Submissions are due on September 1, 2025. They will be posted for People’s Choice Award voting by the Elma Lewis event later in August. Winners will be announced in late September, 2025.

There are three prize tiers:

• Jury Selections: 2 Awards, $3,00 each

• People’s Choice: 1 Award,  $2,000 

• Emerging Artists (Ages 14-24): 2 Awards, $500 each

Emerging Artists (people between the ages of 14 - 24) should submit one poster on a theme of their choice. Submissions may feature contemporary or historical themes, and celebrate natural features, structures, people or events associated with Franklin Park. 

Jury Selection and People’s Choice entries must include a series of three posters, designed as a “visual family”, featuring physical and/or cultural icons associated with Franklin Park, including: 

1. One poster featuring Franklin Park, itself, as a destination. 

2. A second can be a topic of the designer’s own choosing. 

3. The third should feature a theme drawn from the following list: 

   1. Physical Park Features and Destinations: 

      1. Balance Rock

      2. Bear Dens/Long Crouch Woods

      3. Ellicott Arch

      4. Franklin Park Zoo 

      5. Overlook

      6. The Playstead

      7. Scarboro Pond

      8. Schoolmaster Hill

      9. The Wilderness/99 Steps

      10. William J. Devine Golf Course

   2. Historical Figures with Connections to Franklin Park: 

      1. Elma Lewis 

      2. Frederick Law Olmsted

      3. Ralph Waldo Emerson 

   3. Annual Events: 

      1. BAMS (Boston Arts & Music Soul) Fest

      2. Caribbean Festival

      3. Elma Lewis Playhouse in the Park

      4. Kite & Bike Festival

All work should be submitted digitally formatted to 18x24in., with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI to allow for high-resolution printing. Printed posters featuring the work may be enlarged for display. 

All submissions will be reviewed by a panel of expert judges including designers and artists, City of Boston officials, and appointees from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects and the Franklin Park Coalition. This Jury will select both the Jury Prizes and the Emerging Artists Awards. The People’s Choice award will be selected based on online voting.

Winners in each category will receive a cash prize. Their work will also be featured online via the City of Boston’s social media and through physical displays at Boston City Hall and the Clubhouse in Franklin Park. Winners will also be recognized at an event with Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and partners.

Winners grant the City the right to reprint their submitted works, as well as the right to produce it digitally, with credit to the artist/designer. Winners are not permitted to reproduce their work, but they do retain ownership of any original artwork created as part of their submission. See full Terms & Conditions. 

This is an open, public competition. All are invited to apply.

All works must be original. Submissions must meet the criteria to be considered.

Teams are eligible to submit entries, but must identify a single recipient for the prize. Division of the prize is the team’s responsibility.

Applicants under the age of 18 must provide contact information for a parent or guardian and confirm they have permission to participate.

No; submissions are welcome from across the Commonwealth and from around the world. All applicants are welcome. The Jury will prioritize local artists and designers who live, work or study in the Greater Boston area, including Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth, or Suffolk County, or have compelling ties to Franklin Park. 

No. There is no application fee. 

City of Boston or Boston Parks & Recreation logos are not required, though we welcome submissions that consider how these might be integrated into the design. 

The artwork and the artists statement are the only pieces of information shared with the jury.