Topeka, KS -- (ReleaseWire) -- 02/08/2007 --PaintAmerica, a national, non-profit organization to support and promote the visual arts, has announced the Call to Entries for the 2007 “Paint The Parks” Art Competition. The competition was developed to fill the void created when the Arts for the Parks program was recently discontinued. Paint The Parks will attract many of our nations’ top artists, with a $10,000 purchase award for the Grand Prize. In addition, The Grand Canyon Association and the Jack Dudley Memorial Fund Purchase Award has been established. This $3,500 Purchase Award will recognize the top choice of all entries depicting the Grand Canyon. Many other cash prizes and purchase awards will also be available, making Paint The Parks one of the country’s richest art competitions. Full details and entry forms are available at www.PaintAmerica.org

PaintAmerica was established to support and promote the arts, with a goal of providing scholarship opportunities for young artists, while providing a premiere, national showcase for the country’s most notable artists, as well as upcoming emerging artists. “We are delighted to have the support of the Grand Canyon Association and the Jack Dudley Memorial Fund,” stated Rod Seel, Executive Director of PaintAmerica. “We couldn’t ask for a better supporting partner than the Grand Canyon Association. Thanks to the Jack Dudley Memorial Fund, over two million visitors a year will see the Grand Canyon Purchase Award Winner when it goes on display at the Kolb Studio on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.”

The Paint the Parks Competition format rewards artists with great potential for sales of their work. It also provides recognition, exposure and awareness through a national traveling exhibition and an online display. Showcasing the beauty and qualities of America’s National Park system as seen through the eyes of its artists is another benefit of the program.

Artists who previously took part in the Arts for the Parks will find many similarities with the Paint The Parks competition. The format of the competition asks artists to create artworks that depict any of the country’s 390 National Parks. Artists may enter as many paintings as they wish, with a final judging by a nationally recognized juror panel to choose the Top100 winners – 33 from each of the three National Park regions, plus one Grand Prize winner.

A “mini” competition for works between 80 and 165 square inches is also part of this call to entry. A discounted entry is available for meeting the early deadline of May 1, 2007. The final contest entry deadline is May 31, 2007. Galleries interested in exhibiting the Paint The Parks Top100 should contact PaintAmerica at mail@PaintAmerica.org