Plans for the Spring Chicken Festival are officially under way now that a call to artists has been issued for the Fowl Art Show. Interested artists should prepare an original work measuring 11-by-14 inches or 14-by-11.

The winning artwork image will be used for promotional material, posters, T-shirts and note cards to promote the Spring Chicken Festival sponsored by Keep Hall Beautiful.

The entry fee is $40 and includes a frame for the artist to keep. All entries should be taken to Frames-You-Nique in downtown Gainesville by March 4.

Don Griffin, the coordinator of the Fowl Art Show, says the show is a way to get downtown involved in the official cook-off for the State of Georgia and pay homage to the "unofficial" bird of Gainesville.

"The artists are encouraged to paint a chicken or rooster in a humorous situation. The judges will be asked to consider the puns as well as the quality of the birds.

The art will be on display at Frames-You-Nique beginning March 11 and will be judged the week of March 14," Griffin said.

The winner will be announced at an awards party for all the artists, sponsors and guests on April 7. The 2011 winner will join the 2010 winner, Carmen Stolorena, in a booth at the chicken cook-off April 30 to sign their posters. For more information call Don Griffin at 770-532-7074.