The Clay County Public Library System will hold an art contest seeking artwork for special, limited-edition library cards for Library Card Sign-Up Month in September 2024. The theme for this art contest will be “Adventure Begins at Your Library” after the Summer Reading Theme.

Rules, Terms, and Conditions

The contest is open to all residents of all ages of Clay County, Florida. Amateur artists will be grouped and judged by age: age 5 and under, age 6-11, age 12-18, and 19+.

Professional artists will be grouped and judged in a separate category. Professional status will be decided at the discretion of the judging panel as necessary.

Entries may be returned at any Clay County Public Library Branch or via email at the email address below beginning at 10 a.m., May 15, 2024, and ending June 15, 2024, at 5 p.m. Digital artwork may be submitted, along with a scanned, signed entry form, to ptlibrary@claycountygov.com. No late entries will be accepted.

Judging will be done by a panel of Clay County Board of County Commissioners staff and will take place between June 17, 2024, and June 21, 2024.

Winners will be announced on June 28, 2024.

Entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Were the rules of submission followed?
• Does the artwork exemplify the theme, “Adventure Begins at Your Library”?
• Is the artwork appropriate for use on a library card based on size, content, and
  medium?
• Artist’s creativity and design of the artwork.

Prizes will be awarded to the 1st place winner of each age group in the Amateur artists category as well as the 1st place winner of the Professional artists category. 2nd and 3rd place winners of each will be awarded a certificate.

All 1st place winners will have their artwork appear on limited edition library cards, available beginning September 1, 2024, while supplies last. All 1st place winners will also be judged with the possibility of becoming the new artwork for our general use library card.

Clay County Public Library staff, judging panel staff, and their immediate family members are ineligible to participate.

Limit one (1) entry per person.

Artwork must be 10.5 inches x 6.6 inches in size (can have a plain white border as necessary).

Digital artwork must be submitted in a flattened. PDF file not to exceed 25MB. It must be in CMYK color mode and at least 300 DPI.

Artwork must use a medium that can be easily digitized, for example, pen, pencil, crayon, marker, or watercolor. Mediums that will smudge or come off when touched (pastels, charcoal, etc.), create texture (oil paints, collage, etc), or are 3 dimensional will not be accepted.

Artwork must not be signed.

Artwork must be original, previously unpublished, and must not infringe on the intellectual property rights or privacy rights of another.

Artwork may be digital, but must not include AI-generated elements in whole or in part.

For more information, visit: https://bit.ly/ArtTheCard