City of Portland’s America 250 City Art Poster Contest

About the contest

Arts & Culture, in partnership with Mayor Keith Wilson, invite creatives in Portland to enter the America 250 City Art Poster Contest—celebrating Portland's history and culture alongside the United States' 250^th anniversary and the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

This contest is part of a nationwide program launched by the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) being delivered as a component of the Mayor's Institute on City Design—a leadership initiative from both organizations. The City of Portland is proud to participate as a contributing city.

For this Portland-specific opportunity, the City looks forward to receiving commemorative poster submissions from artists and creatives of all skill levels (ages 13+) that represent the vibrancy of the local arts and culture landscape. Submissions should reflect the spirit, pride, and future of Portland, Oregon.

All submissions are due by April 5, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PT. 

Contest prizes

A total of $10,000 will be awarded to artists as part of this Portland-specific opportunity, including a grand prize of $5,000, a second-place prize of $3,000, and a third-place prize of $2,000. 

Recognition and opportunities for prize-winning submissions

In addition to the monetary contest prizes outlined above, winning City of Portland America 250 submissions will be broadly celebrated during the United States' semi-quincentennial in 2026:

The grand-prize winner will have their artwork:

• Displayed at the U.S. Conference of Mayors' annual meeting in Long Beach, California in June 2026
• Published in an America 250 digital book
• Accessioned into the City of Portland's public art collection
• Displayed and promoted in City of Portland buildings
• Featured in City of Portland and Office of Arts & Culture news articles, web content, newsletters, social, and more

The second-place and third-place winners will have their work:

• Recognized as an official City of Portland America 250 Poster finalist
• Accessioned into the City of Portland's public art collection
• Displayed and promoted in City of Portland buildings
• Featured in City of Portland and Office of Arts & Culture news articles, web content, newsletters, social, and more

Contest themes

Artists working in any visual medium are encouraged to participate. Submissions should:

• Commemorate America 250 in a positive and inspiring way
• Highlight the uniqueness of Portland's history, culture, and identity
• Reflect Portland's civic pride and future
• Be nonpartisan and avoid political messages or inflammatory language

Contest eligibility

You're eligible to participate if you:

• Are 13 or older
• Identify as a Portlander, meaning you live, work, play, worship, go to school, or volunteer in the city of Portland, Oregon
• Consider yourself an artist or creative (all skill levels welcome)

Submission requirements

City of Portland America 250 Poster submissions must be:

• Original work and not previously exhibited
• Suitable for public display, reproduction, and large-scale exhibition
• Reference America 250 and Portland, Oregon
• Any two-dimensional visual art medium that meets size and layout requirements outlined below (digital illustration, painting, mixed media, collage, diptych or tryptic image, etc.)

Size, layout, and file specifications

Size and layout

• Live area: 24" W x 32" H
• With bleed: 24.5" W x 32.5" H (0.25" bleed on all sides)
• Vertical orientation

File specs

• Preferred format: PDF
• Resolution: 300 DPI at 100% scale
• Color mode: CMYK (4-color)

Review and selection

The Office of Arts & Culture will conduct the initial eligibility and quality review of submissions. The Office of the Mayor Keith Wilson will select the grand-prize winner. A panel, convened by the Office of Arts & Culture, will select the second- and third-place winners. 

Deadline

All submissions are due by April 5, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. PT.

Submit your poster design

Legalese

Artificial intelligence (AI) and original work requirement

Artificial intelligence tools can be powerful and inspiring. For this contest, however, submissions must be original works created by a human artist and may not include generative AI content. This includes any tool or feature that generates new visual elements (including text-to-image, image-to-image, generative fill/expand, style transfer, and automated "create an image/design" functions). Artists may still use standard digital design software for non-generative functions such as formatting, cropping, resizing, color correction, layering, vector drawing, and typography. The City may request drafts or working files to confirm compliance. Entries may be disqualified if found to include generative AI content.

Ownership

Upon entry and submission, the work created under this contest will be the property of the City. The Grand Prize, Second Prize, and Third Prize winning artworks (each "Work") will be accessioned into the City of Portland Public Art Collection. Upon accession, the City will own the physical and/or deliverable embodiment of the Work, including the final production-ready digital files submitted for printing and display, and any prints produced or provided for City display and archival purposes.

Copyright is not transferred by this ownership. The City or its public art agent will contact select finalists to initiate the artwork accession process.

Copyrights and intellectual property

Each artist retains all copyrights in and to their original artwork submitted to the City. By submitting an entry, the artist grants the City a non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, publish, display, distribute, and archive images of the submitted artwork for governmental purposes, including contest administration, public exhibition, public communications, educational use, and historical documentation, in any media now known or later developed. The artist represents and warrants that the submission is the artist's original work, does not infringe any third-party rights, and the artist has obtained any necessary permissions/releases for any identifiable persons, copyrighted material, or trademarked elements included in the artwork. The submitted artwork may be signed by the original artist. The City will credit the artist when reasonably practicable.