Engage Toms River Offers New $10,000 Art Contest

Artists from around Ocean County are invited to participate in the Engage Toms River 2016 Great Arts Challenge, sponsored by the Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation.

What makes this contest unique? Participants must create their work of art that fits the theme in just three days. The theme will be announced at 8 a.m. on June 17 and the work must be completed and handed in to the Toms River Branch of the Ocean County Library by noon on june 20, the foundation said.

Judges will select their top three works of art in all five categories. The list will be announced on WOBM’s Shawn and Sue radio show (92.7 FM) on June 23, and online voting from the community will then begin.

Online voting ends at midnight on June 30. One winner per category will be awarded $1,500 from the Jay and Linda Grunin Foundation. The winner with the most popular votes will win an additional $2,500.

“We are really excited to see what the participating artists come up with in such a short window of time," said Jeremy Grunin, executive director of the foundation. "Some of the best art can be created with little planning time and we know our community artists will rise to the occasion. We are always impressed by the response to our Engage Toms River programs and have great expectations for this challenge.”

Visit www.engagetomsriver.com for more details and to submit your intent to compete which must be done by midnight at June 15.

(Brushes by Redmond, via Flickr, under Creative Commons license)