Writer's Eye competition opens Sept. 25

The Bayly Art Museum's 14th annual Writer's Eye competition begins Sept. 25 and continues through Nov. 10. During this period, participants of all ages are encouraged to submit original prose and poetry compositions inspired by selected works of art on view at the Bayly. Entries are due in the museum by Nov. 10 and will be judged in prose or poetry categories according to age group: elementary (grade 3 and up), middle school, high school, and adult/University.

This year's art will be selected primarily from "Charlottesville Collects," an exhibit of privately owned art loaned from over 60 area collectors. Included are works featuring animals, in conjunction with the 13th Virginia Film Festival theme, "Animal Attractions." A wide range of time periods and media have been chosen, some from the Bayly's permanent collection.

This year's judges include Jerome McGann, John Stewart Bryant Professor of English at U.Va., for high school and adult/University poetry categories; and writer Karl Ackerman, who has taught novel writing at U.Va. and served as a Writer's Eye prose judge in 1996, for prose divisions.

On Sept. 25, Bayly docents will begin conducting Writer's Eye tours identifying featured works for the competition. Tours may be arranged, on a first-come, first-served basis, by calling the museum's education office at 924-7458.

For information about the Writer's Eye competition, call Mary Ellen Brehm at 975-2324, or check the museum's Web site at http://www.virginia.edu/~bayly