ENTRY DEADLINE: Postponed. Please do not submit entries until new deadline is assigned. Thank you.
Works in “Prime Digital” will embody both distinction and vitality. They will represent the full digital spectrum, from traditional to avant-garde, from digital painting or digital photography to more exotic digital forms, such as generative art using software algorithms. We can’t wait to see your exciting works!
Eligibility
All visual artists and photographers worldwide—whether professional, nonprofessional, or student—are eligible to submit their digital artwork for this exhibit. Entrants under age 18 may enter only if a parent or a guardian enters on their behalf. Every discipline, genre, style, and school of thought within digital art and photography is welcome.
Important Dates
Entry Deadline: Postponed. Please do not submit entries until new deadline is assigned. Thank you.
Online Exhibit: To be announced
Physical-Gallery Exhibit: To be announced
Exhibits
All images selected as “Prime Digital” finalists will appear online. Works awarded a Gold Stellar Art Award will be invited to appear in a physical, “brick-and-mortar” gallery exhibit at a later time. We reserve the right to extend entry deadlines and change exhibit dates.
Online Exhibits
Jurors will review submissions and will choose, for presentation online, all images they find meritorious. These selected works will appear in solo online galleries, each devoted to only one artist or photographer. These solo galleries will display work distinguished by the jurying process and thus will provide artists and photographers a showcase where art curators, patrons, and collectors can view works that have already been “vetted” by art experts.
Online exhibits begin as a “Current Exhibit” and are later archived, during which time all selected images remain in the solo artist galleries, available for viewing and, if the artist or photographer desires, for sale. (Artists and photographers may choose not to offer their images for sale online.)
Plans are already being made to create permanent solo galleries that will showcase all of an artist’s or a photographer’s juried selections from previous Digital Arts: California exhibits. We expect that these permanent galleries will become an important source of “vetted” artwork for art curators, collectors, and patrons.
Physical Exhibits
Works that have been awarded a Gold Stellar Art Award will be eligible for exhibition in a physical gallery setting. Such exhibits will be held periodically and will combine these award winners from various Digital Arts: California online exhibits. How often such physical exhibits are held will depend on the volume of entries to our online exhibits as well as other factors.
Jurors
Selection of the finalists that will appear online in solo artist/photographer galleries will be made by Virginia Christensen and Glen Christensen. Virginia has enjoyed a long career as an editor and a publisher of photography and art books, and is, herself, an accomplished photographer. Glen has had a distinguished career as Art Director at major record companies in both New York City and Hollywood. Among his professional accolades have been two Grammy nominations for Best Album Package. To learn more about the backgrounds of Virginia and Glen, see the “About” section of this website.
Winners of the Gold Stellar Art Awards and Stellar Art Awards will be chosen by Virginia, Glen, and a distinguished guest juror.
Entry Fees
Entry fees are $30 for the first 5 (or fewer) images, and $5 for each additional image. You may pay for up to 14 images using the PayPal “Pay Now” button. If you wish to pay for more than 14 images using PayPal, please contact us via the Contact page of this website for payment instructions.
When using PayPal via the “Pay Now” button below, please type the following into the space below the word “Descriptions” on the PayPal order screen: the exhibit title, your first initial, and your last name. This will enable us to match your payment to your entries.
Payments originating outside the United States must be made via PayPal in U.S. Dollars. Use your own PayPal account, or in some countries, you may use certain credit cards. Click the “Pay Now” button to make payment.
Payments originating within the United States must be made in one of the following three ways:
- Via PayPal, using your own PayPal account. Click the “Pay Now” button to make payment.
- Via PayPal, using one of the following credit cards: VISA, MasterCard, American Express, or Discover. Click the “Pay Now” button to make payment.
- By mailing a USPS (United States Postal Service) domestic money order. Purchase a domestic money order at a United States Post Office branch, make the money order payable to “Art and Design Initiative,” and mail it to P.O. Box 9, Murrieta, CA 92564.
Submission Guidelines
Digital Files
Submit jpg files that are 72 dpi, a maximum of 2 MB, and a maximum of about 1,200 pixels on the longest side.
Attach each jpg file to an email (only one jpg file per email, please) with corresponding caption and contact information (see below for required caption and contact information). Use the following email address:
We prefer to receive jpg files by email, but if you wish, you may instead mail us a CD containing all jpg files. Include, on the CD, caption and contact information in an MS Word file. Make sure you identify each caption by the file name of its corresponding jpg image. Mail the CD to:
Art and Design Initiative
PO Box 9
Murrieta, CA 92564
USA
If you are submitting your jpgs on a CD but do not have MS Word available to you, you must submit all your caption and contact information by email. Make sure you identify each caption by the file name of its corresponding jpg. Also, be sure to mention that you are mailing us a CD containing your jpgs. Use the following email address: .
Important Note: CDs and other physical material submitted to us will NOT be returned.
Make sure you construct your jpg file names as follows (all lowercase).
first word of exhibit title, followed by exhibit number (if there is one) DOT your first and last name DOT the image number DOT title of work
Example of correct jpg file-name format:
prime.janesmith.10.curvedwindows
File names must not include punctuation marks (other than periods), symbols, or other similar characters.
Caption Information
For each image, please provide the caption information itemized below. This information will appear below the image in the solo artist/photographer gallery if that image is chosen as a finalist.
- Your name (as you wish it to appear online with your works that are selected as finalists)
- Your city, state/province, and country. Please do not use abbreviations.
- Title of work (in quotation marks)
- Type of digital art. Be as general or as specific as you like. Here are some examples: digital photography, digital painting, digital photopainting, integrated digital art, digital collage, 3D still digital art, computer-generated art, fractal art, algorithmic art, vector art, glitch art.
- FS (For Sale) or NFS (Not For Sale). If you are offering your work for sale, you must be prepared to deal directly with the customer, and you, yourself, must see to “fulfilling” the order and collecting payment. We at Digital Arts: California will automatically send your email address to any website viewer who expresses an interest in purchasing a work of yours, but beyond that, we will have no further involvement in the transaction. No commission or referral fee is due to Digital Arts: California for works you sell. If you do not indicate FS or NFS, we will list your work as NFS.
Contact information
Include the following contact information in the email, or on the CD, that contains your caption information.
- Your name
- Your street address
- Your email address (which we will pass along to prospective buyers of your work if you have chosen to offer your work for sale)
- An alternate email address (if you have one)
- Your phone number
Cropping of Work on Website
Our website employs automatic cropping of some images on some web pages. Enlarged images appearing in solo artist galleries are never cropped and always appear as submitted. By entering works in any exhibit by Digital Arts: California, artists and photographers agree to allow cropping of any or all of their images, on any web page (excluding the artist’s or photographer’s solo online gallery).
Previously Submitted Work
You are free to re-submit any images to any Digital Arts: California exhibit, except for images that have been awarded a Gold Stellar Art Award or a Stellar Art Award in a previous Digital Arts: California exhibit.
Publicity
If your work appears in the online exhibit, we will be happy to notify several publications or media outlets of your accomplishment. Just provide us with the name and email address of the publication or media outlet you wish us to notify (and, if possible, include an editor’s name or an art reviewer’s name). You might, for instance, want us to notify a local newspaper in your community or region or perhaps the newsletter of an arts or photography organization you belong to. We will include your email address when we email notifications.
Juror’s Decisions
By submitting a work to a Digital Arts: California exhibit, entrants represent that they understand and accept that all decisions (1) are solely up to the juror(s), (2) are final, and (3) may be made for any reason, including a juror’s opinion that a work is in objectionable taste.
Rights to Works, Representations, and Indemnification
By submitting works to a Digital Arts: California exhibit, entrants represent that they own or legally control all rights to such works, that such works do not violate rights of any person or organization, and that such works are in no way illegal. By submitting works, entrants agree to hold harmless and indemnify Digital Arts: California and its parent company, Art and Design Initiative, for any damages it sustains related to those works.
Works Offered for Sale Online
Every work that appears online in a Digital Arts: California gallery is identified as being FS (For Sale) or NFS (Not For Sale). As a courtesy, we automatically pass along the email address of artists and photographers to prospective customers of their work. After doing this, Digital Arts: California has no further involvement in any sales-related activities. Digital Arts: California will offer no advice or opinion related to the sale of work, and will not be responsible in any way for any outcome between buyer and artist/photographer, or for any obligations of the buyer or artist/photographer, related to the sale of the work. By instructing Digital Arts: California to describe their work, appearing on the Digital Arts: California website, as being for sale, entrants represent that they understand and accept all information presented in this call for entry related to the selling of their work.
Works Offered for Sale through Physical Galleries
Works awarded a Gold Stellar Art Award are eligible for physical-gallery exhibits. Details (including what artists and photographers will be required to submit) will be determined at the time of the particular physical exhibit.
