The 3rd annual Artosphere Festival starts next Thursday, May 3 with a kick-off event featuring music by 3 Penny Acre & April Verch, a farmers market on our plaza, a gallery opening of the exhibition Structuring Nature and a conversation with New York Times bestselling author Michael Pollan.

Artosphere has grown tremendously over the past few years, and it's all thanks to the wonderful community we live in. As it grows, we look for ways to really engage our community and enrich their experience even more. This year we decided to do an Artosphere Photo-a-Week Challenge, because it really is all about each individual's experience and interpretation of the world around them. 

There are four themes over the course of four weeks. Send us your interpretation of each theme (see below) by Friday of each week to be entered into the contest. The contest will begin Monday, April 30 and run through Friday, June 1. 

•   Week 1 - Water (April 30 - May 4)
•   Week 2 - Trail (May 5 - May 11)
•   Week 3 - Sticks (May 12 - May 18)
•   Week 4 - Music (May 19 - May 25)

Photos may be submitted through the following channels:

•   Through Twitter by sending them to @walton_arts #AFphoto
•   Through Facebook by uploading them to www.facebook.com/waltonartscenter
•   Through email; send to photos@waltonartscenter.org

A weekly winner will be chosen, and featured on our blog, blasted out via Twitter and on our Facebook page as the cover photo. Each weekly winner will also receive an Artosphere tote bag. At the end of the four weeks, a grand prize winner will be chosen, and receive:

•   2 tickets to our "greenest" show next season - Shrek The Musical
•   Gift card to a partnering restaurant
•   Inclusion in the 2013 Artosphere book
•   Inclusion in an article to a local monthly publication
•   A feature in the WAC Weekly; our weekly email that reaches over 18,000 people

This is going to be such a fun project, and we can't wait to see all of your submissions. So grab your camera, iPhone or tablet & get started!