Last year's 2014 Astoria Music Festival poster featured artwork by Royal Nebeker.

ASTORIA — The Astoria Music Festival announces its first Poster Art Contest. The contest is open to all artists, professional and amateur.

The winning image will creatively depict subject matter harmonious with the festival, be it music, composers, Astoria, the landscape — whatever the imagination evokes. Highlights of the June 2015 Astoria Music Festival include Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “Mary Stuart,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera “The Magic Flute,” works by Ludwig Van Beethoven and a celebration of the 150th anniversary of composer Jean Sibelius’ birth.

The winning artist will be awarded $500 and two Festival Platinum Cards for entry to all events of the Astoria Music Festival, and the winning art will be highlighted in 3,000 festival programs distributed throughout the festival in June. The official poster will be reproduced for sale in a limited commemorative edition of 100 signed copies. The poster will be featured in festival promotional materials, distributed at all events and will become property of Astoria Music Festival.

In the past, art for the poster has been commissioned by well-known West Coast artists, such as Royal Nebeker and Noel Thomas. This is the Festival’s 13th season and it has grown into a major cultural event, not only on the North Coast, in Oregon and the Northwest, but it is also acknowledged throughout the United States. Organizers hope this poster contest will be an opportunity to unite music and the visual arts as an inspiring showcase of the rich regional creative community.

The winner of the poster art contest will be announced March 27.

The top 10 finalists’ art will be displayed in a People’s Choice exhibit at the Astoria Music Festival Office/Tempo Gallery during the Astoria Second Saturday Art Walk on April 2. Visitors to the office may vote on their favorite, and the winner will receive a prize of $100 and two Weekend Passes to the Astoria Music Festival.

The official 2015 Astoria Music Festival Poster will be unveiled at the May 2 art walk.

Submitted work must be an original piece, unframed and not previously published. Deadline for entries is March 15. For more information, email office@astoriamusicfestival.org