"Truth is the tree trunk; style makes beautiful foliage." -Lu Chi (from Wen Fu)

Writing Prizes:
The Kathryn Wasserman Davis '28 Art Prize

A prize of $300 awarded to a Wellesley student for a paper written, either independently or for a course, about any object or event associated with the Davis Museum and Cultural Center, including:

•Objects exhibited as part of either permanent or temporary collections
• The Davis Museum and Cultural Center itself
• Any aspect of Museum programming

The Kathryn Wasserman Davis ’28 Art Prize, a gift of the Shelby Cullom Davis Foundation, was first awarded in 1995-1996 and honors excellent writing about an object in the Davis Museum and Cultural Center. The goals of the prize are to encourage intellectual and creative interaction with the objects in the museum, to draw as many students and faculty as possible into the museum, and to articulate far-reaching and innovative connections between the visual arts and the other intellectual activities of the campus.

The prize is judged by a panel of three faculty members representing the Davis Museum, the Art Department, andthe Writing Program.

Entry Requirements:

• Submit three copies of the paper to the Writing Program Office (124 Founders) by Wednesday, April 23, 2008, 12:00 noon.

• Attach a cover sheet including the following information: your name, local address, phone, and email address; the professor and course for which you wrote the paper (if any), a brief description of the assignment (if any), and the date the paper was submitted.

• Each contestant may submit only one entry.

• Any Wellesley College student may submit a paper for this prize.

• Honors theses may not be submitted; papers written for independent studies are eligible.


Tips for submitting a prize-winning paper:

The judges look for a paper that reads well on its own and makes a strong and strongly visible argument, well supported by detail and analysis. Most prize-winning papers have been revised before submission. A paper that earned an 'A' for a course is not necessarily a prize-winning paper, in large part because many papers written in response to an assignment may not read well to someone unfamiliar with the course material. It helps to revise the introduction so it introduces your topic to an outside audience. It is also a good idea to include visual material and to be sure that material is well integrated into the paper. And it goes without saying that a paper with spelling errors, typos, and grammatical errors will not win a prize!

In the past, the judges have been particularly impressed with writing that is lively and fresh as well as competent and thorough. We are particularly interested in writing that expresses a rich and genuine response to objects in the Davis Museum.

We urge students to consult with their instructors before submitting a paper for a prize. Your instructor can help you decide whether a paper is worth submitting, and will also be very happy to help you revise for submission.

Back to Writing Prizes

• Lynne Viti and Wini Wood
• Wellesley College Writing Program
• Created by: Karyn Lu'01
• Date Created: June 29, 2000
• Date Modified: August 4, 2008
• Expires: July 31, 2009

All graphics (except for Writing Program logo and navigation bars) courtesy of Arttoday