How to ENTER a JURIED ART EXHIBITION

How to Enter

a Juried Art Exhibition

Enter your art work in a JURIED EXHIBITION

contact the gallery and ask for an “Entry Form.”

     The gallery creates an “entry form” for each exhibition.  This entry form is your road map for entering an exhibition. The form will give you all the details that you need to enter the show. Be sure to look over this form very carefully before you begin to fill in the blanks. Read it over first to give yourself an overview of  the information you will need to have as you begin the process.

Each exhibition has a title. The front page of the brochure will give you the name of a particular show you will be entering.

Example: Art of the State…Pennsylvania 2012. 45^th Annual Juried Art Exhibition

Below the title of the exhibition you will find the dates that the show will be on display at the museum. In the example I have given you, the dates for that show will be June 16 – September 9, 2012.

The final thing that is on the front of the brochure is the hosting organization that is sponsoring the exhibition and the name and address of the gallery or museum where the show will be on display.

You get a lot of information about the show when you look at the front cover of the brochure. You now know the name of the show; the sponsor; the museum; the dates of display; and the address.

After you have noted this information, you are now ready to open the brochure and look over the DETAILS you will need to know about HOW you will ENTER the show.

Look for the ENTRY DEADLINE

The show will have either a “Hand Deliver Only” policy, or it will have an “Enter by MAIL policy” or BOTH!  How does the museum want to receive your entry? And, when?

Look for the final date for you to get your entry form and pictures of your work to the museum. Your entry must arrive by that date if you want to be considered for the show. Entries arriving AFTER the deadline date are NEVER considered.

What do you need to send?

Most shows want you to send them slides of your work, or a CD with photos of your work. Many venues will not return these to you so be sure you have duplicates.  If they are returned to you, then you will be instructed to send a SASE along with your entry fee. The SASE is a “Self Addressed Stamped Envelope.”

There will be an “ENTRY FEE”

The form will give you the amount that you need to send along with your completed form, and photos of your work. This fee will not be returned to you if you are not selected for the show.

The brochure will give you the information on who the juror is, and who the juror of awards will be. Often the juror of the show entries will be the same person who selects the awards, too. Sometimes it is one person, and other times it can be a group of people who will be selecting the show and the awards.

          The brochure will give you the EXACT INFORMATION DETAILS that you need to have to send in your entry. You’ll need to know the exact SIZE of your work.  For a 2-Dimensional work, you will measure the HEIGHT and the WIDTH of the art work, and then the depth of it, too. If the painting, for example, is framed, then you need to give the dimensions of the work PLUS the outside edge of the frame.

For a 3-Dimensional art work, such as a sculpture, you can usually send in three views of that work. You need to measure the Height of it, the width of it, the depth of it, AND the WEIGHT of it.

For each work

fill in the blank for each of these questions:

1.) Title of the art work

2) Medium (Painting, print, sculpture, ceramics, etc.)

3) Dimensions (the size measurements)

4) For Sale? You will be asked to fill in the PRICE you want to sell the    work for, if it will be for sale.

5) Not for Sale?

Some shows will not show a work that is NOT for SALE!  For those shows who will show a work that is NOT FOR SALE

6)  INSURANCE VALUE of the work. 

When will you know

if YOU ARE SELECTED

 for this show?

The brochure will give you the date that you will be notified.

You will be given instructions for the delivery of the work after you are notified that you are IN.  You will receive a card that you had filled out when you sent in your entry. 

There will be a little box on it and one of the boxes will be CHECKED. You will be IN; or, you will be OUT.

GOOD LUCK!

Blind People Make Art

I am an artist. It is not something that happens to you overnight. You cannot plan to become an artist, or dream it up one day and then begin. It is something that you were born with and remains the core of who you are for your entire life, and beyond. It is something that you are deep down inside your soul. There is nothing that can take away your creative spirit, even loss of vision.

The creative person thinks creatively in all circumstances. When sight loss occurred in my life, I resolved to figure out just how I would continue to be the creative person I have always been. I started with something I had done most of my life. That is, knitting.

At first I could not do it again. Then, after a number of failed attempts, I realized that I was failing because I was trying to see my knitting with my eyes. Since they were no longer working, I realized I had to begin to see with my fingers instead. That worked! Soon, I was knitting away on a sweater that I would send to the Knit for Kids project, through Guideposts Magazine. After my first one, I went on to knit six sweaters last year to send to the project that provides sweaters to needy children worldwide.

The next thing I began to do was to work in clay. I started off slowly, and hesitatingly. But, after a short time, I was attempting large and ambitious projects. I took six courses at a local art center, and the teacher was a gem and not at all afraid of figuring out how to help a person who cannot see the work in progress. She was excited at my achievements and successful pieces. She worked with me to learn to do my pottery by touch rather than sight. I have now been making pottery for two years and my work will be in an exhibition at the art center this month. This will be my first fine art exhibition since sight loss.

I decided to do things that are realistic for me to do. The things that I no longer do, painting and printmaking, are not important to me. I am very pleased that I can now make pottery, and can still knit, and make jewelry again. Creativity takes many paths in our development as artists. Life does not end when we are faced with the beginning of a new pathway. Rather, the new pathway is an exciting new adventure for us.

You can visit my website to see some of my work. Be sure to drop me a note to let me know you visited. I will be watching for you! Thanks for taking a look at m;y work.