International poetry and art contest entries due Dec. 1
Each year, River of Words® (ROW) conducts an international environmental poetry and art competition for youth aged five to 19 in grades K-12, in affiliation with The Library of Congress Center for the Book. This free contest is designed to help youth explore the natural environment and cultural history of the place they live, and to express what they discover through poetry and art. Iowa entries not chosen as finalists or grand prize winners in the international contest are returned to IOWATER, where they are judged in a statewide River of Words IOWA Environmental Poetry and Art competition.
The IOWATER Volunteer Water Monitoring Program of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources coordinates the River of Words IOWA Environmental Poetry and Art competition. Over 530 students from Iowa entered the 2009 contest, either through their schools, community art centers, local libraries, or on their own.
Because of the large number of quality Iowa entries, the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art generously offered to host a juried River of Words IOWA Environmental Poetry and Art Exhibit for the second year in a row. Thirty-seven works of poetry and art were selected to be included in this exhibit, held August 1-23, 2009. Following its run in Cedar Rapids, both the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium in Dubuque and the State Capitol Building in Des Moines signed on to host this traveling exhibit, which was selected to be part of Lt. Governor Patty Judge's Iowa Artists Showcase.
Here’s how the contest works each year:
• Entries must be sent by December 1 to:
River of Words, PO Box 4000-J
Berkeley, CA 94704
Phone: 510-548-POEM (7636)
Fax: 510-548-2095
• ROW returns Iowa's entries to IOWATER in April for state competition.
• Iowa’s state winners are chosen in May.
For more information and entry forms, visit www.iowater.net and click on River of
Words, or contact:
Pat Lohmann
IOWA River of Words Coordinator Iowa Dept. of Natural Resources
109 Trowbridge Hall
Iowa City, IA 52242-1319
Phone: (319) 335-1593
FAX: (319) 335-2754
email: Pat.Lohmann@dnr.iowa.gov
