AIDS Education Poster Design Competition

The Memorial Art Gallery of the University of Rochester (MAG) in partnership with the University of Rochester's River Campus Libraries (RCL) invites New York State artists over the age of 14 to submit original poster designs to a juried competition as part of the exhibition Up Against the Wall: Art, Activism, and the AIDS Poster, on view March 6 – June 19, 2022. The exhibition is the first major exhibition and catalog devoted to the University of Rochester's collection of HIV/AIDS-related posters, donated by physician and medical historian Dr. Edward C. Atwater. These posters, one of the largest such collections in the world, document efforts by various groups to educate and inform people from over 130 countries in over 75 languages about HIV/AIDS. The posters span from 1982 to the present and show how social, religious, civic, and public health agencies have addressed the HIV/AIDS pandemic within the public realm.

Artists may submit up to 3 original poster designs that help raise awareness of the epidemic and open up the conversation on HIV/AIDS. Submissions will be accepted from November 9, 2021 – January 30, 2022. All images must be JPEG or PDF files at 300 dpi, large enough to be printed at 18 x 24 inches if selected. Work will be judged according to artistic merit and effective and thought-provoking messaging.

Awards include: First Place - $500 cash award, exhibition at MAG, addition to RCL's Atwater AIDS Education Poster Collection, and global distribution by DKT International; Second Place - $300 cash award; Third Place - $150 cash award. All winners will be featured on the AIDS Poster Exhibition website, added to the AIDS Education Posters digital collection site, and displayed in MAG's Vanden Brul Pavilion. For more information about the exhibition, visit https://mag.rochester.edu/exhibitions/up-against-the-wall/ or view the AIDS Education Posters Collection online at https://aep.lib.rochester.edu/