Description
CALL FOR ARTISTS:
CELEBRATING LAUREL’S YEAR OF THE HORSE
City of Laurel, Maryland
Submission Deadline: 03/25/2026 at 5:00pm
Overview: The Preakness Stakes is coming to Laurel! On May 16, 2026, this historic race –
The second jewel in the national Triple Crown of horse racing – will be held for the first time at Laurel Park in Laurel, Maryland. Inspired by the Preakness Stakes, the City of Laurel Arts
Council invites local artists to submit artwork that celebrates the grace and beauty of horses in motion and the excitement of thoroughbred racing. This contest in funded by the City of Laurel. The competition will be held online. Selected artworks will be reproduced for public display in and around Laurel, both during and leading up to the Preakness. These artworks and artists will be promoted through City of Laurel social media and featured in a dedicated digital gallery. Artists will be honored and awards presented at a City of Laurel event preceding the Preakness.
In addition, top-place winners will receive prizes of $150, $100, and $75 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places, respectively.
Deadline: Wednesday, 03/25/2026, at 5:00 p.m.
Eligibility: This call is open to all artists, graphic designers, and illustrators who live within
the State of Maryland and who are 18 years or older. Preference is for those living in or near the City of Laurel in Prince George’s County. Submitted designs must be original artwork and
can be created in any medium, so long as they can be represented in, and is submitted as, a high-resolution digital image without loss of quality (see Image Specs, below).
Juried Selection Process: A jury panel will review all proposals. Panelists will include
members of the Laurel Arts Council as well as the Laurel Art Guild, along with business owners and community representatives.
Selection Criteria: The panel will use the following criteria:
Artistic merit and graphic strength of the work.
Relevance to elements of horse(s) in motion or horse racing (such as dynamics, grace,
vibrancy, tension)
Ability of the design to be translated in larger format (max 18”x24”) for display on
windows and posters.
Submission Requirements:
1. Artists may submit only one (1) design for consideration.
2. Submitted designs must showcase original artwork and graphic design.
3. The art may be a new original piece or an existing work of the artist and may not be on
display in other public art programs.
4. Art produced using artificial intelligence (AI) will not be accepted.
Image Specs:
Original artwork can be created in any medium, but designs must be submitted as a high-
quality image file in JPG, PNG, SVG or PDF file. Other image file formats may be acceptable,
but please check with us first. To avoid pixelation, raster formats (including JPG and PNG,
and some PDFs) must be at least 72 dpi when enlarged to 18” x 24”. (Note: scaling is linear,
so an image which is scaled to 9” x 12” must be at least 144 dpi in order to be 72 dpi when
enlarged to 18” x 24”.) Purely vector-based formats, such as SVG and some PDFs will
enlarge without pixelation.
Submission:
Please use the Laurel Arts Council submittal form Year of Horse Submission to upload the
following information:
1. Artist name, mailing address, telephone number, email address, and website (if any).
2. Brief bio or résumé.
3. Statement of the concept and approach behind the artwork.
3. Image file, using the artist’s last name as the name of the image.
4. Title and original medium of artwork.
Usage Rights: Submission constitutes permission by the artist for the artwork to be used by the Laurel Arts Council and the Laurel Art Guild for display before and during the
Preakness celebrations, and for art-related promotional purposes in the future.
Notification: Artists will be notified by March 31, 2026, whether their work has been accepted for display and whether it has been awarded a prize.
Questions: Please send any questions to the Laurel Arts Council laurelartscouncil@gmail.com
NOTE: This Call for Artists is independently organized by the City of Laurel Arts Council with support from the Laurel Art Guild. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the Preakness organization or any of its sponsors or partners.