Beneath a string of floodlights in Turner Concourse, amid rows of drawings and paintings, a charcoal rendition of a Williamsburg-style chandelier attracts notice. The piece took the artist, Ann Morris, two months to complete because “a drawing isn’t finished until it looks like a living thing.”

“This is the light in my family’s dining room,” says Morris, “We’re dedicated to our family gatherings and maintaining traditions. When you’re a child, the dining room is where you have meals with every person you have known up to that point in time—where you learn what a human relationship is.”

The charcoal drawing was judged “Best of Show” in the annual Johns Hopkins National Arts Program contest and exhibit. And it points out an underrecognized talent of Morris, a Johns Hopkins Hospital senior administrative coordinator in gastrointestinal oncology. In her spare time, she draws, having honed her skills during four years of art school. Her supervisors, Daniel Laheru and Tianna Dauses, encouraged her to submit her work to competition.

The competition, now in its eighth year, was held last December. It is open to employees and their family members across Johns Hopkins Medicine affiliates and is supported by The National Arts Program, founded to create a sense of community and artistic fulfillment by encouraging employees to showcase their artistic talent.

More than 300 works, covering all media, styles and subject matter, are on display in Turner Concourse through Feb. 7.

“Dining Room” immediately commanded the attention of all four contest judges, recalls Diane Abeloff, a former Johns Hopkins medical illustrator, who has served as a judge since the contest’s debut. “Even though it was charcoal, it sparkled,” she says. “The composition is on point—tight, perfect. It goes from sparkly, to soft, to suggestive. It’s beautiful—everything an art piece should be.”

The contest awards first-, second- and third-place monetary prizes in five artistic categories: painting, works on paper, photography, sculpture, craft (e.g., ceramics) and mixed media. It is open to children as young as 2 and adults, with amateur, intermediate (for people with some experience) and professional (for those who had serious art training or who work in an art-related job) classifications.

Awards, provided by the National Arts Program Foundation, totaled $3,450. This year saw an uptick in teen (13-18) and youth (under 12) entries—more than 70 pieces, says Amanda Myers, Johns Hopkins Hospital’s residential living program coordinator in oncology, who also arranges for artwork on display for patients staying at The Hackerman-Patz Patient and Family Pavilion. Myers has directed the art exhibit since its inception.

An inaugural $200 Art Education Award was granted to Crystal Wang, age 11, for her mixed media piece titled “The Hybrid.” Wang is the daughter of Yingli Fu, assistant professor of radiology and radiological science at the school of medicine. Those funds will cover the cost of a visual art class or art materials to further her art education or practice.

When Terry Langbaum, former administrator of the Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center (now administrator for the Comprehensive Transplant Center) learned about the arts program, she shared details with leaders in the Department of Oncology. They embraced the idea of bringing the contest to Johns Hopkins, she says. “We truly believe that it is a gift to uncover and showcase the talent that lives within Johns Hopkins Medicine.”

Also judging the entries were visual artist and art advocate Wendy Jachman, artist and entrepreneur Paul Miles, and Sarah Wright, a MICA graduate and art teacher at Johns Hopkins Children’s Center.

On hearing that she won the top overall prize, worth $400, Morris laughed and hugged her cheering colleagues. Morris says she prefers charcoal over other mediums because “it’s dramatic but simple.” Over time, sentimental objects from her family’s history have become a focus of her artwork. She continues to draw her mother’s collected Depression-era glass with flowers and silver pieces.

Since the first year of the art show, participants have donated roughly 90 pieces to the Hackerman-Patz Patient and Family Pavilion. Several more artists have expressed an interest in donating their pieces this year, says Myers.

Meanwhile, the normally monochromatic Turner Concourse is bursting with color and creativity, including an oil painting of a girl reading by a soft light, a mirrored sculpture of a vase topped with a woman’s head and a portrait of Ernest Hemingway shaped by typewritten words from his writings.

This contest, says Morris, “has enriched department morale. I am delighted to bring pride to our group.” Other examples of Morris’ work will be included in the new Skip Viragh Outpatient Cancer Center Building, scheduled to open in February.

Learn more about the National Arts Program and find out who won in every category, as well as who won the People’s Choice Award at the National Arts Program at Johns Hopkins.