OPEN CALL FOR DESIGNS
We Stand With
Our Immigrant Neighbors
First Presbyterian Church, in partnership with Columbus Area Arts Council, invites local creatives to participate in a design contest for a yard sign promoting public support for immigrants in our community.
The winning design will be featured on hundreds of signs distributed for free, with a suggested $10 donation to Su Casa Indiana.
The artist with the winning design will receive a $200 honorarium.
We call on artists to help us see our community and all our neighbors with honesty and compassion.
Select designs, including the winning entry, will be featured on CAAC's website and social media platforms. Submitting artists are encouraged to include a brief statement about their design or what inspired them to participate in this project.
Examples of advocacy through art and design in modern history.
Submission Details
Deadline: February 15, 2025
Format
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Print-ready, high-resolution designs
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24x18 inches, horizontal orientation
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.pdf, .png, .jpg, or similar format
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Use this file naming format:
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ArtistFirstName ArtistLastName_File# (Example: Maya Jones_1)
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Requirements
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Include the phrase "We Stand With
Our Immigrant Neighbors" prominently. -
Ensure readability from at least 15–20 feet away.
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Artists may submit up to 2 designs
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Optional: Include an artist statement about your design or inspiration.
Eligibility
This opportunity is open to any artist who calls Columbus or the surrounding counties home and wants to contribute to their community through the power of art.
Evaluation Criteria
Designs will be evaluated by the selection committee based on:
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Creativity and originality
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Alignment with the theme and message
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Visual clarity and legibility for a yard sign format
Honorarium
The artist with the winning design will receive a $200 honorarium.
Rationale
Artists are our truth-tellers. They challenge us. They reflect our deepest pain and joy. They help us aspire to our better selves. They help us make sense of life’s dilemmas from a fresh perspective.
In this historic moment when political dialogue has degraded past the civil discussion of ideas, leading to the weaponization of ideologies, the intricacies of American immigration policy and immigration reform have been oversimplified by some politicians in favor of dehumanizing rhetoric which promotes seeing immigrants with suspicion at best, or to view them with fear or even hate at worst.
We call on artists to help us see our community, and all our neighbors, with honesty and compassion. Artists can help us share the message that We Stand With Our Immigrant Neighbors. Afterall, immigrants are our neighbors, not the enemy. Then, and only then, can meaningful and life-affirming dialogue take place in our communities, including grappling with the consequences of a broken national immigration system, the complexity of families with mixed immigration/citizenship status, the overlooked dependency the American market has on undocumented immigrant labor, as well as the cultural and economic benefits of that immigrants (documented and undocumented) have on the community, the positive lessons we glean from the work ethic of immigrants, and the example of valor and honor with which immigrants serve in the US Armed Forces, and much more.
Pastor Rev. Dr. Felipe N. Martínez
First Presbyterian Church
CAAC's "Support Local Creatives" initiative empowers creative changemakers in Columbus.
Local art helps cultivate a sense of cultural identity. By providing essential resources to local creatives, we invest in our community’s cultural, social, and economic well-being.