Utah Valley Regional Medical Center is celebrating its 75th anniversary and hoping to raise future community involvement with an art poster contest for college students.
Laura Salazar, communications specialist at the hospital, came up with the contest idea when she heard about a contest community members conducted to build the hospital in 1937. A BYU student, Joe Wendel, won first prize. Contest involvement helped unite the community. Local businesses, the LDS Church and community members contributed to the new hospital’s cost of $330,000.
Salazar hopes this contest will also raise community morale, support and awareness for future projects.
“We’re going to be doing a hospital replacement project starting next year,” Salazar said. “We want a piece of art from outside of the hospital that could express our values of having a hospital in the community.”
Hospital staff would use the winner’s art in future projects, like invitations or as a face for expansions. The theme of the contest is “Celebrate It — Build on It.”
Ethan Wilkins, a junior studying illustration at BYU, said he thinks this art contest could raise community interest. “Art usually can grasp attention as long as it’s done well,” Wilkins said. “It also depends on what kind of art form you are doing.” Wilkins noted that easily reproducible art like film and photography generally grasp more immediate interest, while painting and drawing take more practice and skill.
Christina Johnson, a professor teaching design in the BYU Humanities Department, gave entrants advice. “It’s a great concept,” Johnson said. “But hopefully when you take a theme and create your own art out of it, you find a way to make it personal and specific. You have to say something new even though everyone’s using the same basic theme.”
Submissions can be in all formats as long as they are reproducible in print. Formats can be (but aren’t limited to) graphic design, photography and fine art (pencil, oils, water color, etc.).
Three judges will judge posters on theme, visual impact and originality.
The first-place winner will receive $500, second place will receive $300 and third place will receive $200.
Interested students should submit posters at a minimum size of 8.5″ x 11″ or maximum size of 11″ x 17″ before Oct.1 at 5 p.m. Students can submit their entries through email to Laura Salazar at or drop them off at the Communications Department at the hospital. Entrants should also include their name, address (no PO boxes), phone number, email and university affiliation either in an email or on the back of a delivered poster.
