Bloomsday, Spokane’s iconic 12-kilometer fun run, is looking for artists who want their work displayed on the chests of 40,000 participants.
Race director Jon Neill has opened the design contest for next year’s Bloomsday finisher t-shirt. His advice for those who want to submit: follow your muse.
“There’s classics that at times have nothing to do with running or nothing to do with walking or even a Spokane landmark, but it just radiates Bloomsday for whatever reason and maybe just has an element of a lilac, something along those lines," he said.
The winner will receive $1,000 and thousands of cotton canvases on which to display your artistic creation.
“We typically ask that it be no larger than 13" high and 11" wide. Having it be four colors is important, incorporating Spokane, Washington, the word ‘finisher’ and ‘Bloomsday 2023’ or ‘Bloomsday ’23’ is important," Neill said.
Bloomsday typically receives a lot of entries for the finisher t-shirt. He says the race now has other options to display entries that don’t win, but are still really interesting.
“We received a submission from Brian Naebius from Dripping Springs, Texas which was our 2022 poster, our official poster and it was incredible. There’s many works of art that come through that can be utilized for other pieces and functions of the race, including the poster, including souvenir pieces that we put on shirts or magnets or what not," he said.
The submission deadline is September 16. Neill says artists submitting work should deliver it or mail it it to the Bloomsday office at 1414 North Belt. The winning entry will be chosen in late September or early October and its creator will get the good news sometime in November.
