A few weeks ago, I shared my experience of being a juror for an art. It was a big job looking through all of the entries and selecting what I felt were the very best pieces for the show.
This week I’m turning the tables and sharing what it is like to be an artist submitting my work to a show.
Entering juried shows is part of how we artists get our work out into the world to connect with new collectors as well as a way for us to meet each other. So, through both the joy of acceptances and the disappointments of rejections we persevere and enter.
The first step is choosing which shows to enter. To do this we peruse the ‘calls for entries’ websites. This is kind of like looking through the want ads in the newspaper and thinking, ‘I could do that job’, or ‘nope, not that one’. Each call has a description of what the show’s theme and requirements are as well as a statement about the person(s) doing the jurying. We read through these and choose shows which seem to be the best fit for our work.
Sometimes I choose to enter a show because I feel that one of my sculptures fits especially well with the theme and other times it is the juror who I think might connect with what I do and choose to let me in.
Next comes the waiting for the jury results to come out. One builds up a thick skin over the years with the rejection and acceptance letters that arrive. Having been a juror, I know it’s not personal, and often there are just more excellent pieces than the show can hold, but it’s never fun to get turned down.
I’ve been lucky this fall, getting into both shows I entered. The first show, titled ‘Finely Crafted’, is at the Sebastopol Center for the Arts and opened last weekend. As the name states it is all beautifully executed craft pieces – in this case it’s mostly ceramics although there are some outstanding wood and glass pieces in the show as well. I’m honored to be included in this show.
The piece of mine that was juried in is called, ‘Women’s Rights’. It is a vintage meat slicer -very sharp! with a lovely patina of time on its surface. I’ve paired it with a loaf of lunchmeat labeled ‘women’s rights’ that’s being sliced up onto a plate. The slices of clay lunchmeat were actually made with the slicer so the slicer truly works.
I was honored to receive a Director's Choice Award. Jamienne Studley, the director who selected my piece, has a long history of civil rights policy advocacy and the message of my piece really resonated with her. I am thrilled to have my piece and its message recognized in this way.
The other show I’m in during November is in Rancho Cordova, CA and it is titled the 60th Annual Mother Lode Art Exhibition. This show features 136 pieces in the full range of mediums. The piece I had accepted is my sculpture of raccoons playing hide and seek in a tea pot titled, ‘Rascal Raccoons’.
I entered this show because of the juror statement that accompanied the call for entries. The juror, Debra Kreck Harnish, is a lifelong creative recycler and part of her statement said, “There’s something special about working with objects that have a prior life… I love figuring out how the discarded can be reused.”
This sentiment of hers fit so well with what I try to do in my mixed media pieces – telling a new story for an object no longer in use, and thereby giving it a new purpose. I felt like this show would have a place for me.
There’s no crystal ball that lets us know for sure which shows we should enter, but it’s always fun to toss one’s entry into the mix and see what happens.
I have to say it does feel good to be picked though!
Do you have a time when you felt honored to be picked?
