You Can Win $3K in Franklin Park Poster Competition

Last updated on June 17, 2025

Artists of all ages (and not just Bostonians) are welcome to submit original work to a poster competition that celebrates Franklin Park — and two winners will receive $3,000.

The Franklin Park Poster Competition is organized by the city, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, and the Franklin Park Coalition. There are three prize tiers:

• Jury Selections: 2 awards, $3,000 each
• People’s Choice: 1 award, $2,000 
• Emerging Artists (Ages 14-24): 2 Awards, $500 each

Submissions are due on August 1, 2025, and will be reviewed by a panel of expert judges including designers, artists, city officials, and appointees from the Boston Society of Landscape Architects and the Franklin Park Coalition. The panel will selected the winner of the jury prizes and the emerging artist awards. The People’s Choice Award will be voted online by the public later in August. Winners will be announced in September 2025.

The three prizes have different requirements. More info on applications can be seen here.

Emerging Artists must be ages 14- to 24-years-old, and should submit one poster on a theme of their choice. Submissions may feature contemporary or historical themes, and celebrate natural features, structures, people or events associated with Franklin Park.

Jury Selection and People’s Choice entries must include a series of three posters, designed as a “visual family”, featuring physical and/or cultural icons associated with Franklin Park, including: 

1. One poster featuring Franklin Park, itself, as a destination. 
2. A second can be a topic of the designer’s own choosing. 
3. The third should feature a theme drawn from the following list: 
   1. Physical Park Features and Destinations: 
      1. Balance Rock
      2. Bear Dens/Long Crouch Woods
      3. Ellicott Arch
      4. Franklin Park Zoo 
      5. Overlook
      6. The Playstead
      7. Scarboro Pond
      8. Schoolmaster Hill
      9. The Wilderness/99 Steps
      10. William J. Devine Golf Course
   2. Historical Figures with Connections to Franklin Park: 
      1. Elma Lewis 
      2. Frederick Law Olmsted
      3. Ralph Waldo Emerson 
   3. Annual Events: 
      1. BAMS (Boston Arts & Music Soul) Fest
      2. Caribbean Festival
      3. Elma Lewis Playhouse in the Park
      4. Kite & Bike Festival