Lincoln Memorial University’s (LMU) Arts in the Gap (AITG) and Women of Service, along with Guardians of the Gap, are hosting Fine Art Friday during April 2022. This event is a community art contest, with art entries from residents of the Tri-State region displayed.
The contest is being held in honor of LMU’s 125th Anniversary celebration. LMU’s Women of Service, AITG and Guardians of the Gap want residents of the region to show what the milestone 125th anniversary means to them.
Fine Art Friday will culminate in an evening of prizes and surprises on April 29 from 5-8 p.m. Three artists will receive awards per age category. Best in show winners will be awarded, and an overall grand champion will receive a ready-to-frame copy of their artwork and a cash prize. A popular vote winner will be awarded a gift bag of local goodies.
To enter, you must be a resident of Lee County, Virginia, Bell County, Kentucky, or Claiborne County, Tennessee. Artists must create original artwork, which can be an original drawing, painting, or digital art piece. Entries are limited to 2D media – no 3D sculptures or clay pieces can be entered.
“Break out your crayons, markers, chalk, pastels, acrylic paints, watercolors, maybe even your Apple pencil or mouse,” said Grace Mahieu, AITG director. “Create a piece of art that shows what the 125th Anniversary of LMU means to you.”
Art submissions can be viewed and voted on at various businesses around Cumberland Gap.
“Stop into the Arts in the Gap building to pick up an event map that shows which businesses are participating,” Mahieu added.
Voters may pick up five tickets at the Arts in the Gap building.
“You can use these tickets to vote on your favorite art piece on display,” Mahieu said. “Place the ticket in the cup that corresponds to the art pieces you like best. Each ticket will count as one vote, and you can put as many of your tickets in the cup as you’d like until you run out of them, with a maximum of five tickets per person.”
The age categories are: kindergarten through third grade; fourth grade through eighth grade; ninth grade through twelfth grade; post-secondary student; non-student; and senior citizen.
Artwork will be judged on creativity, uniqueness, and artistry of concept. Artwork must not contain lewd, obscene, sexually explicit, pornographic, disparaging, defamatory, libelous, or otherwise inappropriate content or objectionable material as determined by LMU in its sole discretion; images that are copyrighted, trademarked, private, public or in any other way that aspects the intellectual rights of any person or entity; material or elements not owned/created by the entrant and/or subject to the rights of third parties or images of people who are readily recognizable; commercial content, logos, or images; personally identifiable information of person(s) other than the entrant or family members. In addition, artwork that has been collaboratively drawn by multiple individuals or has been created by a person other than the entrant is ineligible. Artwork submitted without a completed entry form is also ineligible. Last, artwork that resembles previous contest submissions, as determined by LMU, or that resembles famous paintings, is ineligible.
An entry form, either online or printed, must accompany the artwork. Art pieces should be dropped off on April 21 or 22 from 5-7 p.m. at the Arts in the Gap gallery, located at 703 Brooklyn Street in Cumberland Gap. Questions about the contest guidelines, entry forms and submissions can be directed to Mahieu at grace.mahieu@LMUnet.edu or 423.869.7423. Alternative drop off times for art may be addressed to her as well.
Lincoln Memorial University is a values-based learning community dedicated to providing educational experiences in the liberal arts and professional studies. The main campus is located in Harrogate, Tennessee. For more information about the undergraduate and graduate programs available at LMU, contact the Office of Admissions at 423.869.6280 or email at admissions@LMUnet.edu.
