Exhibitions, Publications & Recognition

Leslie submitted seven original artworks to STAEDTLER's international creative competition. The theme, Around the World, invited artists to explore places, journeys, cultures, and the inspiration found through travel.

Drawing on her experiences traveling across six continents, Leslie selected pieces reflecting landscapes, destinations, memories, and the lasting connections people form with places.

Submitted artworks:

• Imprinted by the World
• From Journey to Legacy
• Gilded Summit
• Bloom by the Sea
• Under the Tetons
• Color Song
• Rooted in Color

All seven entries appear in the official international competition gallery.

Official Competition Gallery STAEDTLER Website

Participation for 2026 is now closed. Fan Favourite voting remains open until November 8, 2026, at 23:59 UTC. Visitors may cast up to three votes, one per image, and must submit all their votes in a single session; they cannot return later to vote again.

While public voting continues, the jury is selecting its favourites across the competition's prize categories. The jury results and Fan Favourite winner will be announced after December 1, 2026.

Search the gallery for Leslie B to find her seven entries.

Three original paintings were submitted for jury consideration in the Sears Art Museum Invitational Show & Sale at Utah Tech University in St. George, Utah.

This annual juried exhibition celebrates original artwork across multiple media, bringing artists and collectors together through an exhibition and sale.

Submitted artworks:

• Salt Lake Recessional
• Poise
• After the Rain

Official Sears Invitational Competition Page

Leslie submitted two original watercolor self-portraits to FACES 2026 at the Eccles Community Art Center in Ogden, Utah: Beneath the Surface and The Colors Within.

Both are original watercolors from Leslie's private collection. Neither painting is offered for sale, and neither is displayed publicly on her website. The paintings were submitted specifically for jury consideration in this exhibition.

The FACES exhibition focuses on the human face and portraiture, inviting artists to explore identity, expression, individuality, and the stories conveyed through a person's features.

Both paintings were delivered to the art center on October 28, 2026.

My FACES Submission Page Official Eccles Community Art Center Website

Leslie is preparing original miniature artwork for the annual Petite Impressions exhibition at the Eccles Art Center in Ogden.

This exhibition challenges artists to create compelling original artwork within a small format. Leslie plans an acrylic mountain landscape, with a possible second painting still under consideration.

My Petite Impressions Page Official Petite Impressions Competition

Leslie has begun planning and developing a new original oil pastel painting for RENEWAL, a juried exhibition at Blue Mountain Gallery in New York City's Chelsea art district.

The exhibition's theme of renewal invites artistic interpretations of transformation, resilience, healing, recovery, and new beginnings.

Juried by contemporary artist Orly Cogan, the exhibition offers Leslie an opportunity to explore these ideas through a new work created specifically for this call.

My RENEWAL Page Official Blue Mountain Gallery Website

Leslie submitted three original artworks for consideration in an international online exhibition dedicated to two-dimensional visual art.

The selected works represent different aspects of her creative practice: emotional expression through acrylic, narrative watercolor, and the energy of oil pastel.

Submitted artworks:

• The Infiltration of Fear
• Lost in the Pages
• Color Song

My Soul of Artists Submission Official Soul of Artists Exhibition Website

Leslie submitted A World of Memories, a portfolio of 15 original watercolor paintings, for consideration as a library art exhibition.

The proposed exhibition brings together paintings inspired by meaningful places, personal journeys, and the memories that continue to shape us long after we return home.

The Main Library was Leslie's preferred location, although the proposal may also be considered for another City Library location.

Explore My A World of Memories Collection Official Salt Lake City Public Library Website

Leslie submitted three original artworks for editorial consideration in Create! Magazine, an arts publication featuring contemporary artists and their creative practices.

The selected pieces explore introspection, movement, and visual storytelling through different artistic media.

Submitted artworks:

• Poise
• In Motion
• Lost in the Pages

Official Create! Magazine Website

Leslie submitted three original artworks for consideration in the inaugural issue of Women in Arts Magazine, a publication by Women in Arts Network highlighting women artists and their creative work.

Her submissions represent expressive color, portraiture, and the strength of personal artistic interpretation.

Submitted artworks:

• Color Song
• Poise
• Her Light

Her Light is a gifted original portrait and is not offered for sale.

Official Women in Arts Magazine — Issue 01 Women in Arts Network Website

Leslie submitted five original artworks and two poems for consideration in KATSU!, a community arts anthology bringing visual art and creative writing together.

The submission reflects Leslie's interest in storytelling through both images and words.

Submitted artworks:

• Hand to God
• Lost in the Pages
• Gilded Summit
• Electric Bloom
• Sunrise Balance

Submitted poetry:

• Carry Quietly
• Some Days

Official Community Library Press Submissions

Written and illustrated by Leslie Berg, Mia's Dam Goes BAM! is a rhyming children's picture book about big feelings, mistakes, persistence, and trying again.

When Mia's dam goes BAM!, she discovers that mistakes can teach us what to change and help us build something even stronger.

Written by Leslie Berg, The Thing About Zoe is a lighthearted middle-grade novel about discovering what makes someone unique.

Zoe's story explores the pressure to find "your thing" and the realization that a person doesn't have to fit neatly into a single category to belong.

Written and illustrated by Leslie Berg, Nico Is Ready for Kindergarten celebrates the excitement and uncertainty of starting school.

Through Nico's experiences, young readers are encouraged to recognize their existing skills, practice independence, show kindness, and discover that being ready doesn't mean doing everything perfectly.

The book's second edition was released in October 2026. Readers can purchase the second-edition hardcover directly from Create Joy Studios, or find the paperback on Amazon.

Buy Second-Edition Hardcover — Create Joy Studios Buy Paperback — Amazon

Leslie submitted her original twelve-poem chapbook, The Invisible Geometry of Being Human, to the 2027 Writer's Digest Poetry Awards. The fifteen-page manuscript explores identity, vulnerability, resilience, belonging, humor, and the connections that shape human experience.

The collection includes twelve original poems, ranging from quiet reflection to observations about the contradictions of being human. The full manuscript remains private while competition results are pending.

Submitted chapbook:

• The Invisible Geometry of Being Human — 12 poems, 15 pages

Explore My Chapbook Submission Official Writer's Digest Poetry Awards

Leslie submitted three original poems to the Edwin Markham Prize for Poetry, an annual competition presented by Reed Magazine.

The prize recognizes outstanding poetry across different styles and subjects, offering a $1,000 award to the winning poet.

Submitted poems:

• The Waiting
• The People Looking Down
• Are We Lost?

The poems reflect on uncertainty, compassion, social division, and the emotional challenges of living in a changing world.

Official Edwin Markham Prize

Leslie entered three original poems in the National Poetry Competition, an international competition organized by The Poetry Society in the United Kingdom.

The competition welcomes poets from around the world and recognizes outstanding unpublished poetry. The first-place prize is £5,000.

Submitted poems:

• Before the World Gets In
• For All the Ways I Was Human
• One Country

The poems are intentionally not linked here because competition rules require entries to remain unpublished through March 31, 2027.

Official National Poetry Competition

Leslie entered three poems in this international competition presented by Winning Writers.

The contest recognizes two different approaches to poetry: the Tom Howard Prize for poems in any style or genre, and the Margaret Reid Prize for rhyming or traditional-style poetry.

Submitted poems:

• The Bruised Decision — Tom Howard category
• Before the World Gets In — Margaret Reid category
• The Waiting — Margaret Reid category

Before the World Gets In remains unlinked because it is also entered in a competition requiring unpublished work.

Official Tom Howard/Margaret Reid Contest

Leslie submitted The Hold Music Purgatory to the Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest, presented by Winning Writers.

The competition celebrates humorous, playful, satirical, and unconventional poetry. Leslie's entry transforms the familiar frustration of being stuck on hold into a humorous poetic experience.

Official Wergle Flomp Contest

Leslie submitted five original poems for consideration in the James Hearst Poetry Prize, presented by the North American Review.

The prize recognizes accomplished original poetry and is not limited to one prescribed subject or theme.

Submitted poems:

• The Place That Lives in You
• Before the World Gets In
• For All the Ways I Was Human
• One Country
• The Black Ice Blues

These poems are not linked while their publication eligibility is being preserved.

Official James Hearst Poetry Prize

Leslie submitted The Autumn Peak, an original English-language sijo, to the 2026 Sejong International Sijo Competition.

Sijo is a traditional Korean poetic form, typically composed of three lines with a carefully structured progression and a concluding turn.

The competition encourages writers around the world to explore and celebrate this distinctive form of Korean literature.

Although The Autumn Peak was not among the award recipients, Leslie values the creative exploration and the experience of participating in an international literary competition.

Official Sejong International Sijo Competition

Leslie submitted a five-poem manuscript to the poetry category of The Missouri Review's Jeffrey E. Smith Editors' Prize.

The competition recognizes outstanding literary work in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, with a $5,000 prize awarded in each category.

Her submitted poems explore belonging, forgiveness, compassion, childhood, and the private emotions people sometimes conceal from others.

Submitted poems:

• The Place That Lives in You
• For All the Ways I Was Human
• One Country
• Before the World Gets In
• The Parlor Guest

The poem texts are not linked here while competition publication eligibility is being preserved.

Official The Missouri Review Website

Leslie submitted three original poems in response to a writing call from The Skeleton Clique Pages, a creative community connected to Twenty One Pilots.

The submission reflects the emotional connection between music, poetry, personal experience, and the community built around shared art.

Submitted poems:

• The Truest Poetry Ever Told
• Some Days
• Carry Quietly

The Skeleton Clique Pages

In addition to her published poem Shedding Armor at the Threshold , Leslie submitted another original poem, The Sovereign Shield , for separate editorial consideration by Peony Magazine.

The poem explores political and social themes through personal reflection and poetic expression.

The work remains unpublished while awaiting an editorial decision.

Official Peony Magazine Website

Leslie was selected for the 2026 shortlist of the Visual Artists Association's international Art100 competition.

Her submission included Poise , In Motion , and Lost in the Pages .

The international competition recognizes visual artists across a range of media and creative practices.

Leslie is also an International Premium Member of the Visual Artists Association.

Official VAA Art100 International My VAA Certificates

Leslie's artwork was selected for Artrepreneur's Commercial Ready Program, which identifies artwork suitable for commercial environments such as hospitality, retail, and real estate.

This recognition highlights the potential for her original visual work to connect with viewers beyond traditional gallery settings.

My Artrepreneur Recognition Official Artrepreneur Website

Petals in Prism received Judges Choice across both the Amateur and Professional divisions at the inaugural West Jordan Arts Plein Air Festival.

Leslie created the painting on location at Conservation Garden Park. It was her first time creating artwork outdoors and drawing in public, making the award particularly meaningful.

Official West Jordan Arts Plein Air Festival