The Waldemar A. Schmidt Art Gallery in collaboration with the Wartburg Community Symphony invites you to participate in the “Music Takes Flight” Art Competition!

For their Feb. 18, 2 p.m. concert, the Wartburg Community Symphony will be performing a concert centered on birds with a theme of “Music Takes Flight.”  To help enrich the audience experience at the concert, the symphony is seeking a suite of individual artworks inspired by the four birds featured in Ottorino Respighi’s The Birds. The four birds depicted within the music include the dove, the hen, the nightingale, and the cuckoo. A link to the music piece can be found below.

Respighi – The Birds

Three suites of birds will be awarded 1st ($250), 2nd ($175), and 3rd place ($125), and will be projected during the performance of the piece on Feb. 18. The competition is open to those in high school and up. All artists who submit original artwork will be invited to attend the concert and stand next to their work during intermission. Additional submission requirements can be found below:

Submission Requirements

• Entries must consist of four individual artworks inspired by each of the four birds depicted in Ottorino Respighi’s The Birds. (The dove, hen, nightingale, and cuckoo.)
• Submissions must include the original artworks, a completed entry form (pdf can be found below), and an artist statement including a brief biography and information about the work in context to the music.
• Submissions are to be dropped off at the Wartburg College Music Office, in the Bachman Fine Arts Center, to Carrie Church on December 12th or 13th during the business hours of 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. If you have any questions/concerns, please contact gallerydirector@wartburg.edu. Judging will take place on Dec. 15 and winners will be notified via the email they provide on the entry form. All submissions will be available for pick up after the concert on Feb. 18.

Participation in the competition clears Wartburg College to digitize your artwork for purposes of the event and to use the images for promotion of this event and similar events/competitions in the future.

Please remember to fill out the entry form (pdf can be found below) and submit it with your artwork and artist statement.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at gallerydirector@wartburg.edu.