Words Meet Art
At Fifth Street Writers
Call for Submission
The Ames Writers Collective is seeking “two-dimensional original art” submissions for an exhibition at Fifth Street Writers located in downtown Ames, Iowa.
Media can be oil, acrylic, watercolor, collage, etc. Pieces chosen for the exhibition will be featured at Fifth Street Writers Words Meet Art events.
Words Meet Art is a literary arts event demonstrating through words how art evokes feelings, triggers memories and stories, and inspires conversations across divides and demographics.
During our Words Meet Art events, writers create prose, memoir or poetry in response to an exhibit of artwork or photography.
Sometimes, we simply write in a group and read our work aloud to one another. Other times we hold public events where writing is performed for an audience.
In the past we have held spoken word and writing events at the Octagon Center for the Arts in Ames, Iowa and the Christian Petersen Art Museum at Iowa State University.
Fall 2025 Exhibition date TBD.
Interested in submitting your 2-dimensional art. Click here to Send us an email.
Thank you to our funders:
Dr. Ron McCurdy, is a Professor of Music in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California, where he served as chair of the jazz department for 6 years. Dr. McCurdy is a consultant to the Grammy Foundation educational programs including serving as director of the National Grammy Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Guest artists he has worked with include Joe Williams, Rosemary Clooney, Leslie Uggams, Arturo Sandoval, Diane Schuur, Ramsey Lewis, Mercer Ellington, Dr. Billy Taylor, Maynard Ferguson, Lionel Hampton, and Dianne Reeves.
Caleb “The Negro Artist” Rainey is an author, performer, and producer. He hails from Columbia, Missouri, and holds a B.A. in English (Creative Writing) from the University of Iowa. His debut book, Look, Black Boy, became Amazon’s #1 new release in African American poetry, and was awarded first prize in the North Street Book Prize. His second book, Heart Notes was published in 2019 and featured on Iowa Public Radio. He released two spoken word albums, a studio version of Look, Black Boy, and a performance album titled, Heart Notes Live! He co-founded the literary magazine Black Art; Real Stories, was published in Iowa’s Best Emerging Poets – 2019, the Little Village Magazine, and wrote a monthly column for The Real Mainstream. For three years in a row he was named Best Poet/Spoken Word Performer in Cedar Rapids & Iowa City.
