The competition to design the 2022 Bloomsday finishers’ t-shirt is open. For local artists, it’s a chance for them to get their work in front of a whole bunch of people.
Imagine having 30,000 people or more wearing a painting of yours on the front of their torsos, not just on race day, but sometimes for years. That’s a powerful incentive for Spokane-area artists and a reason why so many people submit designs for Bloomsday’s board of directors to consider every year.
“The number of pieces that we get can range from 150 designs to 200 and so it’s just carefully studying those and seeing what would be a good fit and, as you can imagine, because it’s the Bloomsday finishers’ shirt and there’s a lot of pride that goes with it, it can be a process that takes some time amongst the group," said Bloomsday race director Jon Neill.
It’s a competition that is open to all and several local artists have had their designs chosen.
“For the last two years, it’s been fun because the two artists whose artwork was selected were both, at the time, high school seniors here at Spokane area high schools. It really is an event and contest that anyone can participate and all work will be considered and you just don’t know," Neill said.
This year, the deadline to submit is September 17. he says the winner will be picked by November. You can enter as many entries as you want. Even if yours isn’t picked to be the finishers’ t-shirt, Neill says there’s a chance it may be chosen for something else.
“We will use some of those designs for souvenir gear and so forth. It’s something where we might say it’s something that’s not quite what we want to do for the finishers’ shirt this year, but, boy, let’s look at this for some other pieces that would be good merchandise candidates and so forth," he said.
The winning design for the Bloomsday finishers’ t-shirt will collect a $1,000 prize. The artist will get the call from Bloomsday in November.
“And then you can’t tell anyone," Neill said with a laugh. "You have to keep it secret and then, this year with Andrew Nordhagen, who was an 18-year-old senior at Gonzaga Prep, he kept it from his family, the entire winter and spring and then, when we made the announcement, his parents just went berserk. Their son just designed the finishers’ list. That’s always a fun process."
Design submissions can be sent or delivered to the Bloomsday offices at 1414 N. Belt in Spokane, 99201. Neill has some last minute advice. “Colors are important. After all, we’re Bloomsday and the launch of spring. The design can include up to six colors, so we encourage brightness, we encourage color."
Find more information about the competition here.