The City of Austin Culture & Arts Commission and Austin Utilities present

The Power of Art

Call for ArtWork

With funding support from the South East Minnesota Arts Council (SEMAC), the City of Austin Culture and Arts Commission and Austin Utilities is calling for youth artwork to create public art on select utility boxes in Austin. 

Mower County youth are invited to submit designs to be produced on graphic wraps and installed on utility boxes in Austin. In addition to giving the opportunity for youth artists to shine, the project will help combat tagging and graffiti. A jury will select from submitted artwork and selected artists will receive a cash award.

After the artwork is installed on utility boxes, a map with credit to the artists will be distributed to the public. (Discover Austin MN)

Eligible artists:

Age 14 to 23 as of 10-1-2025

Mower County primary residence; college students with parents living in Mower County are eligible; students living at Nexus/Gerard are eligible. 

Process

1. Each artist may submit up to 5 images through an online portal. Images must be 18 inch by 18 inch square designs scanned to at least 600 dpi and submitted digitally.* Images must be original creations and may be created in any 2-D media including photography and digital media. 

2. Form: include medium and space to describe the work or art process, etc. 

3. A jury comprised of representatives of Austin Utilities, the City of Austin and local artists will evaluate the submitted artwork on the following criteria:

1. Originality and creativity

2. Suitability for using the design as a repeating pattern

3. Suitability of design for deterring tagging and/or graffiti–large blocks of the same color are often seen as ‘blank canvas’ by taggers and are likely to be defaced.

4. Including a theme regarding the Austin community and/or food

Because of the public, general audience for this artwork, images including nudity, obscenity, violence, or political messaging will be disqualified from jury consideration. The jury may also disqualify artwork that is deemed incompatible with community values. Images found to be plagiarized from others or generated by AI, at the sole discretion of the commission, will be disqualified. 

1. Results of jury selection will be provided to all entered artists no later than December 1, 2025. Selected artists must respond no later than December 16, 2025. Awarded artists will receive a check for $100 per selected artwork no later than December 31, 2025. 

2. When weather is warm enough in spring 2026, the graphic wraps will be produced and installed on utility boxes in Austin. Selected artists will be invited to a public event to dedicate the artwork. The estimated date for the dedication is May 2026. 

3. Upon complete installation, the City of Austin Culture and Arts Commission will publish a map of artwork, including credit to each selected artist, and make it available to the public for the life of the wraps, estimated to be at least 10 years.