"If I Could Do Anything, I Would..." Doodle 4 Google

The 2010 Doodle 4 Google theme is: "If I Could Do Anything, I Would..."

Hey Kids! The third annual Doodle 4 Google competition has begun! K-12 students in the U.S. are invited to enter this national art competition for a chance to see their artwork featured on Google's homepage. This year's theme, "If I Could Do Anything, I Would...", encourages kids to think about what they might do if given the opportunity to change one thing about their life or the world.

One national winner will win a $15,000 scholarship toward the school of their choice as well as a $25,000 grant for their school toward the establishment/improvement of a computer lab, a trip to New York City for an event on May 26th, 2010, and a Wacom digital design tablet. Forty regional winners will also be chosen and their creations will be displayed at the Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. The winning doodle will be featured on the Google.com homepage on May 27, 2010.

A group of "Expert Jurors" - well-known illustrators, cartoonists and animators from organizations like The Sesame Street Workshop, Dr. Seuss Enterprises, The Charles Shulz/Peanuts Museum and Pixar Animation Studios - will be helping select the forty finalist doodles as well as attending the awards ceremony to personally meet winners.

Teachers must register for their students by March 17 and entries are due by March 31.

For submission details, please visit the Doodle 4 Google competition website

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"If I Could Do Anything, I Would..." Doodle 4 Google

Despite Arts Budget Cut, NEA Calls for a Logo Redesign

The National Endowment for the Arts is seeking a new logo design for their newly defined "guiding mission" - Art Works.

WASHINGTON D.C. — Despite a newly proposed budget decrease, the National Endowment for the Arts says it will pay a hefty reward for a new logo design.

President Obama said Monday that the NEA will receive $161.3 million in his fiscal year 2011 budget, $6 million less than was first proposed. Obama also called for a $161.3 million budget last year, but Congress eventually increased it. According to the New York Times, NEA's CEO Robert L. Lynch said, “the proposal was dispiriting in light of the economic downturn, when 'support for the arts is at its lowest point in a decade.'”

Despite the less than thrilling budget news, NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman announced Monday that the organization is calling upon the American public to redesign their logo - for a substantial monetary reward. Design submissions must represent the phrase Art Works, the NEA’s proclaimed “guiding mission.” The winning logo should also illustrate the three meanings of Art Works: the plays, paintings, dances, films and the other works of art that are the creation of artists; the effect of art on audiences and viewers, to transport, transform, inspire, and challenge us; and a reminder that arts workers are real workers with real jobs who are part of this country's real economy.

The artist whose design is chosen will receive a government grant of approximately $25,000. The selected logo may be used in print and online and may accompany the existing NEA logo or even replace it.

Proposals must be submitted to the NEA by 5pm EST on February 26. For submission guidelines please visit the NEA Grants website.
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Despite Arts Budget Cut, NEA Calls for a Logo Redesign

100 Santa Claus Sculptures Come to (a Beach) Town

100 sculptures on Puri beach set world record for most Santa Claus images in sand.

PURI BEACH, INDIA — After working for nearly 48 hours, internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik and 20 of his students achieved world record status on Christmas eve. Patnaik and his dedicated team of "elves" successfully carved 100 sand sculptures of Santa Claus on the Puri beach in India, finishing just in time for Christmas.

The seaside resort of Puri overlooks the Bay of Bengal and is one of the holiest Hindu pilgrimage places in India, a sacred venue for an endless number of those coming to pay homage to the Hindu deity Jagannath. “Puri is the place where sand art started in the 14th Century and the tourist inflow into Puri is another reason why I chose the awareness about global warming by carving images of Santa Claus,” Patnaik said.

Patnaik's environmental message "Save Earth from Global Warming" was carved directly into one of the Santa sculptures. "The popularity of Santa is growing by the year among children," Patnaik explained. "The message on global warming through Santa is especially for them as they alone can convince elders to exercise restraint and avert the looming disaster for earth from global warming."

The 33-year-old Patnaik has participated in more than 40 international sand sculpture festivals and competitions and won several prizes. In 2006 he created the world's longest Santa Claus in sand that measured 100-feet, and last year he sculpted the tallest Santa in sand that stood 35-feet high.
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100 Santa Claus Sculptures Come to (a Beach) Town

Future Generation Art Prize Will Offer Celeb-Judges and Hefty Cash Award

NEW YORK — One lucky artist will be $100,000 richer this time next year, thanks to Ukranian billionaire/art collector Victor Pinchuk. Announced Tuesday, the Future Generation Art Prize hopes to encourage the support of one generation of artists for another, hence the contest's only eligibility requirement that entrants must be under the age of 35.

Artists can apply online starting January 18 and through April 18. Then on June 20, a short list of twenty artists will be announced; their works will be posted online and shown at Kiev's Pinchuk Art Center in October.

The artwork submissions will be judged by an international jury of arts professionals. And although the panel has yet to be formally announced, singer Elton John and designer Miuccia Prada have been mentioned as potential judges.

The Future Generation Art Prize winner and up to five finalists will be announced in December 2010. Established artists, including Damien Hirst and Jeff Koons, will serve as mentors to the finalists and the winner. The grand prize is $100,000, which comes with one stipulation - $40,000 of the award must be used to create new art. An additional $20,000 will fund artist-in-residency programs for up to five other special prize winners.

Following in the footsteps of this summer's ArtPrize, the Future Generation Art Prize will also offer the public an opportunity to vote for their favorite entries online (American Idol-style) for a non-cash People's Choice Award.

“I am hoping that the Future Generation Art Prize will help promote the Ukraine and Kiev as an important contemporary art center,” said Pinchuk, who plans to offer the Future Generation Art Prize every two years.

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[Photo: Singer Elton John, potential judge of Future Generation Art Prize]

Future Generation Art Prize Will Offer Celeb-Judges and Hefty Cash Award

Emerging Artist Wins Big in Temple University Art Competition

PHILADELPHIA -- Doesn't this October seem to be the month of art competitions offering hefty cash rewards? First there was ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. And this week, the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Pennsylvania, named a winner in the world's largest juried visual art prize granted by a university.

28-year-old painter/sculptor/filmmaker and Philadelphian, Ryan Trecartin, was awarded $150,000 cash in the first annual Wolgin International Competition in the Fine Arts. Trecartin won for his 50-minute video entitled Sibling Topics (Section A). "I'm completely honored. This is going to change my life and my practice," remarked Trecartin at Thursday night's award ceremony.

The Wolgin Competition was endowed by Philadelphia real estate investor, Jack Wolgin. 20 competitors were chosen by an advisory board seeking to find "an emerging artist whose work transcends traditional boundaries and exemplifies the highest level of artistic excellence."

Trecartin, however, doesn't exactly personify an "emerging" artist, having exhibited at the 2006 Whitney Biennial, the J. Paul Getty Museum (Los Angeles), Saatchi Gallery (London) and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (New York). The other two finalists, Sanford Biggers and Michael Rakowitz, have similarly impressive curricula vitae. Perhaps contest organizers should redefine their criteria/mission statement before next year's competition.

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[Read More - Philadelphia Artist Takes First Wolgin Prize | Philadelphia Inquirer]

Emerging Artist Wins Big in Temple University Art Competition

Will the Frieze Heat Up London's Art Market?

LONDON -- This Thursday, the art world heads to London for the seventh annual Frieze Art Fair. Frieze will showcase new and established artists to an international audience of curators, artists, collectors, gallerists and critics, as well as the general public. The event will take place under a large temporary structure of approximately 21,000 square meters in beautiful Regent's Park.

Frieze is one of the only exhibits of its kind to focus solely on contemporary art and living artists. This year, 164 of the world’s most exciting contemporary art galleries, representing 30 countries, will present new work by over 1,000 of the world’s most innovative artists. 2009 will also introduce Frame, a new section within the fair dedicated to solo artist presentations.

The equivalent of Switzerland's Art Basel, Frieze is a barometer for how London's art market will fair in the coming months. Frieze welcomed 68,000 visitors in 2008. This week, all eyes will be on the UK to determine whether the numbers predict success for next year.

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Frieze Art Fair (Oct. 15-18, 2009) | Website
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Will the Frieze Heat Up London's Art Market?

Winner Chosen in the American Idol of Art Contests

What is it like to be a starving artist/surfing-enthusiast one day, and $250,000 richer the next? For the newly-crowned winner of ArtPrize, the art contest hailed as the "American Idol" of the art world, that is exactly the scenario. But this competition didn't have Simon, Paula or Randy as judges. Votes were cast by the general public - and some say the unqualified art critics may have gotten it wrong.

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN /NYTimes.com/ — Ran Ortner, a painter from Brooklyn, was named the grand-prize winner Thursday night in the ArtPrize, a public competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. Ortner’s work, Open Water No. 24, received the highest number of votes among 10 finalists on display across Grand Rapids, a city of 200,000 in western Michigan. He will receive $250,000. In all, the finalists shared $449,000 in awards.

The 16-day competition, created by the web entrepreneur Rick DeVos, ended Wednesday night. It took place at 159 venues, with more than 1,200 artists participating. More than 334,000 votes were cast in the competition, open to anyone who registered in person at sites around the city. An initial round of voting ended last week, in which the top 10 were selected.

Open Water No. 24, a three-panel depiction of deep blue waves, was the only two-dimensional work to rank in the top 10. Second prize, worth $100,000, went to Tracy Van Duinen of Chicago, for Imagine That, a colorful mosaic installed on the front wall of the Grand Rapids Children’s Museum. The third prize of $50,000 went to Eric Daigh, of Traverse City, Michigan, for Portraits, a series of three pictures created from pushpins.

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[Read More - Michigan Art Prize Goes to Brooklyn Painter | NYTimes.com]

Winner Chosen in the American Idol of Art Contests