Art.com Searches for 'America's Next Master Artist' Through Facebook Contest

SAN FRANCISCO, April 7 /PRNewswire/ -- Art.com Inc., the world's largest online retailer of wall art, today announced the launch of "America's Next Master Artist," a new contest series offering aspiring and emerging artists the chance to have their artwork featured and sold on art.com. "Life in Motion" is the theme for the premiere contest, and interested artists are encouraged to visit the art.com fan page on Facebook at http:///www.facebook.com/art.com through April 22, 2010, where they can find instructions on how to submit their work for consideration.

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"At art.com, we want to change the way the world discovers and shops for wall art," said Gary Takemoto, senior vice president of merchandising at Art.com Inc. "As a way to cultivate art discovery, we're launching the 'America's Next Master Artist' contest series to identify and celebrate America's great emerging artists. Our hope is to help them pursue their professional goals by offering them the chance to showcase and sell their work on art.com. For art lovers around the world, we look forward to providing a new source of inspiring wall art, created by talented artists who may not have a current platform for showcasing their artwork widely."

Over the next two weeks, individuals 18 years of age and older can enter the contest through the art.com Facebook page by submitting for consideration one piece of their own visual art, such as a painting, drawing or photograph. Between April 23rd and May 7th, voting will be open to the public, and the top five entries will be announced on May 14th. Simultaneously, a panel of design experts at art.com will review the same entries and choose their top five submissions. Out of the 10 finalists, the top public vote winner and the top art.com-selected winner will receive a grand prize, while the runners up will also receive recognition. All finalists will be featured on the art.com Web site and in an email marketing featurette and will receive a framed print of their winning piece. The grand prize winners will receive prime placement on the art.com homepage and in featured emails and will take the title of "Art.com Master Artist."

To submit a work for consideration, each contestant must be a U.S. resident 18 years or older, but is not required to be an art.com fan on Facebook. Each submission must reflect the contestant's own work, for which he or she holds all rights. Artists retain all rights in their submissions, except that Art.com Inc. will have the right to display submissions for purposes of conducting the promotion, and Art.com Inc. will have the non-exclusive right to sell reproductions of winning entries subject to its Artist Rising royalty agreement. Artists must also submit a brief description (200 words or less) of their artwork, which will be available for review by both consumers and the expert judging panel. Anyone from around the world can vote for up to three submitted works.

"Since launching the art.com Facebook page, we have seen tremendous growth in our fanbase," continued Takemoto. "Art.com fans are extraordinarily passionate about art, and as the world's largest online retailer of wall art, we have a unique opportunity to help bring talented artists and art lovers together in a creative way both on our websites and on Facebook. Like our fans, we are excited to see who will ultimately become 'America's Next Master Artist.'"

To learn more about the "America's Next Master Artist" contest sponsored by art.com, please visit http://www.facebook.com/art.com?v=app_95936962634.

About Art.com Inc.

Art.com Inc. is a leading authority in wall art and the world's largest online retailer of posters, prints, and framed art. Since 1998, Art.com Inc. has sold high-quality wall art online to more than 10 million customers – including home decorators, interior designers, businesses, art collectors, and art lovers – in over 120 countries worldwide. The privately-held company is headquartered in Emeryville, CA, with other facilities in Ohio, North Carolina and the Netherlands. Its decor experts are always on top of the latest wall decor and decorating trends, and make them accessible to the everyday consumer by creating exclusive unique wall decor pieces that can't be found anywhere else. For more information, visit www.art.com and www.AllPosters.com. "art.com" and "AllPosters" are registered trademarks of Art.com Inc.

SOURCE Art.com Inc.