Leslie Nichols' intimately-scaled typewritten piece, "Kaitlin (Paul 1923)" received a $1,000 Award of Excellence at the 27th Northern National Art Competition. The juror, Linda Benedict-Jones of the Carnegie Museum of Art, commented on the work:
"I just think it's remarkable, when you step back you see an abstract portrait of a young woman and you're not even quite sure what it's made of and then the closer you come it's letters from a typewriter. And then it actually means something because these are real sentences and real words . . . The competition is steep but I still believe ['Kaitlin'] sets itself apart, it stands apart, it's uncommonly good and what I think as a juror it's my responsibility to find things that are uncommonly good"
The Northern National Art Competition is on display from July 22 – September 12, 2013 at the Nicolet College Art Gallery in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. This national exhibit was juried by Linda Benedict-Jones, Curator of Photography for the Carnegie Art Museum. Benedict-Jones selected 87 of the 512 pieces into the juried exhibit.