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Entries for the most recent cometition are now closed. Come back next year!

How to Submit Artwork for Consideration

Deadline for Submissions:

The Mascot Program will accept submissions for the Spirit of Rowdy Sticker Collection starting September 11, 2023, until midnight on November 15, 2023.

Eligibility:

Any current CMU student from any program can submit a single entry in the sticker competition.

Jurying Information:

The jury will meet at Colorado Mesa University, Main Campus, on December 5, 2023, to decide on the winning sticker installed as the 2023 submission into the Spirit of Rowdy Sticker Collection.

The CMU Mascot Program will announce the winner at the program's annual pop-us store fundraiser on the first-floor lobby of the University Center at 11am on December 6, 2023. The Spirit of Rowdy Sticker Collection competition is not a blind jury selection process. The jury will have access to the artist's full biography and abstract the artist submitted with their entry and the artist's name.

The jury will consist of three members from the local Grand Junction art community and faculty from CMU's Department of Art and Design. Members of the jury will be announced here when information becomes available.

Awards:

The 2023 Spirit of Rowdy Sticker Collection competition will recognize two stickers for awards.

The artist that wins the Jury Selection Award will have their sticker installed as the 2023 sticker in the Spirit of Rowdy Sticker collection. Begin recognized in perpetuity; the winning submission will be added to the collection archive in the CMU Tomlinson Library Archive and Special Collections office and displayed on the collection's webpage along with the art's bio and concept of the piece. The artist of the sticker will receive:

  • $1,000 Spirit of Rowdy Scholarship that will be credited to the student's CMU account for use to pay tuition during their next semester*
  • A free two-day pass to the 2025 Initiate Conference, hosted by the Experience Education Foundation. Learn more about the Initiate Conference at initiateconference.com.
  • A set of 150 Prismacolor Premier Soft Core Colored Pencils
  • Fifty free printed stickers of their submission

A popular vote by attendees at the sticker collection's art exhibition will determine The People's Choice Award. During the exhibition, guests will vote for their favorite sticker art and artist story. The submission with the most votes will receive this recognition when the show closes. The artist who will receive:

  • $800 Spirit of Rowdy Scholarship that will be credited to the student's CMU account for use to pay tuition during their next semester*
  • A free two-day pass to the 2025 Initiate Conference, hosted by the Experience Education Foundation.
  • Fifty free printed stickers of their submission

The coordinator of the Mascot Program will arrange getting the prizes to the winning students.

Exhibition Date:

All submissions into the 2023 competition will be displayed all day on December 6, 2023, during the Spirit of Rowdy Artshow in the first-floor lobby of the University Center.

Notification to Artists:

Official notification to the winning artists for the Jury Selection Award and The People's Choice Award will be provided to the winners by their CMU email by the end of December 6. CMU will also announce the winners on CMU's social media channels.

Submissions Guidelines:

  1. The entries must be original artwork submitted by the artist, a current student, and a member of the Mavily.
  2. The subject matter of the art should be a depiction of Rowdy the Maverick demonstrating an activity or portraying a particular aspect of the Maverick character with which the artist relates.
  3. The artist can enter one design or a series of designs. A series cannot be more than five different designs, and all should share commonalities in their presentation (eg. the same typography, background, or art style to tie them into that year’s sticker series).
  4. The design should include two inscriptions: “Colorado Mesa University” and “Rowdy.”
  5. The artist should supply their entries in a digital high-quality press-ready vector or bitmap file. Acceptable file types include JPG, PNG, TIFF, PSD, EPS, SVG, and AI.
  6. The total area of the design cannot be larger than 15 square inches or smaller than 2 square inches (eg. a single sticker that is 15 square inches or several stickers totaling 15 square inches).
  7. The artist must provide a short abstract explaining their concept's motivations and how it answers the question, "What does being a Maverick mean to you?" and a title.
  8. No official trademarks of CMU can be used in the design; however, stylized representations of the CMU logos can be used. All elements in the design must be original.
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Disclaimer

By submitting art to the Spirit of Rowdy Sticker Collection contest, the artist agrees to allow the Colorado Mesa University Mascot Program to use their design to generate stickers to raise funds for the Rowdy Performers Scholarship Fund. In addition, the submitter agrees to allow the CMU to use the art in print and online promotional materials for the Spirit of Rowdy Sticker Collection and/or the CMU Mascot Program. The artist also agrees to have their story and inspiration for the design in an abstract shared publicly during the Jury selection, at the Spirit of Rowdy art show, or online on the collection's webpage.

* For students not attending CMU after the 2023 Fall Semester who want to bring their Maverick pride to the world, the program will offer them a Maverick Store Gift Card for half the original scholarship value.