Textile Center
3000 University Ave SE
Minneapolis MN 55414 (Map)
612-436-0464

Gallery & Shop Hours:
Mon–Thu 10-7, Fri and Sat 10-5
Library Hours:
Mon and Thu 9-1 and 5-7
Tue 9-7, Wed and Fri 9-1, Sat 12-4

Urban Sightings

These are the "inspiration images" for your digital design.

Image 1: No Parking

Image 2: Weathered

Image 3: Bricks

Image 4: Curve

Image 5: Yarn Bike

Image 6: Traffic Cones

Dear Urban Sightings Designers;
We were completely blown away by your enthusiastic response to our joint contest - more than 200 designs! Our jury panel met and spent several hours working to narrow down the group of finalists. It was not an easy task! Some of your designs made us laugh at their cleverness. Some designs made us lean in closer to see all of the intricate details. Some spurred intense discussion. Some surprised us when we discovered more elements the longer we looked. Although, given the huge number of entries, it wasn't possible to give every one of you a detailed comment, we want you to know that we looked carefully at every design and we appreciate the time and effort that you put into them. Thank you for sharing them with us. Very best of luck to the finalists as they move on to the next round; we can't wait to see the top ten fabrics in person!
Sincerely,
Textile Center Staff

Click on each thumbnail to see the full sized image. Download these images and use one or more as the starting point of your fabric design. Images may be manipulated in any manner and additional artwork may be used; but your design must show a relationship to the original image that is recognizable, so the jurors and viewers can see the relationship between the photo and your design.

These photos were taken in and around the Prospect Park neighborhood in Minneapolis, MN where the Textile Center is located. A new light rail line is being constructed through the center of our neighborhood. This exhibition is to celebrate the art that can be found in everyday surroundings and the daily transition of the neighborhood landscape during this large construction project.

About the Exhibition
Through a partnership with Spoonflower.com, entries will be accepted through the Fabric of the Week Contest held at Spoonflower.com. Please visit the Spoonflower contest page to see all of the guidelines for entries. Your entry will be a digital fabric design, inspired by one of the photographs shown below. Entries will be accepted through March 20, 2012.

There will be two rounds of voting to determine which designer's fabrics will be selected for the exhibition. The first round will be a review of all the entries and a team of Spoonflower and Textile center staff will choose the semifinalists based on the connection of their design to the chosen image and the exhibition theme. A second voting round will be open to the public and their votes will determine the top ten designs. The winning designers will have their fabric designs printed by Spoonflower and exhibited in the "Urban Sightings" exhibition in Textile Center's Community Gallery from April 25 - May 26, 2012.

Awards
In addition to Spoonflower's Fabric of the Week Contest Prize of $50 in Spoondollar credits for each of the top ten fabrics, there will be a Jurors' Choice Award for "Urban Sightings" for one design to be selected by Textile Center and Spoonflower team. The designer whose work is selected for the Juror's Choice award will receive a full licensed copy of Adobe Photoshop CS5 (approximately $600 value).

FAQ's
Can I sell my design that is created with the inspiration photos?
You have permission to use the provided "inspiration" photographs and sell the designs made from them. You own any finished design made using these photos. Photos were taken by Textile Center staff.

For the exhibition at the Textile Center, will people be able to photograph our designs?
We, as the staff, will take photos of the finished work in the exhibition for PR purposes and those will be submitted to local media and used on our website and e-newsletter. The artists will be credited for their work in all PR uses. We will not be exhibiting images of the digital design files, only finished fabrics.

What exactly will be in the exhibition at the Textile Center Community Gallery?
For the contest winners, we will be exhibiting 1-2 yard pieces of finished printed fabric in the Textile Center Community Gallery. Fabric will become the property of the Textile Center after the end of the exhibition and will be used as a collection in our education programs as samples and study pieces. Artists will be credited in the gallery with their name, Spoonflower shop name and location.

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