The City of Helena invites artists, graphic designers, illustrators, and creative teams to submit original design concepts for a proposed City of Helena Specialty License Plate. The specialty license plate is intended to celebrate Helena’s distinctive identity, history, landscape, and community while generating ongoing financial support for affordable housing initiatives within the City of Helena.

THEME
Artists are encouraged to develop a design that reflects the character, landscape, history, architecture, and identity of Helena.

The overall concept or theme of the specialty plate is: “Guardian of the Gulch”

COMPENSATION
In recognition of the time, creativity, and effort involved, the selected artist or design team will be eligible to receive an honorarium of $500 for the winning design.

Finalists who are not selected will not receive compensation.

ANTICIPATED SCHEDULE
Call for Artists Issued: October 23, 2026
Deadline for Questions: November 2, 2026
Responses to Questions Posted: November 6, 2026
Submission Deadline: December 14,2026 9am MST
Review of Submissions: December 16, 2026
Finalist/Public Review, if applicable: December 2026 – Jan 2027
Artist Selection: City Commission Meeting in January 2027
Final Design Development: through February 26, 2027
Submission to Montana MVD: by March 1, 2027
The City reserves the right to modify this schedule as necessary.

Applications must be received no later than 9am MST December 14, 2026.
If there is not a successful applicant, the application period may be extended.

For full details, see full request for proposal below under document library.

Document Library:
Call For Artists - Full Copy (PDF, 691KB)
Submission Form (PDF, 117KB)
Artwork Description (PDF, 120KB)
License Plate Template (PDF, 231KB)

SUBMISSIONS CONTACT

City of Helena Community Facilities

c/o Bridget Johnston, Facilities Manager

316 N. Park Ave, Room 241

Helena MT 59623
bjohnston@helenamt.gov

406-447-8399

QUESTIONS CONTACT

City of Helena Community Development

Chris Brink, Director

316 N. Park Ave, Room 445

Helena MT 59623
cbrink@helenamt.gov

406-447-8445