Keep Oregon Green is unveiling its first billboard art contest. Oregon will become an open-air art gallery, showcasing winning entries on billboards at major intersections, highways and interstates across the state. The purpose of the poster contest is to involve the public in becoming part of the state’s wildfire solution and help others prevent careless wildfires. Billboards will provide daily reminders to residents and tourists to be careful with activities that can spark a wildfire during the most critical time of year. 

ENTRY DEADLINE: 5PM, August 9th, 2021 (Smokey Bear’s birthday)

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Prize money will be awarded to chosen winners of the statewide competition. There will be three competition divisions based on age, and within those divisions will be first, second and third place categories. First place winners’ artwork from each division will be featured on billboards for Keep Oregon Green’s 2022 wildfire prevention campaign.

The contest will be conducted by Keep Oregon Green, but the artwork will be judged by Keep Oregon Green, the USDA Forest Service and the Oregon State Federation of Garden Clubs. Cash prizes and certificates will be awarded to the first three placements in each age division. First Place winners’ artwork will be featured on billboards throughout the state of Oregon during the 2022 fire season (May-October). All participants will receive a Certificate of Participation. All decisions are final. Contestants are only eligible to win a single prize in one division.

1st Place Division Winner – $250

2nd Place Division Winner – $200

3rd Place Division Winner – $150

Division 1: Grades 1-5

This is the ONLY division where Smokey Bear’s image IS used in the poster contest.

Posters for this division must be on 11” x 17” paper (no other sizes will be accepted) and feature Smokey Bear, using the colors established for his image. Smokey Bear posters must communicate an awareness and need for wildfire prevention, using only the slogan “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires.” The Keep Oregon Green slogan is NOT used in this Division.

The following information should be written on the back of the poster in the lower-right corner: the artist’s name, address, home phone number, grade level, school, teacher’s name, city, and state. (Do not use a dark marker as it may show through.)

Keep Oregon Green’s top 3 contest winners will receive cash prizes. Unless an artist opts out, all entries from Division 1, including KOG’s top three poster contestants will be forwarded to the Oregon State Federation of Garden Clubs, who runs Oregon’s statewide Smokey Bear poster contest. OSFGC will judge contestants’ posters in a separate review process. Artwork for their contest must be received by January 10, 2022. OSFGC’s first place choice will win a trip to Washington, DC to receive their award. Their artwork will then be submitted to the national level contest. Oregon State Federation of Garden Clubs’ state winners also receive cash prizes.

This form must accompany all submissions in this division: Oregon State Federation of Gardens Clubs, INC Form

For more information on the statewide Smokey Bear contest rules and prizes, visit the Oregon State Federation of Garden Clubs website: https://oregongardenclubs.org/youth/ or visit:

https://www.gardenclub.org/smokey-bear-woodsy-owl-poster-contest-0

Division 2: Grades 6-12

If you are under 18 you must have a parent or legal guardian submit your work.

See ‘contest rules’ section. Posters for this division must be submitted on 11 x 17 or 8.5 x 11 paper (3200 pixels wide X 2400 pixels high), communicate an awareness and need for wildfire prevention, using the slogan “Keep Oregon Green.”

This form must accompany all submissions in this division:  Legal Agreement Form

Division 3: Age 18 and above

See ‘contest rules’ section. Posters for this division must be submitted on 11 x 17 or 8.5 x 11 paper (3200 pixels wide X 2400 pixels high), communicate an awareness and need for wildfire prevention, using the slogan “Keep Oregon Green.”

This form must accompany all submissions in this division:  Legal Agreement Form

  • Photograph your artwork. Upload images in the following format: JPEG or JPG file dimensions: 1200 pixels or greater on the longest side. File size: under 5 MB.
  • For Division 1: Include participant’s name, grade, school, school phone number, school address, teacher’s name and email. Parent or guardian’s phone number and email must also be included. Complete and submit the Oregon Federation of Garden Clubs form.
  • For Divisions 2 and 3: Include name, age, email, phone number and mailing address. For those under 18 years, a parent must indicate that they are submitting the artwork with this same information on behalf of their child. Complete and submit the Legal Agreement.

All entries:

June: Contest opens

June, July, August: Oregonians use the summer fire season as inspiration for wildfire prevention artwork.

August 9th, 2021: Contest closes. Artwork must be received by Smokey Bear’s birthday at 5pm.

August, September: After the submission deadline closes, the judges will conduct a review process to select the artwork that will be included for the 2022 campaign. Winners will be contacted.

October: Winners are announced.

October, November: Billboard inventory is secured around the state. KOG will work with contest winners to format artwork for display.

May 2022: Billboard artwork will be up in time for Wildfire Awareness Month.

Submissions must be original artwork and will be judged on creativity and design. Copied artwork will not be accepted. Business, organization and agency logos and copyright characters may NOT be used.

Entries must use the words KEEP OREGON GREEN in their artwork and art must communicate an awareness and need for wildfire prevention. (Division 1 is the exception, where only Smokey Bear’s image and message, ‘Only You Can Prevent Wildfires’, must be used). Visit the ‘Prevent Wildfires‘ section of KOG’s website for ideas and inspiration.

The billboard poster contest is open to all Oregon students in grades K-12 and all Oregon adult residents, 18 and over.

Artwork should be clear (able to be seen at a distance), eye-catching and positive.

Only first, second and third place winning artwork becomes the property of Keep Oregon Green. Winners agree to have their artwork on display in public spaces (billboards). Winning artwork may be used for future fire prevention marketing purposes. KOG will not use contestants’ images for any for-profit purpose. Artwork will be used for KOG’s 2022 wildfire prevention campaign and publicity for future poster campaigns.

Keep Oregon Green has the right to use your name and image for promotion and publicity, including but not limited to the KOG website, newsletter, reports, printed promotional materials, press releases, social media & distribution to press outlets.

In turn, because the artwork contains the words ‘Keep Oregon Green’, contestants may not sell or profit from their artwork, as Keep Oregon Green Association (KOG) is the owner of the registered trademark KEEP OREGON GREEN, which has been registered since 1986 with the US PTO. As the owner of a registered mark, KOG has the presumption of the validity of its mark and the exclusive right to use the mark. KOG does not allow individuals or organizations to use the mark without the consent, and any attempt to do so is considered infringement.

Acceptable art mediums include paint, crayon, collage, ink, computer generated, etc. No video or audio will be accepted.

KOG uses several different billboard sizes:  10’x22′ – 12’x24′ – 24’x26′ – 14’x48′. Artwork size requirement is 11 x 17 paper, 8.5 x 11 paper, or 3200 pixels wide X 2400 pixels high. (Division one is the exception where only 11 x 17 paper must be used). Please be assured that your art doesn’t need to fit perfectly on a billboard when you submit your images. KOG and the billboard companies will work with the first-place winners to configure the art to the different sizes of boards. We work with three major vendors who have completely different requirements, billboard sizes and formats.‍

Image format for submission: JPEG or JPG- File dimensions: 1200 pixels or greater on the longest side. File size: under 5 MB.

For Division 1: Include participant’s name, grade, school, school phone number, school address, teacher’s name and email. Parent or guardian’s phone number and email must also be included. The Oregon State Federation of Garden Clubs form must also accompany artwork for this age group. See ‘Submission’ section for link to the OSFGC form.

For Division 2 and 3: Include participant’s name, age, email, phone number and mailing address. For those under 18 years, a parent must indicate that they are submitting the artwork with this same information. See ‘Submission’ section for link to the Legal Agreement.

If your work is selected for first place, KOG will cover all expenses for the production, mounting, and leasing of the billboard.

Only first place winners from each division will be placed on billboards.

All entrants will receive an email notification when selections have been made and this information will also be posted on the KOG website.

Everyone in Oregon is eligible. If you are under 18 you must have a parent or legal guardian submit your work.

Deadline: August 9th, 5pm PST.

We look forward to your submissions!

1 – Contestants recognize that only the first place winning artwork becomes the property of KOG. Keep Oregon Green has the right to use a winning contestant’s name and image for promotion and publicity, including but not limited to the KOG website, newsletter, reports, printed promotional materials, press releases, social media & distribution to press outlets.

2- Because contestant artwork contains the words ‘Keep Oregon Green’, contestants may not sell or profit from their artwork, as Keep Oregon Green Association (KOG) is the owner of the registered trademark KEEP OREGON GREEN, which has been registered since 1986 with the US PTO.


3- By submitting your work, you agree that if selected, KOG is permitted to use your artwork on a billboard for the run of its wildfire campaign season; May-October 2022.


4 – Anyone can submit artwork as outlined by the three competition divisions. (Grades 1-5, 6-12, and 18+)

5 – If you are under 18 years of age, your art must be submitted by a parent or legal guardian.

6 – All entries will be reviewed by a panel selected by KOG. The decisions of the panel are final.

7 – You confirm that you have been granted permission for anyone portrayed in the submitted work.

8 – There is no guarantee of display and display location. The availability (inventory) of billboards selected varies from year to year.

9 – KOG has the right to print the name of each selected artist unless otherwise agreed to in writing.

10 – You confirm that you are the sole owner and creator of the artwork.

11 – To the best of your knowledge, the work does not contain any infringing, threatening, false, misleading, abusive, harassing, libelous, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic or profane content.

12 – To the best of your knowledge, the work does not contain any material that could constitute or encourage conduct which would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.

13 – If you break any copyright on your submitted work you agree to full responsibility regarding all royalties and fees owed to the person with whom you broke the copyright.

14 – By submitting to Keep Oregon Green, you agree KOG can use submitted material for promotions and publicity.

15 – Keep Oregon Green will do our best to make sure all third parties credit the artists but are not responsible for any mistakes.

16 – Keep Oregon Green is not responsible for any artwork’s misuse.

17 – Keep Oregon Green is not responsible for incorrect, inaccurate or incomplete information, whether caused by KOG or its vendors.

18 – Keep Oregon Green retains the right to decide on where the work is displayed. This includes all cities in Oregon.

19 – Keep Oregon Green does not guarantee the site or location of the billboards.

20 – In the unlikely event the billboard is not leased to another party at the end of the exhibition, the work could remain up until the billboard is leased unless agreed upon in writing.

21 – Keep Oregon Green works with professional, third-party vendors for leasing, printing, and hanging the artwork. In the unlikely event that the billboard is destroyed, torn, defaced, or damaged, KOG will make its best efforts to fix, replace or relocate the artwork. However, KOG is not liable if the work/billboard cannot be fixed.

*Download the full Legal Agreement in the ‘submissions’ section above.

Keep Oregon Green is turning 80 this year. To celebrate, the Association is asking Oregonians of all ages to create and submit artwork for a statewide billboard poster contest.

Ready to Submit?