The Helen Owen Calvert Writing Competition
The intent of the award is to recognize excellence in writing that responds to or interprets works of art in the Maier collection. Each year, the department of art, the department of English, and the Maier Museum of Art invite all Randolph College students to submit creative or academic writing inspired by one or more artworks in the Randolph College collection.
The award was established in memory of Helen Owen Calvert, by her family. Mrs. Calvert was a graduate of Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and the mother of one of the Maier Museum’s former curators of education, Doni Guggenheimer.
Award
- Readers/judges are members of the English department and Maier Museum of Art staff.
- The winner(s) receive a $200 cash prize and their submission published on the Maier’s website.
- Winner(s) are announced at the Academic & Leadership Awards Ceremony.
Guidelines
-
- Must be original writing (creative or academic) inspired by or about artwork(s) in the Maier collection.
- Works of art on view as part of the Annual Exhibition of Contemporary Art are NOT eligible.
- One entry per author.
- Current Randolph College students only.
- CLASS ASSIGNMENTS ARE ACCEPTED!
How to Submit
Email as an attachment to museum@randolphcollege.edu with the following in the email:
- your name and class year
- title of submission
- the artwork title/artist name
2024-2025 Academic Year Submission Deadline: March 19, 2025.
Questions? Contact curator of education, Laura McManus
lmcmanus@randolphcollege.edu
(434) 947-8136, ext. 5
Past Recipients
2024
Blackwater Hue: An Ode to Backwater Blues
by Sonia Langhorne ’25
2023
Bridging the Romanticized and the Realistic in Thomas Moran’s View of Venice
by Grace Duckworth ’23
2022
Spotlight Tour Script: Grant Wood’s March
by Emilie Bryant ’22
No award granted in 2021.
No award granted in 2020.
2019
Freedom: The Price of Advancement
by Victoria Harris
No award granted in 2018.
2017
Untitled (Figures in a Landscape): Influenced by Impressionism
by Melissa Vandiver ’19
2016
Pelagic
by Hannah Edwards ’16
2015
Meeting
by Katy Boyer ’16
2015
Your Suicide Note
by Grace Gardiner ’15
2014
The Memorial
by Jordan Long ’16