Attention graphic designers! The Crescent City Blues & BBQ Festival is accepting submissions for its T-Shirt Design Contest. You could win $$$, VIP passes, and more; plus, your design will be known to everyone. For full details on how to enter click here. Deadline to enter is September 1, 2012. Good luck and let 411 NOLA know if you win.

THE 43rd ANNUAL RIVER ROAD SHOW, a national juried exhibition sponsored by the Louisiana Art and Artists’ Guild, is receiving entries for the December 3 – January 30 exhibit at the Louisiana State Archives building in Baton Rouge, LA. Deadline for entries is September 17. Entry fee is $40 for first three entries and $5 for each additional submission up to 10. This is a national juried competition with cash & prizes of $4000. All United States artists 18 years and older are invited to submit any original two-dimensional art except photography or digitally-created/enhanced works. The exhibition will be juried and judged by multidisciplinary artist Sam Corso. The Prospectus and pictures of the 2011 exhibit are available at www.laag-site.org/River_Road_Show.html. Direct questions to 43rd RRS at rrs@laag-site.org or PO Box 41115 Baton Rouge, LA 70835.

On-going Opportunities

1. The Percent For Art Program, administered by the Arts Council of New Orleans, was created by a City of New Orleans ordinance under the administration of Mayor Ernest N. Morial in 1986.  Supported through funding generated by 1% of eligible municipal capital bonds, the Percent For Art Program has evolved into one that includes commissioned site-specific artwork, purchase of existing work, community outreach and education initiatives, on-going maintenance of the Percent Collection, and program administration.   For current calls for artists related to this project click here.
2. Attn Theater Types:  Grants are available for any arts-related endeavors, but are particularly aimed at schools and educational institutes that are active in the performing arts, including music, drama, and dance, as well as related areas such as acting, directing, writing, and producing.  Most grants will fall in the range of $500 to $5,000 but other amounts are available and there is no preset maximum amount.  Grants accepted quarterly.  More information and a grant application form are available at www.neworleanstheatreassociation.com.
3. The Southern Arts Federation in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts offers Southern Fast Track Touring grants.  This program, through its rolling deadline, is designed to offer Southern presenters more opportunities throughout the year to apply for fee support.  Aimed at smaller presenters, the Southern Fast Track Touring program seeks to establish an active arts environment in underserved communities.  This program offers fee support to present performing artists and writers from outside the presenter’s state.  These grants are limited to presenting organizations with operating budgets of $100,000 or less.  Applications must be postmarked 60 days prior to the project start date.  The maximum request is 50% of the artist fee, up to $2,500.  Touring support is awarded to theatre, music, opera, musical theatre, literary, and dance projects that contain both a public performance or reading AND an educational component.  For more information, please see: http://www.southarts.org
4. Each month, the work of a Louisiana cultural worker appears as the featured image in the digital newsletter CulturalConnections . See the featured image gallery here.  All artistic disciplines are eligible!  For more info on this monthly contest, go to http://culturaleconomy.org/2011/cc/featuredimage/.
5. Each week, the Dog Levee Dish, a website dubbed “The Canine’s Guide to the Crescent City” sponsors a “Pet of the Week” photo contest Local or not, your furry companion can be the star of New Orleans.  Click here to see previous winning entries.