It's time for our annual Bookmark Art Contest!
Red Balloon Bookshop is excited to partner with Wet Paint to make this year's Art Contest bigger and artier than ever before!
*artwork by Audrey RS, 2022 Art Contest Winner
One winner will be chosen from each of these five groups:
- Kindergarten through 2nd grade
- 3rd through 5th grade
- 6th through 8th grade
- 9th through 12th grade
- 18+ / Adults
Winners will have their bookmarks professionally printed to be handed out in the last two weeks of summer at Red Balloon, and all winners will get one $20 gift card to Red Balloon as well as one $20 gift card to Wet Paint!
Submissions are due by the end of the day on Sunday, August 6 with winners announced on Thursday, August 17. To help folks get their creative juices flowing, Red Balloon and Wet Paint will each host a bookmark workshop event where worksheets and materials are provided. For these workshops, see the dates below. Friends looking for fun and company while making their designs are welcome to join!
Monday, May 29 (Memorial Day): Submissions open.
Thursday, June 15 | 3:00-5:00pm: Red Balloon open workshop event.
Saturday, July 1 | 3:00-5:00pm: Wet Paint open workshop event.
Sunday, August 6: Submissions close.
Thursday, August 17: Winners announced at Red Balloon's Storybook Theatre performance of Are You A Cheeseburger!
You can drop off bookmarks off in-person at Wet Paint or Red Balloon Bookshop, mail them to either store address (shown below), or email us a digital version of your artwork. We recommend printing and using the worksheet below to help with sizing, and to see all details of the contest. Visit this link to view previous winners from previous years!
Contest Judging: Red Balloon Bookshop selects five anonymous judges from our community of authors, artists, and peers to assess submissions according to age category. Judges will judge artwork solely by the art itself as the name/information of each submitter will remain anonymous. The five judges include:
- 1 Author
- 1 Illustrator/Artist
- 1 Educator
- 1 Teen Reader (from Red Balloon's Teens Read Book Club)
- 1 Frequent Red Balloon Customer
Contest Rules:
- Only one contest entry per person.
- To size your image correctly, we recommend you use the template on the worksheet to design your bookmark. The edges (indicated by the lines on the worksheet) may be trimmed when the bookmark is printed, so please keep anything important to the middle of the design. The design can be either horizontal or vertical.
- All artwork must be original and any quoted text must be credited to the author. Entries with inappropriate content will be disqualified.
- Entries will be accepted at Red Balloon Bookshop and Wet Paint. You can drop entries off in-person, mail them, or email them. Email entries should be high-resolution scans or digitally-created images (for digital images, please see the digital guidelines below).
- One winner will be selected in each of the age groups. All winners will receive one $20 gift card to Red Balloon and one $20 gift card to Wet Paint. The winning bookmarks will be professionally printed and given out at both stores at the end of the summer.
Digital Guidelines:
Please make sure your image is at least 315x1015—a high resolution image will look much better on the final product.
Any images submitted to us should be .JPEG, .PNG, or .PDF.
Email any digital submissions to info@redballoonbookshop.com
Red Balloon Bookshop
891 Grand Ave
St. Paul, MN 55105
Because of our love of reading and fun, Red Balloon Bookshop is dedicated to serving our community with books, gifts, and events that inspire, inform and entertain, helping children of all ages—and adults!—live imaginative and rich lives.
Learn more about Red Balloon at redballoonbookshop.com
Wet Paint: Artists' Materials and Framing
1684 Grand Ave
St. Paul, MN 55105
Wet Paint’s mission is to match artists with the right materials and supplies so they can successfully fulfill their creative expression.
Learn more about Wet Paint at wetpaintart.com
