The American LGBTQ+ Museum

Overview:

The American LGBTQ+ Museum is partnering with Direct Wines, Inc. to launch the Museum’s first branded bottle of wine. A portion of proceeds from the sale of each bottle will support the Museum’s educational programs and exhibitions.

The first selected wine is produced by Bergevin Lane Vineyards, a queer woman-owned vineyard in Washington state. We are inviting artists, illustrators, and graphic designers to submit original artwork for use on the bottle’s label and in our promotional materials. The wine is a high quality, small batch (420 cases), Bordeaux blend (merlot, cabernet, malbec).

The contest winner will receive a $5,000 prize and up to four runners-up will receive $1,000 prizes. The Competition opens on June 3rd and closes June 30th. Finalists will be announced by July 22.

SUBMIT HERE

Artwork Requirements:

The winning artwork will be reproduced on a wine label that will be approximately 3.5 inches wide by 5 inches high (3.5″ w. x 5″ h.). Please consider the size of the label when creating an artwork for this contest. Artwork can be in any style and include any category of imagery with the following exceptions:

1. No trademarked or copyrighted images of a third party.
2. Any text used in the design will be subject for review.
3. No statements or designs which are illegal, obscene or indecent for public display (e.g., lewd images or explicit nudity).
4. No political flags or anything that would imply any government entity endorsing the product. Pride flag imagery is allowed.
5. No protected statements or seals or any claims or slogans that are protected.
6. No statements which are disparaging to a person or third party.
7. No statements which discuss the intoxicating qualities of the beverage or imply that the wine contains a distilled spirit or is comparable to a distilled spirit.
8. No statements or imagery which are directed towards minors (e.g., Santa Claus, Winnie-the-Pooh)

Submission Requirements:

1. Submissions of artwork (two-dimensional and digital) must be in a digital format.
2. The submitted digital image should have a resolution of 300dpi and be in either jpg. or png. format. Artworks submitted in other formats may be disqualified.
3. Files must be titled with the “[First-Name]_[Last-Name]_Museum-Wine-Label” naming convention.
4. Submissions must be uploaded to this google form no later than 11:59 PM US Pacific Time on June 30th.

Contest Rules:

1. There is no entry fee.
2. Up to two entries per contestant.
3. Contest winner and runners-up will be required to sign an artwork release form and fill out an IRS-W9 to receive their prizes.
4. Due to the contest’s alcohol-related context. This contest is only open to artists 21 years or older.
5. The artwork must be entirely original. No portion of the image can include the intellectual property of another artist or entity.
6. The original artwork can be a two-dimensional drawing, painting, collage on paper, canvas, or any other material. Fiber arts are accepted if two-dimensional. Original digital artworks are also accepted. All artwork must be entered digitally (see submission guidelines above).
7. Direct Wines Inc. and the American LGBTQ+ Museum will retain all rights and ownership of the artwork selected for the label, per the artwork release form.
8. Original artwork submitted by mail will not be returned to the artist. Please submit all works digitally. The contest winner and runners-up will mail their artworks upon selection (if two-dimensional).
9. Direct Wines Inc. and the American LGBTQ+ Museum, its employees, designees, agents, successors and all persons or departments for whom or through it is acting is not liable for the non-delivery, loss or damage to the contestant’s artwork at any time during the contest period.

Contest Judges:

Artwork will be judged by a panel that includes two employees of the American LGBTQ+ Museum, two employees of Direct Wines, Inc., and one consultant. The judges will make their selection of contest winner and runners-up based on creativity, originality, professional quality, aesthetic quality, concept, and selection and application of materials. Artworks will be scored numerically by each judge and an average will be taken of those scores to determine a final score per artwork. Judges will not vote on any artwork submitted by friends and/or family.

Prize:

Contest winner will receive a $5,000 prize, 2 bottles of wine, and their artwork on the wine label, and in American LGBTQ+ Museum and Direct Wines, Inc. promotions and advertisements, and on social media platforms.

Runners up will receive a $1,000 prize, 1 bottle of wine, and may have their artwork featured in American LGBTQ+ Museum and Direct Wines, Inc. communications or future wine labels developed.

Questions about the competition may be submitted to info@americanlgbtqmuseum.org