The 46th annual Mathews Market Days has announced that the theme for its official poster contest is “Strength in Community: Maintaining Strong Bonds through Tough Times.”

“This has been a year of unprecedented challenges for the world and for our county—we’ve experienced grief and witnessed acts of generosity in the community that have drawn us closer,” said Market Days co-chair Morgan Hudgins.
She invites artists to “create a design that represents your impression of the strong community spirit of Mathews County, which has showcased itself this year in small, and large, acts of kindness.”

Market Days is set to be held the Friday and Saturday after Labor Day, Sept. 11 and 12.

Hudgins said all ages are welcome to enter, as well as all media, including but not limited to watercolor, oil, acrylic, photography, collages and mixed media.

Entrants do not need to live in Mathews County to enter and there is no limit on the number of entries submitted by an individual. All artwork must be 18” x 24” vertical or horizontal.

Applications with all information are available on the Mathews Market Day Facebook page and website, mathewsmarketdays.org. Applications are due by June 15 and this year there is no entry fee. Entries must be dropped off at the Bay School Community Arts Center from July 27-31.

Entries will be displayed at the Bay School from Aug. 1-15. On Aug. 15, the committee will host its unveiling ceremony at 2 p.m. at the Bay School; prints will be available for purchase and the winning artist will be present to sign prints.

The winner’s artwork will be used as the 2020 Official Mathews Market Days Poster and featured in the 2020 FYI Mathews booklet, and the winning artist will receive $500.

“We hope our community will utilize this time during the stay-at-home order to begin their entries and cannot wait to see what they create,” Hudgins said. “We are looking forward to continuing our plans for the 46th annual Mathews Market Days and giving our community hope of better days ahead.”