2008 Space Settlement Calendar Art Contest
(Contest cosponsored by The Moon Society)
2007.03.05 - In November 2006, the National Space Society(NSS) launched the NSS Space Settlement Art Contest. The purposes of the contest were to generate new artwork depicting space settlement; encourage artists in the creation of such art; and to raise public awareness of the concepts of space settlement by maintaining an online space art gallery and featuring the best contest art in the NSS Space Settlement 2008 Calendar.
To insure the success of the contest, sponsors generously donated over $10,000.00 of prizes to the contest. Principal sponsors include Pandromeda Inc., Beyond-Earth Enterprises, Artnow Online, The Moon Society, Huntsville Alabama L5 Society, Chicago Society for Space Studies, Oklahoma Space Alliance, and the National Space Society.
For three months (November 2007 thru January 2008) artists from around the world submitted their art to the competition. Of the more than 100 entries submitted to the contest, seventy were accepted. At the close of the submission period, contest judges faced the daunting task of choosing just 12 winning images for the calendar.
An award winning panel of judges for the contest was assembled by Chief Judge Jim Plaxco, chair of the NSS Space Settlement Calendar Committee. Heading up the panel of judges were two world renounced space artists: David A. Hardy, author and a winner of the Sir Arthur Clarke Award, from the United Kingdom; and Pat Rawlings, Science Applications International Corp. Art Director, of the United States. Rounding out the panel of judges were George Whitesides, Executive Director of the National Space Society and Peter Kokh, President of the Moon Society and Editor of Moon Miners Manifesto.
With voting completed, winning artists were from Germany, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, and the United States. According to Jim Plaxco, " The imagination and artistic mastery exhibited by the artists really impressed us. It was tough having to choose just 12 works of art. What we really needed were more months in the year."
GRAND PRIZE
The Grand Prize winning image came from the Orbital Settlements category and the winning artist from Germany. The picture The Return To Abalakin by Alexander Preuss excelled in its representation of a toroidal space city of a million inhabitants. As Grand Prize winner, The Return To Abalakin will be featured on the cover of the NSS Space Settlement 2008 Calendar.
SETTLEMENTS IN ORBIT
Winning First Prize in the Orbital Settlements category is a wonderfully romantic beach view of a sunrise in an O'Neill Colony. Islands of the Gods is the creation of Richard Bizley of the United Kingdom.
One other submission from the Orbital Settlements category that will be featured in the calendar is Inside Orbital City by Murphy Elliott of Florida, USA.
SETTLEMENTS ON THE MOON
Taking first place in the Moon Settlement category is Warren Turner of the United Kingdom. His piece Moonbase Preparations features mining operations on the lunar surface.
Other images from the Moon Settlement category to be featured in the calendar are: Descent Into The Dark Side by Raymond Cassel featuring a night time lunar orbit view of a moon base;
The Soaring Arena by Bill Wright of Maryland, USA illustrating the potential for human powered flight inside large lunar arenas.
SETTLEMENTS ON MARS
The First Prize winner in the Martian Settlements category is Javier Arizabalo from Spain. His Mars From A Young Perspective features a spacesuited boy gazing dreamingly into the distance as a rocket lifts off.
Other images chosen from the Martian Settlement category for inclusion in the calendar are: Second Outpost by Janek Kozicki of Poland featuring an early outpost on the Martian surface;
Mars Gardens by Alex Aurichio of New York, USA which illustrates the use of bioengineered plants to enhance the martian atmosphere.
SETTLEMENTS AMONG THE ASTEROIDS
In the Asteroid Settlements category, First Prize was awarded to Dr. Chee Ming Wong of the United Kingdom for his Asteroid Settlement: Slingshot To The Galaxy. This imaginative work illustrates the use of an asteroid's raw materials for the creation of human space settlements.
Other images in the Asteroid Settlement category which will be featured in the NSS Space Settlement 2008 Calendar are: A Mining Settlement On 90 Antiope by Walter Myers from Illinois, USA;
City Under Glass by Raymond Cassel from Colorado, USA illustrating the tethering of asteroid cities for creating artificial gravity.
All art accepted in the contest may be viewed at the NSS Space Settlement Calendar Gallery
It is anticipated that the NSS Space Settlement 2008 Calendar will be available for sale initially in May at the International Space Development Conference.
The National Space Society (NSS) is an independent, educational, grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. The society also publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the most important developments in space.
Sponsors
Pandromeda Inc. - Makers of Mojoworld 3D computer graphics software
Beyond-Earth Enterprises - Leading the way to the commercialization of space
Artnow Online - For Galleries and Artists to promote their artworks
The Moon Society - To further the creation of communities on the Moon
2007 International Space Development Conference - Celebrating 50 Years of Spaceflight
Chicago Society for Space Studies - Celebrating 30 year of space advocacy June 2007
NOTE: This effort was quite a learning experience. We got some good art, but not necessarily the kind of depictions of settlements (hundreds or thousands of people) we wanted. Many artists used acience fiction art commonplaces most unlikely ever to become real: glass domes, for instance. But if this calendar is successful commercially, we will want to do this annually, branding the name, "Space Settlement Calendar." Our goal is first to catch the eye, then to expose people to mind-expanding ideas. - Peter Kokh
