Paint the State

Paint the State is a public art competition and large-scale community action program aimed at broadly communicating the risks of Meth use through public works of art. The contest offers teens a way to get involved and compete for $3,000 in cash awards in each of Montana's 56 counties, plus a statewide grand prize of $5,000.

The rules of the contest are simple. Teens are asked to use the "Meth: Not Even Once" logo, tagline, or other anti-Meth theme, a little inspiration, and a lot of imagination to create a work of art—any style, any medium—that's clearly visible by the general public.

ELIGIBILITY
Individuals or teams may register. But at least one teen, 13-18 years old, must participate in the production of the artwork. So build your own artistic dream team by getting your friends, family and local organizations to lend a hand selecting a project site, collecting supplies, and creating the finished piece.

To qualify for consideration in the Paint the State contest, entries must meet the following minimum criteria:

Teen Participation: At least one teen, age 13-18, must lead the team, having participated in the production of the artwork by performing significant design or physical work in its creation.
Message & Artistic Merit: Each entry must be an original work of art—your style, your message, your medium of choice—with a clear Meth: Not Even Once or other anti-Meth theme. Entries will also be judged on the thought, planning, artistic effort, and creativity.
Public Visibility: Your artwork must be clearly visible by the public from highways, streets, or other public places in Montana. You must obtain written permission from the property owner to enter onto the property to create and publicly display the artwork. Keep your art project on display for as long as you want, but to be eligible to win, it must be on display from at least July 19 to July 23, 2010. Registration deadline is July 7, and photos must be taken and final entries submitted on July 18.

PRIZES
County-level Prizes: $3,000 in prizes will be awarded in each of Montana's 56 counties! Every county will award three winners: $1,500 for first place, $1,000 for second place, and $500 for third place. Artwork will be judged by each county's commissioners. Statewide Grand Prize: All county first place winners will compete for the statewide Grand Prize of $5,000.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony in Helena on August 20.

JUDGING CRITERIA
Here's how judging works. Every qualifying piece has the chance to earn up to 100 points:

Meth Prevention Message (up to 40 points). Your artwork must have a strong Meth prevention message. This can include the "Meth: Not Even Once" logo, tagline, or other anti-Meth theme that clearly communicates the dangers of Meth use.
Artistic Merit & Creativity (up to 40 points). Submissions will be evaluated on originality, creativity, visual appeal, and presentation.
Public Visibility (up to 20 points). All submissions must be clearly in public view to qualify. How visible the artwork is (in other words, how many people can see it) will be an important part of determining winning entries.

HOW TO ENTER

Each entrant must register online. Entrants under 18 must have permission from their parent or legal guardian to participate.
Design, create, and display your public art piece. It must be displayed publicly and available for viewing from July 19 through July 23, 2010, although you are free to keep the work up for as long as you wish. All submitted digital photos must be uploaded by July 18.
Upload a photo* of your entry by midnight MDT, July 18 2010 at www.paintthestatemontana.org.

*DIGITAL PHOTO SPECIFICATIONS:
Maximum file size: not to exceed 2 MB
Format: file must be saved as a .jpg image

IMPORTANT DATES

Contest Announced: April 15
Registration Deadline: July 7
Final Entries Submitted: July 18
Art on Public Display: July 19-23
Winners Announced: August 20

CONTEST RULES

The Paint the State art contest is open to teens between the ages of 13 and 18. Entrants must be between 13 and 18 years old on date of registration. Only one entry per person is allowed. Artwork may only be submitted once.
To qualify for consideration in the Paint the State contest, it must be evident that contestant(s) put forth a good faith effort to produce a quality submission demonstrating thought, planning, and artistic effort.
Entries must contain a clear anti-Meth message.
Teens may register as group. Each group must have a designated leader who is responsible for registration and securing parental permission for each member of the group under 18 years of age. The group leader will receive and will be responsible for the distribution of prize money to the group. At least one teen (age 13-18) must have participated in the production of the artwork by performing significant design or physical work in the creation of the artwork.
Entries must be wholly original unpublished artwork and cannot incorporate or include anything, in whole or in part, that is owned or was created by any third party or that would require the consent or permission of any third party, and that does not violate any copyright, trademark, publicity right, privacy right or other intellectual property right of any third party.
Entries must be clearly visible to the public and on display in Montana from July 19 through at least July 23, 2010.
Artwork will be judged in the county of display. If the artwork is mobile or visible from multiple counties, the submission will be judged in the county in which the display structure resides during the public display period of July 19 to 23, 2010.
If the art entry is located on property owned by someone other than the entrant, the entrant must have written permission from the property owner to enter onto the property to create and publicly display the artwork.
It must be clear form the artwork that the entrant(s) put forth a genuine effort to produce quality work.
All interpretations of rules will be determined by the Montana Meth Project and its decisions shall be final.

ADDITIONAL CONDITIONS

The contest is not open to children of contest judges or of employees of the Montana Meth Project.
Contestants agree to assign all copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property rights in their artwork and all photographs submitted in relation to the contest to the Montana Meth Project, P.O. Box 8944, Missoula, MT 59807.
Each prize winner will also be required to sign a release of liability in favor of the Montana Meth Project: Paint the State Contest. Each winner who is under 18 will be required to have their parent or guardian sign the Authorized Release Form for Parental, Guardian or Adult Contestant Consent, the "Release."
The prizes being awarded may constitute income under applicable federal, state and local tax laws and winners shall be solely responsible for payment of any and all taxes which may be due with respect to the acceptance of the prize.
By submitting an entry, each contestant and his/her parent or legal guardian agree: they have read, understand and will comply with these official rules; and, or to the extent permitted by law, consent to the use of the contestant's name, and age for purposes of advertising and promotion by Montana Meth Project without further consent, compensation or approval.
Winning artwork is not guaranteed to be used on Montana Meth Project licensed merchandise or in connection with any other Montana Meth Project goods or materials.
By entering the Paint the State Contest, an adult contestant or a child contestant's parent or guardian warrant and represent that the artwork is the child contestant's sole and original work product and they agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Montana Meth Project and its directors, officers, employees, trustees, agents, attorneys, and their successors and assigns from and against any and all damages and expenses of any kind (including reasonable attorney's fees, costs and litigation expenses) arising out of any claim or cause of action related to the creation, and display of entrant's artwork and/or the entry or participation in this contest by entrant, and the reproduction, use, publication, display of entrant's artwork, including but not limited to, indemnification for any copyright, trademark, right of privacy, right of publicity, or other intellectual property claims of actions brought by others, or any damages claims or other causes of action brought by third parties for actions related to or arising from the creation, display, reproduction, use or publication of the artwork or contestant's participation in the contest. Contestant, and his/her parents or guardian (if contestant is under 18) hereby release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless the Montana Meth Project, its directors, officers, employees, trustees, agents, attorneys, and their successors and assigns from and against any and all other claims, demands, damages, causes of action, losses, liabilities, injuries or obligations, direct or indirect, known or unknown or any kind, nature or description whatever, which an adult contestant, or a child contestant's parents, guardians, heirs, executors, successors or assigns may have or claim to have against the Montana Meth Project, its directors, officers, employees, trustees, agents, attorneys, and their successors and assigns arising out of the creation and display of the artwork and from participation in the contest, including, any future use of the artwork.

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