MOJA Arts and the Office of Cultural Affairs are issuing an open call for an artist to design the official poster for the 2026 MOJA Arts Festival, returning Sept. 24-Oct. 1 at locations across Charleston.
This is the first year the now eight-day festival is being co-produced by the Office of Cultural Affairs and MOJA Arts, a newly formed 501(c)(3) nonprofit created to plan and grow the event. Applications to have events or performances included in the MOJA Arts Festival are available here. The deadline is Aug. 5.
This year's growing schedule includes reggae and gospel music, poetry, drama, storytelling, a Gullah Geechee cook-off and a Golden Anniversary finale at Hampton Park on Oct. 1 celebrating the 50th anniversary of iconic 1976 albums. The finale will be produced by Ray Chew and Vivian Scott Chew and feature Tommy Brown and Zandrina Dunning. As previously announced, this year's festival also honors the cultural legacies of Barbados, the Gullah Geechee, Jamaica and Sierra Leone.
OFFICIAL POSTER
Artists living anywhere in South Carolina are invited to compete to create the festival poster, which will also appear on merchandise and digital marketing materials. The city is offering the highest poster commission in MOJA history: $5,000.
Submission guidelines:
- The artwork must have been completed within the last two years and not previously exhibited in the Charleston region.
- Each artist may submit one digital image of an original work, not exceeding 36 inches by 36 inches, for poster consideration.
- Artists should include up to four additional digital images as work samples. Samples must be two-dimensional but may be in any medium.
- Submissions created wholly or in part using AI image-generation tools are not eligible.
Complete rules and applications are available at citygalleryatwaterfrontpark.com, which also includes details on the MOJA Arts Festival Juried Exhibition. The poster submission deadline is Aug. 20.
The Office of Cultural Affairs is inviting residents with ties to this year's honored cultures to share ideas at culturalaffairs@charleston-sc.gov. The full festival schedule, which continues to grow, is available at mojafestival.com.
The City of Charleston's Office of Cultural Affairs, established in 1977, guides the city's investment in fine and performing arts, culture and history for the Charleston metropolitan area's roughly 870,000 residents and nearly 8 million annual visitors. The office produces the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, the Juneteenth Block Party and History Lesson, and Holy City Holidays, and co-sponsors the MOJA Arts Festival.