Great Lakes Forever Photo and Art Contest

Thirty Mile Point in Winter by Gerri Jones, 2009 Grand Prize Winner

Great Lakes Forever and Budweiser have again partnered to produce the 7th annual Great Lakes Forever photo contest in an effort to raise awareness of the Great Lakes and engage people in their protection. This year, the contest includes an original art division.

Artists and photographers are invited to enter their best Great Lakes photographs or pieces of original art, including graphic illustrations, paintings, drawings or any other two dimensional piece of art inspired by the Great Lakes. Art and photography should exemplify the distinctive landscape of the Great lakes and the communities that live on the shores. Great Lakes Forever hopes to see from this year's entries the diverse wildlife and natural areas, cities and cultures that make the Lakes unique. Six finalists will be chosen from the pool of hundreds of submitted photographs and win great prizes from Budweiser.

Grand Prize: Featured on Budweiser coasters to be distributed around the region and a cruiser bike
1st place: Double chair and umbrella set for sunny days at the park, beach or backyard pool
2nd place: Ladder gold set-the new picnic game that's sweeping the nation

Grand prize winning entries in both the art and photography categories will be printed on beer coasters. Last year, the winners were printed on more than 120,000 beer coasters that were distributed to all eight Great Lakes states and two Canadian provinces. Not only does this contest highlight the talented photographers in the Great Lakes area, it also works toward making residents aware of the problems the Great Lakes face and engage them in protecting this vulnerable and valuable natural resource.

All entries must be received no later than 11:59pm CST on August 14th, 2011. For contest rules or to enter, go to the contest web site.