BECOME THE POSTER ARTIST FOR THE 50th ANNUAL WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL!
What does it mean to be the featured poster artist for Wooden Boat Festival?
The Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival is the premier gathering of wooden boat enthusiasts and celebration of maritime heritage. This three-day festival features over 300 boats on land and water, dozens of exhibitors, live music all day, every day-plus local food, beer, and wine.
Since 1977, we’ve featured original artwork on the Wooden Boat Festival posters, created by regional artists.
If you feel called to create an original piece of maritime-themed art for the 50th Annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival poster, we'd love to see your vision. The deadline to apply is June 30, 2026.
Once all artwork is submitted, we’ll make a juried selection of three final designs that will be presented to the public for voting.
Qualifications
- Be a legal resident of the United States.
- Be a professional artist. This means a person who is critically recognized as an artist, who possesses skills, training and/or experience in an artistic discipline, and who is active in and committed to their art practice.
- Have a portfolio of art that you can submit as part of the application.
- Be able to commit to finalizing and submitting an original piece of art for the next Wooden Boat Festival poster by September 1, 2026.
- Must include "50th" and "Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival" or leave space for it to be added digitally.
Guidelines for Art
You do not have to create an original piece for the submission process. However, it is important to understand the art guidelines before you consider applying.
The artwork selected will be used across various formats, including but not limited to: posters, t-shirts, hoodies, hats, stickers, coasters, pub glasses, and other merchandise used to promote the Wooden Boat Festival.
Our intention with the Wooden Boat Festival poster design is always to best represent the original vision of the artist selected. Nonetheless, we do ask that the selected artist consider the following in their design:
- A maritime- or wooden boat-centric theme.
- A focal point that draws the eye, figures, movement, and all other elements that may add energy or interest to the piece.
- Colors and/or subject matter that is engaging and visually exciting or interesting.
- Two-dimensional art piece required.
- Ideal formats include digital artwork or other mediums that can easily be translated into digital files to be utilized for festival merch creation.
What the Artist Receives
- $3,000
- Artwork exposure on posters and merchandise, before, during, and after the 2027 Wooden Boat Festival.
- Artist exposure through social media, blog/newsletter, press, and a signing event at the 2027 Wooden Boat Festival.
Additional Information
- While submissions will be accepted from anyone in the United States, preference will be given to artists who live or have roots in the Pacific Northwest, and ideally on or near the Olympic Peninsula.
- Digital art and other mediums that will translate well to printed merchandise will be accepted. Northwest Maritime will take care of file handling for poster and merch creation, but may also work with the artist on ensuring the best representation of the art on the designs.
Finalists will be contacted by July 11, 2026. Only finalists will be contacted by Northwest Maritime.
Please complete this application for consideration!
Submit Poster Art Form
2026 Submit a Poster Art Form
