Photomural Art Call:

Show Us Your World with King County Metro and Photographic Center Northwest

Photographic Center Northwest (PCNW) and King County Metro (Metro) have partnered again for this year’s Photomural Art Call.

The theme is “Show Us Your World – Cultural Heritage.” While all submissions will be considered, artists who want to submit images that represent their interpretation of cultural heritage can present photos that express:

Culture, values and traditions that have been passed down from previous generations

Shared bonds within a community

One’s history, identity, and bond to the past, present and future

This is an international call, open to all ages with photographs being submitted between July 25th and August 26th, 2022. DEADLINE EXTENDED TO SEPTEMBER 7, 2022!

100 photographs will be chosen and will be printed on 2’ high x 8′ wide on a high quality exterior grade signage material and will remain installed in King County Metro shelters for up to 10 years. Many photographers don’t necessarily shoot in a panoramic format, but you can crop your work to fit the 4:1 ratio.

Take a slice out of your image – or stitch several images together, tile, collage…this is great opportunity to be creative – and do something unique with your work! Submissions will be reviewed by a panel of jurors from King County Metro and PCNW. Selected photographs are prominently displayed throughout Seattle and greater King County. 

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The City Panorama Project began in 2010 when King County Metro partnered with PCNW to expand the public art scene in Seattle and other cities in King County. As a way to incorporate art into everyday life, to beautify Seattle and other cities served by Metro, and to make new perspectives and ideas available to all, the City Panorama Project (aka: Photomural Art Call) seeks photographic artwork that will accomplish these objectives while increasing the visibility of the photographic arts. The majority of King County’s bus service and bus shelters are located in the City of Seattle. Over 1,000 photo murals have been installed since the launch of this public art project in 2010.

PROJECT GUIDELINES

Submit images that showcase your: 1) culture, values and traditions that have been passed down from previous generations; 2) shared bonds within your community; 3) one’s history, identity, and bond to the past, present and future. Images of all subject matters will be considered.

Avoid large blocks of color/negative space (to avoid graffiti on your image)

Image themes and subjects should be appropriate for all age groups (PG-13)

In general, themes and subjects should be appropriate for exhibiting as public art

Your name and the title of your image will appear next to the image along with PCNW and King County Metro logos

You may tile, collage, crop or stitch together images to create the final panoramic file

Click here for inspiration to see examples of past murals.

ALL images will be considered. The final selection will be made by the King County Metro and PCNW jurors

SUBMISSION SPECIFICATIONS

When submitting images to this contest through CaFE:

Images must conform to a panoramic format, 4:1 frame ratio

Images must be maximum 1920px x 480px and must be under 5mb per image

Important Note: If an image(s) is selected, the artist will be notified via e-mail from staff at PCNW with further instructions. Final image files submitted to PCNW must adhere to these guidelines:

Images must conform to a panoramic format, 4:1 frame ratio

Minimum size should be 14,000px on the long side

300 resolution

At least 200mb size

Each file must be titled with the photographer’s name, and the title of the image. (Example: John Smith Untitled.jpg)

You are encouraged to also submit an artist’s statement, excerpts of which may be used alongside the publication of images. If images do not fit either submission or final file criteria, the images will not be considered.
 
DEADLINE

All entries must be entered into CaFE by September 7th (11:59pm Mountain Time). Submissions that do not come through CaFE will not be accepted. 
 
ENTRY FEE

The entry fee is $20 for 5 images. IMPORTANT: you must submit at least 5 images, even if they are the same file due to limitations of CaFE

You may submit additional images for $5 each up to 10 images total. Payment must be in U.S. Dollars. Entry fees are non-refundable.

We are committed to making this call for entry as accessible as possible; if you are unable to afford the entry fee for whatever reason, please contact espencer@pcnw.org for a discount code.
 
NOTIFICATION

Selected and non-selected artists will be notified in October 2022 via e-mail. Once the project goes into production, images are installed into bus shelters over a year long period.
 
ACCEPTED WORK

PCNW reserves the right to refuse accepted work that is perceived to be inappropriate, vulgar, or discriminatory. All works selected for the project will be sent to press in 2022 and artist names/titles will be included on printed panels. Selected images may be used for promotion by PCNW, and may be used in King County Metro publications

QUESTIONS

Erin Spencer, espencer@pcnw.org

We are committed to making this call for entry as accessible as possible; if you are unable to afford the entry fee for whatever reason, please contact espencer@pcnw.org for a discount code.

Eligibility: this is an international call for work, open to all ages.