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Your camera.

, the mission's caretaker, is looking for the best images of the historic mission to be part of its first-ever calendar.��

The Patronato San Xavier 2027 , open to professional and amateur photographers alike, is accepting submissions through July 15. Entries will be judged by a jury of professional photographers and 13 images will be selected ��� one for each month and the cover.

There are no parameters or rules about photographing the interior or exterior of the mission, which dates back to 1797, San Xavier Executive Director Miles Green said.��

"Whatever people are inspired to (photograph) is what we're really requesting," he said.

The idea for the contest came from Associate Director Deanna Dillard,��Green said.

"Deanna had the idea that this is the most iconic and probably most photographed building in Arizona. Why not play up that idea and have people see what kind of interesting images they can find, looking at unique aspects of the mission that perhaps people haven't recognized before," he said.

Catch her striking profile as the sun sets. Get up close on the detail work of her newly restored facade that's still a work in progress. Or perhaps capture a glimpse of the brilliantly ornate vaulted ceiling towering over the wooden pews where generations of Tohono O'odham worshippers and visitors have held vigil.

"It's your own vision of the image," Green said.

The contest is open to photographers 18 and older and the images must feature the mission or its surrounding desert landscape. AI-generated or altered images are not eligible.

There is a $6 per submission entry fee to cover administrative costs and a limit of four submissions per person. All submissions must be digital, high-resolution in JPEG, TIFF, JPG, or PDF format. For the complete contest rules, visit .

Patronato San Xavier quietly opened the contest weeks ago while scaffolding still shrouded the mission's facade as part of a restoration project launched in winter 2025.

The work, funded through a $749,000 grant from the National Park Service in fall 2024, involves stabilizing and restoring the building's decorative facade that dates back to the 18th century.

Green said work can only be done in the winter because the product they use "is very susceptible to heat."

"Even at the end of March, we were somewhat shocked to discover those 100-degree days really impacting some of the product that we were attempting to use," he said.

The facade restoration project is the largest in the mission's history, financed by the largest single grant in the 46-year history of the nonprofit Patronato San Xavier, which oversees preservation and fundraising.��