Photo courtesy of UCD

UPDATE: The deadline for submissions to the Baltimore Avenue banner competition has been extended until Friday, March 27. Just a reminder that the winning designer will receive $500 in restaurant gift cards + see their artwork fly above Baltimore Avenue. 

It’s time to update Baltimore Avenue banners! Installed by University City District (UCD) in 2008, current banners (you can see them hung from lampposts along several blocks of Baltimore Avenue) have been in place since the 2012 design competition. UCD and the Baltimore Avenue Business Association (BABA) have announced a new competition for local artists and illustrators to submit designs for new banners.

The winning designs will be incorporated in new banners hung in advance of the June Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2020. 

“The designs should be representative of the rich culture represented by businesses and neighbors along Baltimore Avenue, and must include a text treatment of ‘Baltimore Avenue’ incorporated into the design,” according to a statement from UCD.

Submissions will be accepted from artists and illustrators living within Philadelphia through Friday, March 27. A small committee of judges made up of UCD staff and BABA members will select a winning design or designs from a single artist to be hung as 24-by-36-inch banners from the lampposts.

UCD is offering $500 in gift certificates to the winning designer, as well as a chance to participate in an unveiling ceremony.

Interested artists can submit their designs by emailing marketing@universitycity.org with the following:

• Name
• Address
• Email and telephone number
• Proposed design(s) as jpg or pdfs
• 1-2 sentence description of proposed designs