Although next years Summit is still months away, the preparations have already begun.

The Summit Student Art Contest is calling for entries of creative pieces to be displayed throughout Summit next fall. This will be the fifth year that the contest has been held in an attempt to bring the arts into Summit activities.

“Too often Christians think of the expression of their faith as something that is done verbally or in written form,” said Brady Bryce, Director of Ministry Events. “They leave out the performed arts or, in this case, the visual arts and actual artistic pieces. This lets us stretch the bounds of how we think and imagine an event and to think about it artistically.”

Brady believes that art can play just as important of a role with Summit as a speaker or other presentation.

“Art tends to evoke,” Bryce said. “It may be the best language to point to God. Rather than speak it, always concrete in black and white, sometimes we just need to be evoked and prodded towards something that is far beyond us, something we can only begin to conceive of and imagine.”

The contest asks for students to submit art of any medium that portrays next year’s theme, “Intimacy.” The theme comes from the biblical story of Hosea and Gomer, a showing of undying love.

“It is a theme that evokes quite a lot,” Bryce said. “It is pointing to the kind of love relationship that God has with us. In spite of our sin and the ways we reject God, he maintains intimacy. I’m hoping that someone can visually express what that looks like. That kind of deep persistent love that will help people think about intimacy in new ways and point them towards true intimacy with God.”

Past winners include graduate James Davies, a two time winner, Richard Diaz, Jr., and Leanne Kawahigashi, sophomore art major from Fort Worth. Winning pieces have consisted of photography, painting and design.

Although the exact role of the winning piece has not yet been determined. Bryce said that once a winner is chosen, the piece will be incorporated into Summit through the magazine, t-shirts or in some other manner.

Along with the chance to have their artwork used as a feature in Summit, the winning student will receive a cash prize of $100. Artwork should be submitted digitally to summit@acu.edu before Feb 15.

“It is nice to involve students in as many ways as possible,” Bryce said. “This has been a way that allows students to put their thumbprint on Summit and it is always exciting to see what they put together.”