Ravinia Poster Design Competition
Calling all artists — Chance to win $1,000!
Ravinia is seeking a creative, colorful poster design to promote the festival’s 2025 summer season. This annual design competition is open to all artists, including students. The winning artwork will be featured as a large-format printed poster and on other products sold in the Ravinia Festival Shop, as well as distributed among hundreds of Chicagoland stores and public spaces as a distinctive signature of the Ravinia season.
For over 40 years, the Ravinia Women’s Board has sponsored this annual competition to craft the poster design that will represent the upcoming summer concert season. Over more than 100 years of history, Ravinia has always been a place where nature and music intertwine to create a shared experience that inspires each guest and the world around us.
2025 Theme: “Where Music Grows”
Ravinia is a place where music thrives in harmony with its lush surroundings. Through any illustrative visual medium, designers can feature iconic elements of the park such as its towering trees, sprawling lawn, and historic architecture intertwined with representations of music, symbolizing how the park nurtures both nature and sound.
Brand Vision
We believe in the power of shared, live-music moments to inspire ourselves and the world. In casual surroundings of greenery, Ravinia presents artistry that is bold, contemporary, energetic, friendly, and aware.
How to Enter
Entries are due no later than Friday, December 6, 2024.
Before entering, please read the complete submission requirements . The submitted design should be 9″ × 13.5″ vertical format and emailed to [email protected] with the subject line “Ravinia Poster Competition Submission” and including your full name in the body of the email. Please also fill out the Artist Information online form .
Submitting large files? Attachments may be sent via file-sharing link (e.g., Dropbox, WeTransfer); please ensure that any links will be valid until at least one week after the submission deadline.
Judging takes place in mid-December, and winners will be notified confidentially in early January 2025. A public announcement of all winners will be made in February in Ravinia’s email newsletter. We ask that entrants do not publish their submitted poster artwork in print, on social media, or elsewhere online before the winners are announced.
Awards
- 1st prize: $1,000
- 2nd prize: $500
- 3rd prize: $250
The Ravinia Women’s Board looks forward to your participation in the annual Ravinia Festival Poster Design Competition. For over 50 years, the Women’s Board has been heavily involved in fundraising for Ravinia, including as hosts of the annual Gala Benefit Concert, leaders of the Ravinia Festival Shop and Chair Rental operations, and creators of two best-selling Noteworthy cookbooks. The board’s work supports Ravinia’s Reach Teach Play music education and community engagement programs and Steans Music Institute professional artist training programs, enhances the beauty of the park with trees, benches, and sculptures, and much more!
Past Winners
Many of these award-winning posters from past years can be purchased at the Ravinia Festival Shop .
