... so the Alley Cats are issuing a call to artists to create flags that represent an inclusive vision of our shared Southern heritage and express hope rather than hate.

The local media reports about the flying of a large Confederate battle flag over I4 and 75 outside Tampa have given a disproportionate share of public attention to a divisive and ugly symbol. This is a conversation that is taking place all over the South -- several states have had public discussions in recent years about the Confederate flag.  The Alley Cats want to fly a different Southern flag -- yours!

We’re accepting artists’ submissions in both digital format and as physical fabric art creations. We’re going to create an art exhibit that combines displaying the fabric art flags with large-scale projections of the digital creations.

The exhibition will be juried. There is no entry fee. We will categorize the submissions by media and into artist groups, with prizes awarded in the adult professional, adult amateur, and student categories.

We will be accepting artwork and forming alliances with other artistic/cultural groups for this project through May of 2009, and will be arranging our exhibition for June-July 2009.

Create flags that are representative of our better selves and our varied traditions, and we’ll fly them all!