The CUNY/Labor Arts contest rewards students for thinking and writing and making art about labor history, broadly defined, and is open to any undergraduate attending a CUNY college. Begun in 2010, it encourages students to write creatively and analytically about work and workers, to make art about work and workers, and to link their efforts to the spirit of LaborArts.
Now in its thirteenth year, the contest is open to all CUNY undergraduates. Entries are judged according to originality, content, and style. Guidelines and entry instructions for the 2023 contest are available here. The deadline for entries for the 2023 contest has been extended to December 11, 2023. Student writers and artists draw upon history, their close observation of the world around them, and a wealth of first-hand experiences. Every year professors judging the contest reflect on the value of providing opportunities for the students to seriously interrogate their own life experiences and that of those around them.
LaborArts is enormously grateful for generous funding for the contest from the Workforce Development Institute and for ongoing support from the Brooklyn College Graduate Center for Worker Education.
