PEEPsterpieces wanted for the annual PEEPshow
Feb. 5—The Carroll County Arts Council is looking for innovative artists, engineers, designers and anyone with a "sweet" sense of humor to enter its annual PEEPshow, running March 31 through April 10 at the TownMall of Westminster. Voting will take place at both the live event and online.
The PEEPshow is a wonderfully wacky display of art inspired by the lovable, vibrantly colored marshmallow critters and shapes that invade store shelves before almost every holiday. The Arts Council will accept dioramas, sculptures and mosaics as long as they include Peeps as the medium or subject matter. They will also accept entries utilizing photography, filmmaking, computer-generated art, drawings, or paintings as long as they feature Peeps as the primary subject matter.
This year's show returns to last year's location in the TownMall of Westminster in a store space next to Boscov's. All the entries will also be featured in an online photo contest format for voting from home. Video entries will be available to view online but will not be screened at the live show at the mall. However, the Arts Council still wants to give these unique entries their time to shine. Video entries will be screened throughout the day from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. April 1 at the Carroll Arts Center. Visitors can watch the videos and walk through the galleries for the last day of Youth Art Month.
The top 10 entries with the most live and online votes combined will receive Audience Favorite awards, with the first place entry being named the Grand Prize winner. Additionally, a separate award will be given to the video entry with the most votes. Voting for video entries will only be available online. Artistic Excellence awards will be chosen by the Arts Council staff and Sponsor's Choice awards will be selected by PEEPshow's sponsor organizations.
Photos of previous years' entries can be viewed on the Arts Council's website. In the 2022 PEEPshow, a total of 20,892 Peeps were used in the 110 entries. Last year's Grand Prize winner was "Something's Wrong with That Boy's Medulla Oblongata" by Christian Twamley.
The deadline to register an entry is March 10, though registration will close early if the CCAC reaches capacity. Decorators will be responsible for transporting their entry to the TownMall of Westminster. There is an entry fee of $10 and only one entry per person will be accepted. Registration is online only. Participants can find more information and register online at marshmallowpeepshow.com. Completed Peep creations must be delivered to the TownMall on March 17 or 18. For more information, call 410-848-7272.
