Photographers across Coral Gables have until Monday, Aug. 17, to submit their best shots of the city for a chance to see their work hanging inside the Coral Gables Museum.
The museum's "Capture Coral Gables" contest, in its second year, is free to enter and open to all skill levels, according to a city announcement. Each entrant may upload up to 10 images across one or more of five themed categories:
- People and community in Coral Gables
- Freedom, expression and civic life
- Resilience, peace and stewardship
- Coral Gables in the World
- The future of Coral Gables
Selected finalists will have their photographs exhibited at the museum, located at 285 Aragon Ave.
The contest is presented as part of America250, the national initiative marking the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The museum said the competition invites participants to document the people, places, architecture, traditions and everyday moments that define Coral Gables while highlighting the city's place in the broader American story, according to its contest page.
Building on last year's debut
The 2026 edition follows the museum's inaugural "Capture Coral Gables: Centennial Edition," which celebrated the city's 100th anniversary in early 2025. That contest drew enough entries to fill a finalist exhibition that opened April 24, 2025, alongside the museum's "Coral Gables Fire: A Century of Service" show. Winners received prizes at a May 2, 2025, ceremony supported by local business partners.
The museum has not announced prizes for this year's edition.
Part of a broader celebration
The photography contest joins a string of America250 programming the city has rolled out this summer, including a mayoral portrait exhibit titled "Local Leadership, National Legacy: Coral Gables Mayors Across a Century" that opened July 1 at the museum, a patriotic drone show over the Biltmore Hotel on July 4 and a guided bike tour with a 250th anniversary theme on July 19, according to the Gables Gazette.
How to enter
Submissions are accepted online at coralgablesmuseum.org/capture-coral-gables-contest-2026. The deadline is Monday, Aug. 17, at 11:59 p.m. No entry fee. No professional experience required.
