The Martha’s Vineyard Museum is excited to announce a new portrait contest entitled “Island Faces” which will open as an exhibition next summer. In collaboration with Featherstone Center for the Arts, the Museum is celebrating the faces of Martha’s Vineyard and inviting portrait entries through February 29, 2012.

A panel of four judges will jury the competition. The winning portraits will debut at the Museum’s summer opening reception on June 15, 2012, and remain on display through the summer. The public will also be able to vote on a separate “People’s Choice” category, the winners of which will be featured on display at Featherstone in the fall of 2012. Featherstone will also be offering a series of classes this fall to get people inspired and in the mood to create.

Judges include Carol Craven, former director of the Carol Craven Gallery and now a private art consultant; Steve DiRado, photographer and senior lecturer of Studio Arts at Clark University; Michael Hunter, stylist and owner of PikNik gallery in Oak Bluffs; and Francine Kelly, former executive director of Featherstone.

Rules of the portrait contest are as follows:

1. The contest is open to the public, ages 15 and up.
2. The artwork must be a painting, drawing, or photograph (no larger than 3’ by 3’).
3. The artwork must be a new work, created strictly for the purposes of this contest.
4. The artwork must depict a Martha’s Vineyard resident, either year-round or seasonal. It can also be a self-portrait.
5. Participants must submit a high-resolution jpeg of their artwork (300 dpi or higher) no later than February 29th, 2012 for the first round of judging. Please send all images and contact information to acarringer@mvmuseum.org or bring/send to the Museum on a cd or flash drive.
6. The artwork must be accompanied by an artist's statement describing the relationship between the artist and the subject, the subject and the Island, and why this person was chosen by the artist for a portrait (no more than 200 words).
7. The entry fee is $25. The Museum will award cash prizes for the winning portraits of the juried contest.

Entry forms and additional details are available on the Museum’s website. Visit www.mvmuseum.org/portraitcontest.php