Arts and crafts (all media for 1) novices 2) professionals) contest open to all

Tim Hipps
Army News Service
SAN ANTONIO — The 2015 Army Arts and Crafts Contest is open through July 31 for Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) artisans and craftspeople to submit their handiwork.

The Army Arts and Crafts Contest is an annual, juried competition of artwork for novice and accomplished artists, but MWR arts and crafts workshops are open year-round on most installations.

Chief Warrant Officer 3 Lisa Stansbury, a former contest winner, used arts and crafts to help overcome the anxiety of returning home from deployment.

“Soldiers are predominantly impatient people, especially when it comes to procrastination,” Stansbury said. “When we come home from war, it’s even more pronounced, and we need help transitioning back into society. Sometimes we need to find things to soothe and calm our spirits. Some Soldiers take up fishing, some write, others go to therapy – all of which demand our patience – or it won’t work.”

Stansbury took up painting, with glass, at Camp Red Cloud, South Korea, and her “Old Glory” earned first-place honors in the 2013 contest.

“Initially, I thought that the deployment changed me forever, and not in a good way,” she said. “Looking back, the fact that the deployment led me to working with glass, it did change me forever. Everything happens for a reason, and I’m so grateful for that change and new passion in my life.”
This year, Army arts and crafts managers will host local contests, assist patrons in preparing their contest submission photos, and forward the photos for regional and final competition.

The contest is open to MWR patrons from all branches of the U.S. military.

Where feasible, the Army will host regional competitions, and forward winning entries for
judging at the Army-wide level.

Submissions, to the region and Department of Army levels, will be digital .jpg images of
the work submitted via the Web through the MWR website.
The contest entries will be judged in two classes. Group I, or novice, is for individuals,
whose art skills have not been gained in formal education leading to college credit or a
college degree. Group II, or accomplished, is for individuals,
who have gained skills and knowledge through formal courses leading to credit in college
or art schools, and those who have received awards in professional
competitions or Army art contests.

Categories
The artworks must be entered in one of the following categories:
•Ceramic art: Inorganic and nonmetallic materials, which include items like tiles, plates,
vases, sculptures, etc., and often covered in decorative stains, glazes, etc.
•Digital art: Artistic work or practice, which uses digital technology as an essential
part of the creative/presentation process (digitally-altered photographs should be entered
in the 2015 Army digital photography contest in October).
•Drawings: Instruments may include graphite pencils, pen and ink, markers, wax color
pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk and pastels, etc.
•Fiber art: Refers to art with materials consisting of fiber and other components, such
as fabric or yarn, focusing on the materials and on the manual labor.
•Glass art: Non-crystalline solid material used to create glass art, which may include
vases, sculpture, glass tile mosaics, ornaments, stained glass, fused glass, jewelry, etc.
An MWR employee at Fort Hood, Texas, had urged Myrna Hawkins to enter her jewelry in the
contest. She’s now a regular in the event. (courtesy photo)

An MWR employee at Fort Hood, Texas, had urged Myrna Hawkins to enter her jewelry in the
contest. She’s now a regular in the event. (courtesy photo)

•Metal art: The process of working predominantly with metal to create a wide range of
work from sculptures, figurines, kinetic works, metal jewelry, etc.
•Mixed media 2D: More than one medium employed and combines various distinct types of
art media, i.e., a work on canvas, which combines paint, ink and collage.
•Mixed media 3D: More than one medium, anything that can be handled, touched or perceived
to be three dimensional. (Think about using recycled/ repurposed objects.)
•Paintings: Applying paint, pigment, color or other medium (acrylic, oil, ink, gouache



fresco) to a surface using airbrush, brushes, sponges, etc.
•Wood art: Wood used in forms of sculpture, craft, construction and decoration, for
example, furniture, carvings, musical instruments, toys, etc.

Each contestant can enter, as many as three pieces per category, at the garrison level.
All submissions must be an MWR authorized patron’s original work completed since July
1, 2014. Previous contest entries are not eligible.

Works done on official duty, illustrations, training aids or similar assignments are
ineligible, but contestants should feel free to allow their military experiences to
influence their work.

Entries will be accepted until July 31. Department of the Army-level judging will be
in August and the results should be available in September, when a gallery of winners
are scheduled to be posted online.
(Note: Hipps works at the U.S. Army Installation Management Command.)

Local Points of Contact
Arts & Crafts facilities offer a wide variety of programs to enhance the creativity
and technical skills of the military community. A variety of ready-made gifts for
farewell presentations or other occasions are available to create.
Visit the Schofield Barracks Arts & Crafts Center at 919 Humphreys Road, Bldg. 572.
Arts & Crafts hours of operation follow:
•Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
•Friday–Saturday, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.
•Sunday-Tuesday and Holidays, closed.
•Sales store closes at 3 p.m.
Call the Arts & Crafts Center at (808) 655-4202.

Online Site
Visit the Arts & Crafts Center at www.himwr.com/recreation-and-leisure/arts-a-crafts.

Tags: Army arts and crafts contest, community, featured, FMWR, full-image

Category: Community, Installation Management Command