Organizers of the third annual “Digital Graffiti Festival at Alys Beach” said that they were overwhelmed by hundreds of extraordinary submissions from local, domestic and international artists.

Digital Graffiti is the world’s first projection art festival, where artists use the latest technologies to project their original video and interactive artworks onto the iconic white walls of an entire beach resort town.

“We received entries from all over the U.S. as well as from digital artists in 17 other countries, including places such as Slovenia, Poland, Mexico, Greece, Australia, Bulgaria, Israel, Scotland, Argentina, Ireland, Italy, The Netherlands and Belgium, among others,” said Kelli Arnold, Alys Beach’s Events Coordinator. “From a field of nearly 300 entries, our selection committees narrowed it down to 36 amazing finalists.”

On the night of Saturday, June 12th, those 36 finalists will compete for $10,000 in cash prizes, including a $5,000 “Best of Show” award sponsored by Alys Beach, a $2,000 prize for the most innovative/experimental creation sponsored by the Florida Office of Film & Entertainment, and a $1,000 “Best Local Submission” award sponsored by 30A.com. The 30A.com “Best Local Submission” honor will be awarded to an artist who resides full-time in Florida’s Walton, Bay, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Bay or Washington County.

Winners will ultimately be decided by a panel of celebrity and industry judges, including Alan Hunter, film producer and MTV’s very first “VJ”; Lucia Fishburne, The State of Florida’s Film Commissioner; Colleen Duffley, professional photographer and owner of Studio b; and Brett Phares, professor of interactive media at Marist College in New York, among others.

The festival will be held from 8:30pm until Midnight on Saturday, June 12th, 2010, rain or shine. Advanced tickets are on sale now at www.alysbeachevents.ticketleap.com. Tickets are $15 for adults (12+) and $5 for children (ages 3-12) until May 14th. From May 15 through June 11, tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for children. Any tickets sold at the event gate will be $25 for adults and $10 for children.

2010 DIGITAL GRAFFITI FESTIVAL AT ALYS BEACH FINALISTS

The following works have been selected for display and competition during the 2010 Digital Graffiti Festival at Alys Beach:

1. “Aesthetic Species Maps” by David Montgomery of Fernandina Beach, Florida
2. “Alys Beach 3D Structure Projection” by Christopher Lee of Dothan, Alabama
3. “Bombshell” by Don Relyea of Dallas, Texas
4. “Eye Spy” by Russell Beans of Seacrest, Florida
5. “Five Portraits in Five Minutes” by Kasumi of Cleveland, Ohio
6. “Flightpattern” by Gwen Vanhee of Zedelgem, Belgium
7. “Frosti” by Matt Pearson of Brighton, United Kingdom
8. “Geometry of Poi” by Kate Riegle – van West of Chicago, Illinois
9. “Greenray” by Andre Rangel of Portugal
10. “Human Flux” by Nikola Mihov of Sofia, Bulgaria
11. “Inner Klänge” by Lemeh42 of Moterado, Italy
12. “JD’s Fun House 2010? by John Daniel of Panama City, Florida
13. “Kaleidoscopia” by Andy McKeown of Shrewsbury, United Kingdom
14. “Laser Art” by Christopher Lee of Dothan, Alabama
15. “Luminous Curiosities” by Christina Pierson of Los Angeles, California
16. “Moonlit McGill” by Amber Bushnell of Missoula, Montana
17. “Night Walkers” by Yandell Walton of VIC, Australia
18. “Organic Cycles” by Kristen Regan of Pensacola, Florida
19. “Part of the Surge and Not the Sea” by Kevin Romoser of Wayne, New Jersey
20. “Planet Caliza” by Kurt Lischka of Santa Rosa Beach, Florida
21. “Re-Birth” by Said Dokins and Mauricio Rodriguez of Cuauhtemoc, Mexico
22. “Resonance” by Charles Raffety of Missoula, Montana
23. “Roberto” by David Terranova of New York, New York
24. “SAN” by Jackson Petit of The Bahamas
25. “Sousbleu” by Gwen Vanhee of Zedelgem, Belgium
26. “Take Care” by Matt Pearson of Brighton, United Kingdom
27. “The Ancient Mariner” by Michael Burton of Lincoln, Nebraska
28. “Transmission (32 channels)” by Sam Holden of London, United Kingdom
29. “True Fictions: Home of the Brave” by The Light Surgeons of London, United Kingdom
30. “UGOKU” by Kasumi of Cleveland, Ohio
31. “untitled_(memory)” by Matthew West of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
32. “Vacio” by Daniel Ivan of Amecameca, Mexico
33. “Void?” by Bala Boyd of Freeport, Florida
34. “Walkers” by Nick Rands of London, United Kingdom
35. “White Dishes” by Stephanie Paine of Lafayette, Indiana
36. “Winnipeg Stories: Sacrificial Memories” by Clint Enns of Winnipeg, Canada

Sincere thanks to the hundreds of artists worldwide who submitted amazing works of video art this year, and congrats and good luck to this year’s 36 finalists!