Glorie Austern of Harmon Cove always knew she had a talent for making letters, but winning two recent national contests for calligraphy has proven her right – even though she has worked in calligraphy as a professional for more than 26 years.
Austern was chosen as a national winner in the 2003 Graceful Envelope Contest sponsored by the National Association of Letter Carriers and the Washington Calligraphers Guild. The contest was run in recognition of the art of calligraphy and the role of letters in binding people together.
Austern’s winning envelope was among 38 selected from about 200 entries, and it incorporated this year’s theme, “the written word.”
Contestants were asked to use the theme in a creative and artistic way while using hand-executed lettering to address the envelope. The envelopes themselves were actually mailed to the contest headquarters.
Austern has taught calligraphy in public and private schools including Queens College and Public School No. 6 in New York City. She provides calligraphy services to hotels, offices and other groups that need professionally designed stationary and other displays.
This is the second year that a design by Austern has won this contest, and she said during a telephone interview that she incorporated many of the symbols that she believed highlighted the “written word” theme.
Her design on a yellow envelope featured lettering in red encircling a variety of universal symbols such those for peace, the medical profession, the various religious faiths, and others.
“The idea was to express the written word relative to mail carriers and letters,” she said.
This year’s theme was a tribute to the essential role of written communications, including cards and letters (and the mail carriers who deliver them), books and manuscripts (and the toils that produce them) and alphabets and symbols (and the process of learning them).
Contest started by Smithsonian
The contest started in 1995 as a creation of the Smithsonian’s National Post Museum, said Lorraine Swerdloff, the former president of the Washington Calligraphers Guild, who was also a judge in this year’s contest.
“The contest coincided with a workshop on calligraphy the National Postal Museum was holding,” Swerdloff said.
At the time, there was a nostalgia for older handwritten envelops from an era when many people emphasized their penmanship.
“Everybody looks for old envelopes because of the beautiful writing,” Swerdloff said. “So the museum asked for calligraphers to letter and decorate envelopes. There was a huge response.”
The challenge, she said, was getting the letter through the mail, since a requirement of the contest is to have the letter mailed to the contest center.
“That is more difficult than you’d think,” Swerdloff said. “How are the people in the post office able to read the address and zip code when their designs are so creative?”
Austern said winning the contest was a matter of prestige since she is a professional and her work is posted on the official website as well as on display in Washington D.C. until the end of the year.
Austern, who has a B.A. from Hofstra University, took courses in calligraphy in 1974 because of an interest in the art form.
“I always drew letters growing up,” she said. “It was a gift from God.”
The winning envelopes are on display in the lobby of the National Association of Letter Carriers headquarters building, 100 Indiana Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20001 through the end of 2003. The exhibit is open to the public Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The building is located near Union Station and the U.S. Capitol, at the intersection of Louisiana Ave. and First St. NW.
Entries can also be viewed at http://www.calligraphersguild.org. You can also get more information about next year’s contest at the same site.
For further information about visiting the exhibit, call (202) 662-2890. Calls for entries for next year are expected to be posted in December.