Fralin Museum Invites Written Creativity in Writer’s Eye
The program, now in its 36th year, is open to all applicants.
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia (UVA) takes a distinctive approach to interdisciplinary creation with Writer’s Eye. The literary competition challenges participants to respond to visual art from the Museum collection with original poetry and prose. Now in its 36th year, the annual program has become the Museum’s flagship educational offering.
Submission categories include poetry and prose by writers in grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. Writers may also submit entries for university/adult categories. The top three winners in each category will be honored in March 2023 during a public reading and have their works published in the annual Writer’s Eye anthology. Entries must be received by Nov. 18 and can be submitted on The Fralin’s website.
The Fralin Museum of Art’s in-person and virtual offerings make Writer’s Eye available to students and adults across the country and around the world. Writers can visit the Museum to see the works in the galleries or view the selected works on The Fralin’s website. Writer’s Eye Spotlight videos on YouTube offer in-depth, guided looks at the works with prompts that encourage close looking.
The selected works range from photographs and paintings to a shadow box construction. Among them are works by Sarah Maple, Cara Romero, Tokie Rome-Taylor and Wendy Red Star on view in Power Play: Reimagining Representation in Contemporary Photography and a shadow box in Joseph Cornell: Enclosing Infinity. Writers can also find their inspiration in works by Eeva-Liisa Isomaa, Robert Reed and Alberto Rey as well as an 18th-century Tibetan thangka on loan to the Museum from a private collection.
Docents Carole Armstrong and Valerie Morris introduced Writer’s Eye in 1986. The program is made possible by a generous grant from the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.
For more information about the program, exhibitions at The Fralin and the permanent collection, visit uvafralinartmuseum.virginia.edu.
Prizes for this year’s iteration include: university/adult: 1st $500, 2nd $250, 3rd $100; high school: 1st $200, 2nd $100, 3rd $50; middle school: 1st $100, 2nd $50, 3rd $35; elementary school: 1st $50, 2nd $35, 3rd $20.
About The Fralin Museum of Art at the University of Virginia
Established in 1935, the University of Virginia Art Museum became The Fralin Museum of Art in 2012 in honor of a bequest of American art and service to the university by Cynthia and W. Heywood Fralin. The Museum maintains a collection of more than 13,000 works of art, including American and European painting, works on paper and sculpture from the 15th through the 20th centuries; art from the ancient Mediterranean; Asian art; and Native and ancient American art. Housed in the historic Bayly Building near the Rotunda on the landmark UVA campus, The Fralin is dedicated to serving the widest possible audiences and engaging comprehensive visual education to enhance its visitors’ understanding of world cultures. Throughout the year, the Museum presents a diverse selection of exhibitions, programs, research and events that bring the university and broader community together.
The Fralin Museum of Art’s programming is made possible through generous support of The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation. We also wish to thank our in-kind donors: WTJU 91.1 FM and Ivy Publications LLC’s Charlottesville Welcome Book.