Summer Stories Short Story Competition

For centuries, writers have been inspired to action by the narrative quality of paintings. Edward Hopper’s evocative paintings have launched countless poems and short stories, while Vermeer's “Girl with Pearl Earing” inspired a best-selling novel. Now that connection between the visual and literary arts has come to Maine.

The Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance and Shanti Arts Publishing invite Maine authors to submit original short stories inspired by the paintings of Maine artist, Leslie Anderson. Winning submissions to the Summer Stories Short Story Competition will be published in a printed collection alongside Anderson’s paintings.

Award-winning Maine author Ron Currie, Jr. will serve as the competition’s judge. Currie’s books have earned him critical acclaim and several prestigious awards, including the Young Lions Fiction Award from the New York Public Library. The New York Times has said Currie is a “startlingly talented writer whose book [Everything Matters!] will pay no heed to ordinary narrative conventions… He survives the inevitable, apt comparisons to Kurt Vonnegut and writes in a tenderly mordant voice of his own.”

Winning stories will receive a $50 honorarium (in the form of a gift certificate) and three complimentary copies of the published book.

DEADLINES
Submissions Open: October 10, 2012
Submissions Deadline: March 1, 2013
Notification of Winner: May 15, 2013
Book Release: Fall 2013

Full details of this competition are available online.

Spirit of Place Photo and Video Competition Opens This Week

In honor of their 40th Anniversary in 2013, Maine Media is holding a photo and video contest that celebrates the places that move us. Image-makers of all ages, abilities and disciplines are encouraged to submit their work. From the shores of Maine to the streets of Mumbai, from intimate portraits to desolate landscapes, show them what Spirit of Place means to you.

The contest is open to submissions from October 1, 2012 through February 1, 2013, and includes categories for youth and adults in both photography and video. Over $25,000 in prizes will be awarded to the winners, including cash awards, free tuition at Maine Media Workshops, B&H gift certificates, and inclusion in an exhibition at Maine Media Gallery. A portion of the contest’s proceeds will fund scholarships for Maine Media students.

Submissions will be judged by a distinguished panel of media insiders, including Stacey Baker from The New York Times Magazine, Patricia Luchsinger from The Today Show, Jessica May from the Portland Museum of Art, and Ben Fowlie from the Camden Maine International Film Festival. Photographers can choose to submit a single image, or a portfolio of up to ten. Film and video contestants may also submit multiple items.

To find out more about the contest and to make your submission, click here.

Furniture Design Competition (and Exhibition)

re-posted from  ARTFIXdaily

The Farnsworth Art Museum, in Rockland, Maine and the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Rockport, Maine, announce a collaborative design competition and exhibition. The challenge, which goes out to all Maine artisans and artists, is to design benches for the museum's galleries. Completed versions of the top 18 design entries will be exhibited at the Center's Messler Gallery from January 18-April 3, 2013. The Farnsworth will then make a select number of purchase awards from the exhibition to furnish its galleries.

The deadline for entries is August 1, 2012. Any material or combination of materials is permissible, and seating must be sufficiently moveable to accommodate flexible use within the museum's galleries. Individual units can be designed to seat anywhere from 2-5 people and must be available for the Farnsworth to purchase at a retail price not to exceed $3,300. Submissions may consist of images of completed work, prototypes, models or renderings.

For complete details of the submission guidelines please visit http://www.woodschool.org/wood-school-gallery/call-for-entries or farnsworthmuseum.org/call-for-entries-cfc

If you have questions, please contact Messler Gallery Manager, Victoria Allport, at victoria@woodschool.org or 207-594-5611.

 

Juice Conference Contest News

The Maine Arts Commission is so pleased to be working with the organizers of the 2011 Juice Conference. The conference organizers have created two competitions that offer cash awards on differing scales to artists and entrepreneurs.

The Juice Pitch Contest

Organizers of the Juice Conference have “juiced up” their pitch competition from the prior conference; there are bigger prizes and more opportunities for all types of businesses to learn and participate. They have added a day of coaching sessions with experience entrepreneurs and funders and split the contest into five separate categories. Sign up soon as the contest is limited to 100 participants! Applications are due by Saturday, October 15.

Winners of each category will receive $5,000 prize packages that include a combination of cash and professional in-kind services. The best company overall, as judged by the organizers of the conference based on potential for investor return, will be eligible for a $100,000 investment in the form of a convertible note. Only companies in the Scalable Innovation and Sustainability tracks are eligible for the $100,000 investment.
Full details can be found on the Juice Conference Website.

The Juice Film Contest

As the conference theme for 2011 is risk, organizers are reaching out and asking film-makers these questions: how do you visualize risk? What does a life look like when risk is celebrated? Where does risk lead us? Who do you see taking wise risks? How can risk be celebrated?

They are seeking 60 to 120 seconds of film by the due date of October 15. There is a $1,000 cash prize, the top film-makers will win free tickets to Juice 3.0, and have their film shown to the over 500 attendees at the conference.

Full details can be found on the Juice website.