Are you a student of the College of Fine Arts and Communications (CFAC) who has participated in impactful experiential learning? Would you like to share your story for the chance to win a cash prize?
Welcome to the CFAC Creative Works Contest.
The Creative Works Contest showcases the wealth of experiential learning students have including internships, studies abroad, performances, field studies, tours, service projects and more.
Students can submit an essay or visual media sharing their experiential learning story to compete for cash prizes. $3500 will be split among six winners. Learn more about contest guidelines and see previous winning entries below.
- Students submitting to the contest must be either (1) enrolled in the College of Fine Arts and Communications, (2) a CFAC student employee (including the BYU Museum of Art - MOA) or (3) a participant in a performing arts group or tour.
- Students are eligible to enter the contest if they have graduated prior to the contest judging, but MUST have been enrolled in the university during the completion of the submitted experiential learning opportunity between September 2025 through August 2026.
- Students must indicate if they received funding to participate in their experiential learning opportunity. Reach out to your academic area with questions regarding funding.
- Submissions must be submitted through the portal before the deadline. Submissions received after 11:59 PM on Saturday, September 26, 2026 will not be considered. Please email cfacpr@byu.edu or call 801-422-8218 before 5:00 pm on Friday, September 25, 2026 if you are having trouble submitting or have questions.
Submissions that are received by email will not be considered. Please work ahead to resolve any technical issues before the deadline.
i. All entries must be about experiences that occurred in the last academic year:
September 2025 through August 2026.
ii. Submit entries through cfaccontest.byu.edu (not through email).
- Fill out the form.
- Submit your essay by uploading to the File Upload section (PDF files only).
- Posting photo/videos to social media with the #ExperienceCFAC tag does not count as a submission. Students must upload all photos in their submission to cfaccontest.byu.edu to be considered.
iii. Essay Submission Guidelines:
- Essays should be 600-1000 words. Essays that do not meet these constraints will not be considered. No exceptions.
- All essays must include at least 2 photos of the student during their experience (a maximum of 5 photos). Photos that showcase the student’s learning opportunity in action are preferred. If you did not take the photo, you must credit who did and secure copyright.
- Each entry must include a caption no longer than 200 words that explains how the included photos represent the inspiring learning opportunity.
- Note: This is 1 caption for the entire entry, not a caption for each photo. Refer to the questions below as you write your caption.
- Essay submissions that do not contain at least 2 photos and a caption will not be considered.
iv. Your essay submission should answer the following criteria questions:
- What skills did you develop during the experience that you wouldn’t be able to learn otherwise?
- How did this experience make you a better practitioner in your field?
- How has this experience transformed you, your future and your perspective?
- How does your experience embody President Reese’s vision for inspiring learning?
- How has this experience strengthened your faith/testimony?
- In what ways did participating in the experience foster a sense of belonging?
- God is a source of both light and truth. What spiritual truths do you feel you learned throughout this experience? And similarly, what truths did you learn about your area of study during this experience?
- How has this experience strengthened your love of God and all His children? Please share specific experiences.
- Did you have any moments where you provided service during your experience? Please share a service experience and what you learned from that service opportunity.
IMPORTANT
- Due date: 11:59 pm on Saturday, September 26, 2026
- Email cfacpr@byu.edu or call 801-422-8218 before 5:00 pm on Friday, September 25, 2026 with questions if you cannot upload your file!
- Do not email your submission; submissions received by email will not be considered.
Please keep in mind what BYU and the College of Fine Arts and Communications stand for. Do not write about events or use language that violates the Honor Code. The college reserves the right to use, edit and distribute all submissions.*
*Where permitted by your program; ask your faculty advisor for more information.
i. All entries must be about experiences that occurred in the last academic year:
September 2025 through August 2026.
ii. Submit entries through cfaccontest.byu.edu (not through email).
- Fill out the form.
- Submit your media and caption by uploading to the File Upload section (PDF files for caption only).
- Posting photo/videos to social media with the #ExperienceCFAC tag does not count as a submission. Students must upload all photos in their submission to cfaccontest.byu.edu to be considered.
iii. Visual media submissions include any of the following types of visual representations of a student’s experiential learning (see below for additional guidelines):
- Photos
- Videos
- Digital representation of any project, work, or film in relation to your academic area
iv. Visual Media Submission Guidelines:
- Each student submitting to the Visual Media category can decide between a video entry, or a photo entry.
- 5 photos maximum for a photo submission
- 3 minutes maximum for a video submission
- Each entry must include a 300-500 word caption that answers the criteria questions listed below. Entries without a caption will not be considered.
- Note: this is 1 caption for the entire entry, not a caption for each photo in an entry.
v. Your submission caption should answer the following criteria questions:
- What skills did you develop during the experience that you wouldn’t be able to learn otherwise?
- How did this experience make you a better practitioner in your field?
- How has this experience transformed you, your future and your perspective?
- How does your experience embody President Reese’s vision for inspiring learning?
- How has this experience strengthened your faith/testimony?
- In what ways did participating in the experience foster a sense of belonging?
- God is a source of both light and truth. What spiritual truths do you feel you learned throughout this experience? And similarly, what truths did you learn about your area of study during this experience?
- How has this experience strengthened your love of God and all His children? Please share specific experiences.
- Did you have any moments where you provided service during your experience? Please share a service experience and what you learned from that service opportunity.
vi. Photo Guidelines
- Entries can include up to 5 photos. Entries that include more than 5 photos will not be considered.
- Photos should be aesthetically constructed and capture inspiring learning in action. Tourist photos will not be considered.
vii. Video Guidelines
- Video submissions have a maximum length of 3 minutes. Videos longer than 3 minutes will not be considered.
- If your video uses music, you must submit your copyright license along with your submission; to understand more about copyright licenses, visit copyright.byu.edu.
IMPORTANT
- Due date: 11:59 pm on Saturday, September 26, 2026
- Email cfacpr@byu.edu or call 801-422-8218 before 5:00 pm on Friday, September 25, 2026 with questions if you cannot upload your file!
- Do not email your submission; submissions received by email will not be considered.
Please keep in mind what BYU and the College of Fine Arts and Communications stand for. Do not write about events or use language that violates the Honor Code. The college reserves the right to use, edit and distribute all submissions.*
*Where permitted by your program; ask your faculty advisor for more information.
