The National Gallery of Writing is a digital archive of compositions accessible to all through a free, searchable website -- a living archive of thousands of examples of writing from across the United States.
- Writers will include with their composition information about themselves and the reasons they selected and submitted it to the Gallery.
- All sorts of compositions will be accepted, including (but not limited to) electronic presentations, blog posts, documentary clips, poetry readings, “how to” directions, short stories, memos, audio and video clips.
The National Gallery features three types of display spaces all curated and collected in a variety of galleries:
- The NCTE Gallery.
- The National Partner Galleries curated by groups as diverse as Google, the Newseum, Sesame Street’s Electric Company, and the National Science Teachers Association.
- The Local Galleries curated by groups as diverse as a local Girl Scout troop; a town such as Augusta, Arkansas; a community college course; a bridge club; a city such as Champaign-Urbana, Illinois; a writers group, and local business.
Starting a Local Gallery of Writing
A fun way to celebrate writing and to build camaraderie within groups is to start a Local Gallery. Begin by sharing information on the NDW and NGW with local groups and encourage them to set up a local gallery. Here is a press release you can use to publicize your local gallery and here are some ideas for contacting groups in your area:
- If the groups are already formally organized (e.g., a Boy Scout Troop), try contacting the president or troop leader to invite them to take part.
- If the groups are not formally organized (e.g., staff and customers of a local business), look for a leader to get things going. That leader would ideally be interested in the project, well-organized, energetic, socially committed; he or she might have a role like newsletter editor.
- You may also want to look for helpers in organizing a local group like local librarians or teachers.
- Think also about contacting Americorps, sports organizations, Key Clubs, student clubs and NCTE student affiliates, high tech companies, film schools or media projects, screen writers guild, Best Buy, Target.