this challenge: Design new graphics for the classic C.O. Bigelow Apothecary Jar to be sold as a limited-edition item. Final winner will receive $2500 from the Gen Art Foundation.

C.O. Bigelow and Gen Art are hosting a national design competition dubbed the “C.O. Bigelow Apothecary Jar Design Program” that offers visual artists and designers a unique opportunity to design original graphics for its classic C.O. Bigelow Apothecary Jar. Inspiration for artwork should be the brand credo: Honest. Genuine. Trustworthy. The limited edition Apothecary Jar will be sold at participating Bath and Body Works stores. C.O. Bigelow also reserves the right to feature and sell this product online. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a little new year design pastime: Use the cork, foil, cage and label from no more than two (2) Champagne bottles (use of glass not permitted) to design a Champagne Chair for the Annual DWR (Design Within Reach) Champagne Chair Competition. Don’t laugh - the prizes aren’t shabby: One Grand Prize winner will receive a $1,500 DWR merchandise certificate and be featured on DWR’s homepage.

Strict rules: You are not permitted to use any additional materials—including tape and/or paint. The chair must measure no more than 4″ x 4″ x 4″ in height and be shipped in a box measuring no larger than 12″ x 12″ x 12″. Submissions must arrive at the DWR office no later than Monday, 15 January 2007 at 5pm, PT, so hurry! Oh - and you must name your chair. Visit the site for details.

In keeping with the theme about our recent trip to New Orleans, The New Orleans Photo Alliance is pleased to announce a call for entries for a mardi gras themed juried show. But, you’re not restricted to New Orleans Mardi Gras, oh no - you can submit photos for Cajun Mardi Gras, or even carnival celebrations elsewhere. It’s all permissable under the theme of Rituals and Revelry.

Submissions are open to all photographers, from amateur to professional, working in any photographic printing process or media. Submitted images may depict any aspect of carnival, from Twelfth Night to Ash Wednesday, maskers to marching bands, debutantes to doubloons. The exhibition will be on display at the New Orleans Photo Alliance gallery at 1111 St. Mary St. from 1 February to 15 March, 2007. An opening reception will be held on Friday, 2 February 2007, from 6-9pm.

Deadline for submissions is Tuesday, 9 January 2007. See PhotoNola.org for details, including prospectus.

At left: “Don’t Bug Me!� beaded bag by Pat Mayer, from Beadwork Creates Beaded Bags: 30 Designs (Interweave Press).

To celebrate Beadwork Magazine’s love affair with bags, Beadwork announces their fifth international juried exhibition: The Beaded Bag! For some, a stylish handbag is the epitome of bags. Others may conjure bags as diverse as an amulet bag, a shopping bag, or a doctor’s bag. From glamour to utility, bags tell many stories! Beadwork looks forward to seeing where your skill and imagination will take you! The winning new designs will be featured in a gallery in Beadwork magazine and the bags will be exhibited at Bead Expo in 2007.

Preliminary Deadline: 12 January 2007. Visit the site for details.

NOTE: see comment below this post for information about the March event! Or, go straight to this Arts for Progress event.

Fashion designers, filmmakers and visual artists - gear up for the 2007 Clash of the Artists competition sponsored by Art for Progress. The Clash of the Artists 2007 event will be attended by a bevy of media, press and other industry interested parties. Visual arts finalists will be displayed in a static gallery exhibition, the live music finalists will perform at a live music venue, the fashion design finalist’s work will be showcased at a live runway show, while the DJ finalists will perform at a live party event.

Submissions will be reviewed by a Peer Jury consisting of current Art For Progress artist members. Jury selections will then appear on the Art For Progress website, at which point online open-to-the-public voting will ensue. Finalists will be determined by the outcome of the online voting. The Jury reviews the submissions without knowing who the artist is so that each entry is judged just on the merits of just the submitted works. All finalists will participate in the Clash of the Artists 2007 multi-day event that will take place in New York City, late February 2007. (NOTE: all finalists will be responsible for their own transportation to the event). Submissions accepted until 7 January 2007. Visit the site for details.

Northeastern University is pleased to announce a call for work for the 2007 Visual Music Marathon, to be held on 28 April 2007 as part of the Boston Cyberarts Festival. The 10-hour event will include screenings of new and historic works that reflect the Marathon’s theme and an exciting live video component. Approximately thirty minutes of programming will be selected for national cablecast on the Harmony Channel’s Mood Zones, available to subscribers of digital cable on the Comcast network. (The Harmony Channel will negotiate individual fees with selected artists.)

Works submitted for screening should illustrate in some form the concept or use of visual music. Abstract/non-representational (”fine art” or “experimental”) works with original music are especially encouraged. Works must be postmarked by 22 January 2007 to be considered. There is no entry fee. Visit the site for complete details and submission form.

The Weinstein Company today announced the start of a contest to create the best movie poster for Factory Girl, about Andy Warhol’s (Guy Pearce) object of attention, Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller). The winner of the contest will have their poster prominently displayed at their hometown theater, get a private screening of Factory Girl for them and 25 of his/her friends, a full-size print of their poster autographed by the cast, which includes Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce and Hayden Christensen, and a promotion for the poster on the film’s official website.

To enter the contest, simply log onto FactoryGirlmovie.net and download the ‘Contest Package’ which will provide you with images from the film, different title treatments, a billing block with logos, a copy of the official Factory Girl poster (for some creative inspiration), a ‘SampleHowTo.pdf’ which gives an overview of how the official poster, ‘Treatment Ideas’ was made (which gives different ideas of how to treat an image), and contest rules and directions to build your poster. Deadline: 31 January 2007.

The Summit Creative Awards were created to recognize and celebrate the creative accomplishments of small and medium sized advertising agencies and other creative companies throughout the world with annual billings of under $25 million. Over the last decade, the competition has established itself as the premier arbiter of creative excellence for firms of this size. The awards evaluative criteria sets it apart as the top creative competition for this sector. Submissions are evaluated based on the strength of their big idea, the quality of execution and their ability to communicate and persuade. Open to freelancers, Web designers, interactive agencies, etc. and so on. Deadline: 29 January 2007. Visit the site for details, entry forms, and other basics.

With the wonderful success of last year’s holiday season contest, the Wacom Community has decided to enliven the holidays by bringing back the Holiday Season Contest. The contest is open to Asia Pacific residents in all Wacom Asia Pacific countries, and we hope to see photographs, drawings, sketches, even animated GIFs submitted to this contest along with a glimpse of all the different holiday and year-end/new year celebratory traditions throughout the region. Contest period ends 8 January 2007. Visit the site for details including prizes (guess what they are?).

A new national awards competition has been created to recognize excellence in Canadian photojournalism. The News Photographers Association of Canada’s (NPAC) Pictures of the Year competition will reward the work of photojournalists from across Canada.

The first annual NPAC Pictures of the Year competition is the result of a merger between two regional competitions. The Eastern Canadian News Photographers Association (ECNPA) Pictures of the Year (POY) and Western Canadian News Photographers Association (WCNPA) POY competitions have been combined to create the new national awards, which will become the most prestigious awards ceremony in Canada for photojournalists. Read the rest of this entry »