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2014 Art Tales contest: entries accepted between September 2013 and April 1, 2014

2013 “Art Tales” poetry & short story writing contest ended with Mayor's reception May 8

The contest is open to all writers worldwide with prizes awarded in 3 age divisions

The City of Ventura is pleased to sponsor this fifth annual creative contest open to all writers worldwide in partnership with E.P. Foster Library located at 651 E Main St in downtown Ventura. The contest invites imaginative writers of all ages to compose a short story or poem (500 words maximum) inspired by one of the artworks currently on exhibit at the library from the Municipal Art Collection. These selections from the City Hall collection are rotated annually to a special second floor exhibit space near the library’s rear (children's) entrance in an effort to make them more accessible to the community.  2013 Art Tales Postcard

Click links below to view/print this year's selections representing the artistic process of creating “Color in Landscape”: 

1. “Blue Trees,” 2001, mixed media/rice paper, Richard Amend
2. “Ventura Pier and the Holiday Inn,” 1989, collage and acrylic, Gayel Childress
3. “Mojave,” c. 1986, oil on paper, Dorothy Hunter
4. “Green Bird at La Posada,” 2002, oil on canvas, Sherry Loehr
5. “Two Men and a Pumpkin,” 2003, oil on canvas, Gail Pidduck
6. “Yellow Rose for Teiko II,” 1999, pastel, charcoal and 22K gold leaf on paper, Hiroko Yoshimoto

PRESS KIT

Click the first link below for the complete kit or the separate pages - To request printed copies of these materials or further contest information contact: 805.658.4706 or rnewsham@cityofventura.net

1. Teacher & Writer Lesson Plan - consists of items 2-6 below
2. Contest Informaton: How to enter, judging, awards & contest rules
3. About the Art Tales Artists & Artworks
4. Reproductions of 6 artworks each printable on 8.5" x 11" sheets
5. Art Tales LESSON PLAN FOR TEACHERS & Writers (includes 6 artworks) (pdf)
6. Fillable and savable Release Form in English or Spanish

HOW TO ENTER

1. Visit E.P. Foster Library, 651 E Main St in Ventura, to view the current exhibit of artworks from the City of Ventura Municipal Art Collection: View images and complete contest kit at www.cityofventura.net/arttales.
2. Write an original poem or short story (no more than 500 words in length) inspired by ONE of the artworks there that “calls” to you. Only ONE contest entry per person please.
3. Prepare your entry as an electronic word document, in English or Spanish, in a twelve-point font, including at the top: the author’s name, address, phone number, email address, age, title of work and number of words.
4. Submit your entry by March 1, 2013 BY EMAIL ONLY to rnewsham@cityofventura.net with "Art Tales" as the email subject line – together with a completed release form (see next item below).
5. Complete a savable pdf release form (forma de acuerdo) – parents must do this for youth entries under 18 – copy the document to your desktop, fill it in, save and send it along with your entry poem or short story.

JUDGING
A committee of professionals, educators, librarians and City of Ventura staff will judge entries on creativity, presentation and correspondence to a specific artwork to select their top three choices for separate poetry and short fiction categories in three age divisions: Youth (grades 2 - 8) High School (grades 9 - 12) Adult (age 18 and up)

AWARDS & LIBRARY READING
All winners receive a bound edition of the judges’ selection with cash prizes for first ($30) and second ($15) place. The Mayor of Ventura presents the awards in April or May during a library reading of works by contest winners: all contest participants, their families and friends and the public are invited to attend this special event where refreshments are served.

CONTEST RULES
Qualified entries shall be (a) either a single short story or poem (one entry per person) (b) no longer than 500 words (c) written solely by the entrant (d) not previously published (e) nor in conflict with trademark, copyright, rights of privacy, rights of publicity or any other rights, of any kind or nature, of any other person or entity; (f) which does not include any language or other content that is indecent or inappropriate as determined by the CITY in its discretion. Entries not satisfying these criteria in any respect will be disqualified. By entering the contest winners agree to give the City of Ventura a nonexclusive license to publish their work online and in a limited edition.

MUNICIPAL ART COLLECTION
The Municipal Art Collection, on permanent exhibit in City Hall, continues to be an important attraction for both residents and visitors. Since its inception in 1999, the collection has grown to include 92 works by 71 artists, each of whom have made a significant contribution to the history of visual art in Ventura County – a main criterion of acquisition. The Municipal Art Acquisition Program through its Municipal Art Acquisition Committee, a sub-committee of the Public Art Commission, oversees the purchase of new artworks. The Municipal Art Collection showcases the breadth and diversity of Ventura County’s visual art community through the representation of multiple media, including sculpture, painting, photography, etching, and ceramics. The entire collection may be viewed online at www.cityofventura.net/publicart. For more information contact Denise Sindelar at 805/658-4793 or dsindelar@cityofventura.net.

ARCHIVE: Contest Anthologies & Documents - 2009-13 Art Tales artworks

Art Tales 2013 postcard exhibit anthology winners artists artworks lesson-plan model-poems

Art Tales 2012 postcard exhibit anthology winners artists artworks lesson-plan model-poems

Art Tales 2011 postcard exhibit anthology winners artists & artworks

Art Tales 2010 postcard exhibit anthology winners artists & artworks

Art Tales 2009 postcard exhibit anthology winners artists & artworks