The Computer Art Contest was, perhaps, the first competition and award in the emerging movement of computer art. It was first announced by the magazine, Computers and Automation (later under the title: Computers and People) in their January 1963 issue.

As a friend of the founder, chief editor, and co-publisher, Edmund C. Berkeley, of the magazine Computers and Automation, artist and author Hertlein, Grace C. played a decisive part for the concept of that first competition in computer graphics. A winner was determined whose work, together with that of competing submissions, was presented on the cover of each year’s August issue. The procedure of how the winner was selected, was not known publicly.

The response to the annual contest was considerable, and increased over the years. The contest contributed to the early establishment of an international network of computer artists.5

The first two awards, granted in 1963 and 1964, went to graphic works by the U.S. Army Ballistic Research Laboratories,

The first prize in 1963 was Stained Glass Window by Electronics Associates Inc.

A purely artistic work received the prize for the first time when A. Michael Noll won the competition in 1965 for his Computer Composition With Lines.

Subsequent prize-winners were:

Nake, Frieder in 1966 for Zufällige Zeichenverteilung.
Csuri, Charles and James Shaffer in 1967 for Sine Curve Man.
Strand, Kerry in 1968 for Hummingbird.
Childs, Tom in 1969 for Circus.

The magazine, under its new title, Computers and People, stopped being published in 1972.

[entry must be improved and expanded]