Vinnie Ream Competition Call for Submissions
To honor the legacy of Vinnie Ream, harp pendants in sterling silver with zirconia accents will be given to each first-place winner in art, letters, and music categories at the Vinnie Ream banquet to be held at the 2024 Biennial. One goal of the Vinnie Ream competition is to challenge participants to follow Ream’s sterling example of elevating one’s artwork to the highest level.
General Guidelines
To enter the contest, you must be an active member of NLAPW in good standing. Materials entered in previous Vinnie Ream competitions will not be accepted. Winners in the past two Vinnie Ream competitions should not enter this year’s competition. Winners should wait for two successive competitions before entering again.
Independent, outside judges will select the first-place winner for each category: art, letters, and music. Each first-place winner (or a designated representative) must attend the Vinnie Ream Banquet to receive the award.
The entry fee is $40 for each submission. All entry fees must be submitted to NLAPW via either check or PayPal (below). You may submit for any category in which you are a qualified member.
Entries may be new or created within the past 15 years. You retain all rights to your work. Entries will be accepted beginning September 30. Postmark deadline is no later than March 30, 2023. Winners will be notified before the Vinnie Ream banquet at the 2024 Biennial.
A short artist statement (not to exceed 250 words) must accompany each entry in response to this quotation about Vinnie Ream: “She found a way to create truth through art.” Writers, artists, and musicians should address the relationship of their art and truth, and their art’s ability to create truth. Artists and musicians, imagine a perplexed art show viewer examining your painting or concert attendee listening to your composition and asking you, “Is your work an expression of truth? Help me understand how you found a way to create truth through your art.” Your short, written response for the competition could be framed in this manner.
For an award to be given, there must be at least 10 submissions in a category in order to ensure a competitive contest.
Guidelines for Art Category
Entries may be in any of the following categories:
- Painting: all mediums, including oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastel, encaustic, mixed media
- Drawing and graphics: all mediums
- Photography
- Printmaking (original prints only)
- Pottery (hand-formed or wheel-thrown)
- Sculpture
Entry images must be saved as a baseline jpeg, minimum of 1,200 – 1,500 pixels on the longest side. The image file size must be 1 MB or less. The file name should be the title of the piece only. The image should be of the artwork alone without mat or frame. Please submit 1 image of each 2-dimensional entry; 3 images (front, back, and side views) of all 3-dimensional entries.
Size restrictions:
- 2-D work maximum dimensions including frame are 40 inches high, 36 inches wide and under 20 pounds. All 2-D work must be framed and ready to hang with D-rings and wire no less than 3 inches from the top. (No sawtooth hangers accepted.) Gallery-wrapped canvases do not have to be framed. Acrylic glazing recommended.
- 3-D work maximum dimensions are 3 feet by 3 feet and under 30 pounds.
Your artist statement required by the competition must accompany your submission. Please include your contact information, art category, medium, and title of your piece with your submission.
Email your entries to artchair@nlapw.org. Subject of your email should read: Art Submission Vinnie Ream.
Entries may be used in a slide show during the Vinnie Ream Banquet and shown on the League’s website, along with the artist’s contact information.
Artwork chosen for the competition by the juror will be by jpeg selection. The winning piece and 10 finalists will be on display at the Pen Arts Gallery, September 1 – November 30, 2023. Artists are responsible for the cost of shipping and shipping insurance to and from Pen Arts.
Before submitting, entry fee should be paid via PayPal (below) or by check made out to NLAPW and mailed to Joan Applebaum, National Art Chair, NLAPW, 1300 17th Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-1901. Include your contact information and title of your piece with your check. Any questions, please contact Joan Applebaum, National Art Chair, at artchair@nlapw.org.
Guidelines for Letters Category
The letters competition will cover three specific areas: fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, but only one winner will be chosen. From these categories, one overall letters entry will be the first-place winner.
Fiction categories include a short story (30 pages max.) or a screen/stage play excerpt and synopsis (total of 30 pages max.); chapter from a children’s, young adult, or adult novel, plus a detailed synopsis (total of 30 pages max.); or manuscript of young children’s story (30 pages max.).
Nonfiction will include an article or an essay (30 pages max.), a chapter of a nonfiction book plus detailed abstract (total of 30 pages max.), or a chapter of a memoir plus detailed outline (total of 30 pages max.).
Poetry entry will include a chapbook (manuscript form, 30 pages max.) or a series of linked poems (30 poems max.).
Submissions may be published or unpublished. Entries must be typed on 8.5-by-11 white paper. Good-quality photocopies of books are acceptable if the spacing requirement for prose is met (see below). Please do not send books.
Prose should be double-spaced. Poetry should be single-spaced, with double spacing between stanzas.
Only the title of the work should appear on the manuscript. Do not include your name. On a separate cover sheet (either as attachment to email or mail), include your name, contact information, and the category and title of your work. Example: Fiction—short story: Title. No manuscripts will be returned.
Make sure to include your statement responding to the Vinnie Ream quotation as part of your submission.
Preliminary judge(s) for each of the three letters categories will select the best pieces in that category; finalist judge(s) will consider the finalists and choose the first place.
Before submitting, entry fee should be paid via PayPal (below) or by check made out to NLAPW. Send entries to Karen McAferty Morris, National Letters and Vinnie Ream Chair, NLAPW, 1300 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20036-1901. Contact Karen by email on the NLAPW website at lettchair@ nlapw.org with questions.
Guidelines for Music Category
All original musical compositions must be between 3 and 12 minutes. Entries may be for solo or small ensembles (up to five players). Any instrumentation is acceptable. Choreography can be for up to five dancers.
All entries will be considered for possible performances in 2024, such as the 2024 Biennial and individual branch meetings throughout 2023-24.
Submission formats (select the format appropriate for your composition):
- For nontraditional composition, submit two lead sheets with melody, lyrics, and chord symbols, along with two CDs of the composition.
- For traditional composition, submit two legibly scored copies of the musical composition and two accompanying CD recordings of the composition performed.
- For choreography, send choreography notation, with a DVD recording of the choreography being performed.
Only the title of the composition must appear on all written and recorded materials. Do NOT include your name. CDs will not be returned.
On a separate cover sheet or a 3×5 index card, include your name, contact information, and the category and title of your work. Be sure to include a one-page artist statement (not to exceed 250 words) to accompany your entry, as stated under the general guidelines (see required response to Ream quote), to discuss the meaning of how your musical process “creates truth.”
Before submitting, entry fee should be paid via PayPal (below) or by check made out to NLAPW. Send entries to National Music Chair, NLAPW, Inc., 1300 17th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20036-1901. Contact Music Chair by e-mail at musichair@nlapw.org with any questions.