1. Sponsor: Kirkland’s Inc. 805 N. Parkway, Jackson, TN 38305
  2. Entry Period/Eligibility: The 2007 Next Great American Artist Contest (“Contest”) begins on August 30, 2007 at 12:01 A.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME (“EDT”) and ends on October 2, 2007 at 11:59 P.M. EASTERN DAYLIGHT TIME (“EDT”) (“CONTEST ENTRY PERIOD”.) Contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States and District Columbia, ages 18 years and older at time of entry. All Contest submissions become the sole property of the Sponsor and will not be returned or acknowledged. Void where prohibited by law.
    By submitting your artwork you grant the Sponsor and its agents the right to record, copy, publish, edit, exhibit, distribute, merchandise, license, sublicense, adapt and/or modify your submission in any way in any and all media, without limitation and without any further compensation. Sponsor at its sole discretion reserves the right to post your submission on the Kirklands.com website during or after the Contest Entry Period. This posting does not deem your entry as winner or correlate the score given to your entry in the Contest. You agree to abide by these Official Rules and the decisions of the judges, which are final and binding in all respects.
  3. Contest Entry: A contest entry is a photograph of the original artwork. Please follow the submission instructions found on www.kirklands.com. We are seeking imagery to use in our framed art programs and artwork that could be used on decorative and giftable products. Artwork should be of a decorative nature with commercial and retail viability. All subjects, styles, and mediums will be considered. We are looking for artwork that is expressed in a positive way and the artwork must be your own and original. Artwork that contains negative or derogatory connotations will be disqualified. All 10 finalists will be required to provide photos that when scanned are 300 dpi or larger.
  4. How to Enter: Go to www.kirklands.com and click on the link for the contest and complete the online entry form. In the event of a dispute, entries will be deemed to have been submitted by the authorized account holder of the email address submitted at the time of the entry. “Authorized Account Holder” means the natural person who is assigned to an email address by an Internet access provider or online service provider or any other organization that is responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted email address. Online entry photos must be in color and uploaded in compliance with the contest requirements, in JPEG or GIF format with picture dimensions no larger than 640 X 840 pixels at 72 dpi and a file size not greater than 150kb (150 kilobytes) uncompressed.
    Entries that contain photos that do not comply with the photo specifications or any other requirements stated herein will be automatically disqualified. Incomplete entries will be automatically disqualified. No responsibility is assumed for lost, late, misdirected, damaged, altered, or illegible entries.
  5. Limitation to Entry: There is a limit of one entry per person. Multiple entries from a single person will result in disqualification of all entries received from that entrant. All photos of artwork and/or other materials submitted for the Contest become the sole property of the sponsor and will not be returned or acknowledged. Employees of Kirkland’s Inc., Luckie & Company, Ventura Associates, Inc. and all others involved in the Contest, and their parent companies, affiliates, subsidiaries, retailers, distributors, advertising and promotion agencies, their respective officers, directors, employees and immediate family members of each are not eligible to enter.
  6. Judging: There are three (3) rounds of judging in this Contest: In Round 1, all eligible entries will be initially judged by representatives of the Sponsor who will determine the highest scoring top 100 entries. Artwork will be judged according to the following judging criteria: 1) 50% uniqueness and creative expression; 2) 30% workmanship and 3) 20% suitability of artwork for use as a retail piece. In the event of a tie in Round 1, the entrant with the highest score in “Suitability of artwork for use as a retail sales piece” will move on to Round 2. In the event of a further tie, the entrant with the highest score in “Workmanship” criterion will move to Round 2. In Round 2, the top 100 scoring entries from Round 1 will be re-judged by representatives of the Sponsor who will determine the top ten (10) scoring entries (“finalists”) using the same weighted criteria as used in Round 1. In the event of a tie in Round 2, the entrant with the highest score in “Suitability of artwork for use as a retail sales piece” will move on to Round 3. In the event of a further tie, the entrant with the highest score in “Workmanship” criterion will move to Round 3. In Round 3, from 11/17/07 at 12:01 AM (EST) through 12/17/07 at 11:59 PM (EST) the ten (10) contest entries (“finalists”) with the highest overall score in Round 2 will be posted on www.kirklands.com. The general public will be invited to vote online for their favorite entry based upon which artwork they would most like to have in his/her home. Each voter will choose one entry as his or her favorite and cast one vote for that piece only. The public voting results will determine (1) Grand Prize Winner, subject to final approval of the Sponsor. In the event of a tie, the Grand Prize Winner will be the individual receiving the most “favorite” votes from the judging panel.
  7. Winner Notification: The Potential Finalists will be notified by telephone, email or mail on or about 10/24/07 and required to execute the following “Required Documents” within 5 days of date printed on notification: 1) an affidavit of eligibility and compliance with the Official Rules; 2) a statement of originality and grant publication right; 3) a confidentiality agreement; 4) release of liability; and 5) a publicity release/agreement permitting the Sponsor to use the winner’s name and likeness (except where prohibited by law) in all media for purposes of advertising, promotion and publicity and to render their services including participating in public functions in their locality in connection with this Contest, without additional compensation. Grand Prize Winner and finalists may also be required to submit the actual original artwork that he/she photographed and submitted as his/her entry. If a prize is won by a person who is not of the legal age of majority in his/her state of residence (“minor”), the winner’s parent or legal guardian will be required to execute Required Documents on the minor’s behalf. If Required Documents are not executed within 5 days of receipt, prize will be forfeited and awarded to the Round 2 entrant with the next highest score. If the notification letter is returned as undeliverable, it will result in disqualification, and the prize will be awarded to the next highest scoring Round 2 entry. The Sponsor reserves the right to modify the notification procedures in connection with the selection of alternate winners.
  8. BY ACCEPTING THE PRIZE, THE WINNER AGREES THAT THE SPONSOR, ITS, PARENT, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION AGENCIES, AND ALL OF THE SPONSOR’S OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES AND AGENTS, WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY WHATSOEVER FOR, AND WILL BE HELD HARMLESS BY WINNER FOR ANY LIABILITY FOR ANY INJURY, LOSS OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND TO PERSONS, INCLUDING DEATH, AND PROPERTY, DUE IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FROM THE ACCEPTANCE, POSESSION, USE OR MISUSE OF THE PRIZE OR PARTICIPATION IN THIS CONTEST OR PARTICIPATION IN ANY CONTEST OR PRIZE RELATED ACTIVITY OR CLAIMES BASED ON PUBLICITY RIGHTS, DEFAMATION OR INVASION OF PRIVACY, MERCHANDISE DELIVERY OR THE VIOLATION OF ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS, INCLUDING COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND TRADEMARK INFRINGMENT.
  9. Rights Granted: There is no cost or fee to enter any round in this Contest. NO PURCHASE NECESSSARY. This contest is entirely voluntary. Submission of an Entry grants the Sponsor and its agents the right to record, copy, publish, use, edit, exhibit, distribute, license, sublicense, adapt and/or modify the artwork in any way, in any and all media, including the publishing of the artwork, without limitation and without any additional compensation to the entrant. Submission of an Entry further constitutes the entrant’s consent to irrevocably assign and transfer to Sponsor any and all rights, title and interest in the submission, including, without limitation, all copyrights. By entering the Contest, entrant represents that she/he has all necessary rights to the artwork submitted and hereby grants the Sponsor, and its affiliated companies and divisions, publication and use rights as described herein. In addition, if declared the Grand Prize winner or Finalist, the Grand Prize winner and each Finalist must certify that the winning artwork was original, and no other person or entity holds any rights to the artwork nor is he/she in contract with a third party to sign over the rights to the artwork. The Grand Prize winner and Finalists further agree that except where prohibited by law, entry constitutes permission to use the Grand Prize Winner and Finalist’s name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and statements or excerpts from interviews conducted with the winner, for advertising and promotional purposes without further compensation, unless prohibited by law.
  10. Prizes: One (1) Grand Prize Winner will receive a $5,000 cash check and have their artwork reproduced for sale in Kirkland’s Home stores. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”) $5,000. Nine (9) Finalists will each receive one (1) $500 Kirkland’s Home merchandise credit to be used at any Kirkland’s Home store location. ARV: $4,500. Kirkland’s Home, at its sole discretion, may negotiate an exclusive contract at the conclusion of this contest with the Grand Prize Winner and/or finalists. Grand Prize Winner is responsible for all taxes on prize. No transfer of prize is permitted except at the sole discretion of Sponsor. All prizes will be awarded, assuming sufficient number of eligible entries. Merchandise credit subject to all terms and conditions. Total ARV: $9,500.
  11. Internet: Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, mutilated or illegible entries nor for electronic transmission errors resulting in omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operations or transmission, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to or alterations of entry materials, or for technical, network, telephone equipment, electronic, computer, hardware or software malfunctions or limitations of any kind, or inaccurate transmissions of failure to receive entry information by Sponsor or presenter on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any website or any combination thereof. If for any reason the Internet portion of the program is not capable of running as planned, including infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorized intervention, fraud, technical failures, or any other causes beyond the control of the Sponsor which corrupt or affect the administration, security, fairness, integrity, or proper conduct of the Contest, the Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion, to disqualify any individual who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, or suspend the Contest. In the event of early termination all entries received at the time of termination will be judged. Caution: Any attempt by an entrant to deliberately damage any website or undermine the legitimate operation of the contest is a violation of criminal and civil laws.
  12. Winners List: For a list of winners (available after 1/15/08), visit http://www.kirklands.com.