There are a lot of artists out there who have been inspired by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Unfortunately, not all of them can be fortunate enough to land a job at IDW or even Viacom, so it’s not every day that this artwork makes it beyond the fan-art stage. Thankfully, Paramount and Talenthouse have teamed up to make the fans a part of their promotional efforts for Out of the Shadows, as they have recently announced a contest to create new artwork for the film. Not only will artists have the opportunity to create Ninja Turtles artwork that could be seen by thousands of people, but they could also win a lot of money!

“In order to attempt to save the city and people they love, the Turtles are forced to risk it all and emerge from underground, out into a world that doesn’t always accept them. Through art, we want to explore this concept of coming out of the shadows.”

If you’ve ever felt inspired to create artwork based on the Ninja Turtles, this contest could be a your chance to share a unique vision for the franchise. It would appear that these designs won’t just be used to promote the film across social media, but also on actual manhole covers all around the world. As someone who works in the arts, I don’t particularly love the idea of doing something for exposure, but it’s not every day that a contest such as this takes place. Besides which, the top 20 finalists will actually be paid for their work in addition to the exposure they receive.

“Twenty Selected Finalists, as chosen by Paramount Pictures, will receive exposure for their work across Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows and Talenthouse’s social media channels. From the twenty Selected Finalists, five Overall Selected Artists will be selected and receive $1,000 each. The remaining fifteen artists will receive $200 each.

All twenty pieces of selected artwork will be printed onto sewer access covers and will be featured at selected global events.”

Personally, I can’t wait to see the kind of artwork that comes out of this contest. We’re not talking about a lot of money here, but it does sound like a fun project. Part of me hopes that someone will take the concept of coming out of the shadows into a deep and dark place, because I would love to see a darker approach to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles showing up in more artwork. If you’re interested in entering the contest, make sure to read the rules and download the template from Talenthouse before you get started on your designs for TMNT themed manhole covers.