Carson City Poster Contest – America 250

In honor of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and to showcase the power of art in community identity, Mayor Bagwell invites Nevada artists to submit an original digital design for the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ America 250 City Art Poster Project. Submit a reduced-sized PDF of your design via the form at carsoncity.gov/arts – contribute – calls to artists.

Mayor Bagwell will select one design to receive a $1,000 prize and represent Carson City, Nevada, on display at the 94th Annual Meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Long Beach, California, June 4-7, 2026. The artist selected (or the parent/guardian if younger than 18) must provide a W-9 and an invoice and be able to receive payment by check. Additional designs may be selected for display in Carson City. Any young and/or new artists are encouraged to submit; a resume or portfolio is not required.

Rules:
• Submit only one original design.
• Designs should be visual representations that celebrate local history and inspire hope for the future in honor of the semiquincentennial.
• File format: PDF
• All artwork must be built at these exact dimensions at 100% scale:
o Artwork final printed size after trim: 24” width, 32” height
o Safe area: 22” width, 30” height
o Size including bleed: 24.5” width, 32.5” height
• Resolution: Minimum 300 DPI at 100% scale
• Color Mode: CMYK (4-color process)
• All posters submitted should be suitable to print as-is.
• Files not meeting these requirements may not be accepted.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts, has launched the America 250 City Art Poster Project to commemorate America’s semiquincentennial (250th anniversary). This project is delivered as a component of the Mayor’s Institute on City Design, a leadership initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts and the U.S. Conference of Mayors. More information about this nationwide project can be found at usmayors.org and art.gov.

For questions regarding the Carson City, Nevada, portion of this project, please contact Anna Freeman at afreeman@carsoncity.gov or 775-283-7867.