Cups of coffee purchased on campus will soon feature a “gallery on the go”—student-produced designs that decorate the sleeves.

A jury composed of Senior Vice President Warren Chapman, Assistant Vice President of Creative Services Mary Forde and Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications Diane Doyne will choose 12 student designs to be featured on the coffee sleeves. The students whose designs are selected will receive a $50 cash award.

“We are looking for something creative,” Doyne said. “We want to make sure that the artwork created would maintain its integrity when reproduced in such a small, limited medium.”

Creative Services will continue to accept student designs until Jan. 7. All submitted artwork must be scalable to fit on the 2-inch by 4-inch space provided and will be printed in one solid color,

Doyne said.

“One of the things that is great about [this juried process] is that we have the opportunity to use a functional, mundane item and transform that into something [that is] interesting, attention-getting and expose[s] our student talent,” she said.

The jury has received several submissions already, according to Doyne. There are no limitations on the type of designs, Forde added.

“We are an art school that is always re-inventing ourselves,” Forde said. “To take this space and make it a ‘gallery on the go’ speaks to the innovation that Columbia is always searching for fresh ideas.”

The idea for the contest came about when Phil Tadros, owner of several on-campus cafes, suggested  to Tim Bauhs, associate vice president of Business Affairs, that Columbia use Sleeve a Message, a company that prints messages on coffee sleeves.

Haley Franker, a freshman art & design major, found out about the coffee sleeve opportunity from one of her instructors. She said she was excited to submit her design because she is anxious to publicize her work.

“I got my inspiration from birds on telephone lines,” Franker said. “I’m interested in getting involved as much as I can, and I thought it was a great opportunity.”

Design entries should be submitted to Creative Production Coordinator Edward Thomas at ethomas@colum.edu.