NYC Photographers Can Help Design Rockefeller Center Flags

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — Artists seeking a bigger platform have the chance to exhibit their works at one of the city's biggest landmarks: Rockefeller Center, which is asking for submissions to design its famous flags.

Submissions opened Monday for this year's Flag Project, where 83 works will be chosen to adorn the eight-by-five-foot flags that line the Rockefeller Center campus.

The chosen medium this year is photography, and Rockefeller Center is seeking submissions from photographers who hail New York or anywhere in the world — "world-famous artists to undiscovered talent."

Applicants can submit photos online anytime before Feb. 26.

Winners will be chosen by Chris Boot, executive director of Aperture Foundation. Then, the 83 flags will fly together as a temporary exhibition from March 27 to April 25.

While applicants can reside anywhere, Rockefeller Center is asking for photos that "showcase the diverse life and energy of New York City" — images showing "faces, objects or textures" of the city are welcome, even if they were not taken here.

The Flag Project began last year, part of an effort to lift the city's spirits and celebrate art during the depths of the coronavirus crisis. More than 1,000 submissions flooded in for last year's contest, including prominent artists like Jeff Koons, Marina Abramović and Christian Siriano.