The Milken Archive of Jewish Music in collaboration with the Foundation for Jewish Culture is launching Eye Meets Ear: Visual Arts Competition for Emerging Artists to select 20 works as cover art for 20 themed volumes of music in the Milken Archive's new virtual museum.

The competition runs from September 1 to November 1, with winners to be announced in late December 2010. Each work selected will earn the artist a $2,000 cash prize. Artists, who must be ages 18 to 39, may submit works of art in any visual mediums that express and/or relate to the theme of individual virtual museum volumes, each of which explores a particular historical, cultural or musical theme.

The 20 selected works will be featured in the virtual museum, as well as in related products and communications. Runners-up will also be displayed in a special online exhibition.

The virtual museum, known officially as the Milken Archive of Jewish Music: The American Experience, launches the Archive's third decade as a resource to performers, composers, cantors, educators, scholars, and music enthusiasts of varied genres. Since its creation by philanthropist Lowell Milken in 1990, the Milken Archive has cultivated a collection comprising more than 700 works including 500 world premiere recordings, 800 hours of oral histories, 45,000 photographs and historical documents, and thousands of hours of video footage from recording sessions, interviews and live performances, plus an extensive collection of program notes, essays and articles.

For more information, check out our New Initiatives page.

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