San Francisco announced the 20 recipients of the upcoming Rainbow Honor Walk installation — think Hollywood Walk of Fame, only vastly more important — last year. The installation wil stretch from the Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy on 19th Street at Diamond down to Castro, continuing up to Market and along 18th Street and over near the LGBT Center at Octavia Boulevard. But they need someone to create a superb design to compliment the honor and people it commemorate. Might that someone be you?

The contest, running from February 2 - May 2, 2012, will ask for designs from around the world. So get creative — a trite Diego Riveraesque mishmash or a rainbow will simply not do. Four finalists will be selected, judged by a jury of curators from San Francisco’s leading cultural institutions as well as LGBT community leaders and a member of the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Civic Design Committee.

The winner designer will receive an honorarium of $1,000. And glory. Lots of glory.

"The Rainbow Honor Walk will not only be an inspiring educational tool for future generations, but an important, ongoing and permanent part of San Francisco’s cultural landscape," said Tom DeCaigny, newly crowned Director of Cultural Affairs for the San Francisco Arts Commission. "We are honored and pleased to support this project, and look forward to assisting in any way we can."

Our suggestion, brilliant in its simplicity and honesty, is a shiny golden poppers bottle. Toot, toot, yeah, beep, beep, and so forth.

Details are as follows:

Design parameters:
1) Designs must include the name of the individual to be honored, their birth and death dates, and a brief description of their contributions
2) Size: 3 feet wide x 3 feet long (depth to be determined based upon engineering recommendations)
3) Materials: bronze and/or terrazzo

Individuals and/or design teams interested in participating in the design competition should contact the Rainbow Honor Walk by mail. Each submission must include:
1) A $100 non-refundable submission fee payable to “The Rainbow Honor Walk.” *
2) A one page description (no more than 500 words) of why this design is appropriate along with the qualifications of the designer.
3) A CD with documentation of completed and installed public artwork or similar projects. No more than three (3) projects should be submitted although there may be multiple images of each project from different perspectives to show the design, the materials and the context in which the work is located. A maximum of 10 jpeg images may be submitted.
4) One 1 foot by 1 foot color design concept in the format of a drawing, painting or photo montage. Actual fabricated models will not be accepted. Please do not deviate from the standard submission format. Applicants may only submit one design.
5) The applicant agrees to allow the Rainbow Honor Walk to use the images of his/her submission for promotional, educational and informational purposes.
6) The winning applicant will be required to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Rainbow Honor Walk organization to allow her/his design to be implemented and to agree to consult on details related to the materials utilized for fabrication of the Walk of Fame plaques.

* The submission fee will be waived for one student from each school in the San Francisco Unified School District, to be determined by that school.

Entries should be mailed to:
The Rainbow Honor Walk Design Contest
584 Castro Street, #113
San Francisco, California 94114

Honorees are:

- Jane Addams (1860-1935), Social worker, first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize, 1931
- James Baldwin (1924-87), American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, civil rights activist
- George Choy (1960-93): Activist for Asian & Pacific Islander youth and people with AIDS
- Federico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936), Spanish poet, playwright, political activist
- Allen Ginsberg (1926-97), American poet. San Francisco Beat poet/ Free speech activist
- Keith Haring (1958-90), American artist and AIDS activist
- Harry Hay (1912-2002), English born writer, gay rights activist. Founder of The Mattachine Society, 1950.
- Sylvester James (1947-88), Mighty real
- Christine Jorgensen (1926-89), Pre-eminent American transgender pioneer and advocate
- Frida Kahlo (1907-54), Mexican artist whose work has been celebrated as emblematic of national and indigenous tradition
- Del Martin (1921-2008), American feminist, gay rights activist. Founder Daughters of Bilitis
- Yukio Mishima nee Kimitake Hiraoka (1925-70), Japanese playwright, poet, actor, film director
- Bayard Rustin (1912-87), American civil rights leader.
- Randy Shilts (1951-94), San Francisco journalist, biographer.
- Gertrude Stein (1874-1946), American novelist, essayist, playwright.
- Alan Turing (1912-54), British scientist who broke the Nazi's Enigma Code and father of the modern computer, cryptanalyst, logician, mathematician
- Tom Waddell (1937-87), American athlete, physician, founder of the Gay Games
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), Irish playwright, poet, novelist, essayist
- Tennessee Williams (1911-83), American dramatist, poet, novelist
- Virginia Woolf (1882-1941), English novelist, essayist, publisher