January 4, 2004

Group seeks entries for juried show

By Lucinda Breeding / Arts & Entertainment Editor

The Visual Arts Society of Texas is calling for entries for its 36th annual Juried Fine Arts Awards Exhibition. This year is the first time the group will require artists to submit entries on slides.

For the last 35 years, artists submitted up to three finished pieces.

Executive Director Ingrid Scobie said the move to photographic slide submissions makes the annual exhibit more professional.

There are real advantages to doing it this way, Scobie said. Most juried exhibits are done this way. It’s almost unheard of to send a finished work for selection. It’s also a financial advantage for the artist. If you submit slides, you don’t have to mount or frame your work. You can wait to do that until after you’ve been selected.

There were advantages to the old way of entering art, however. Scobie said three-dimensional work is easier to evaluate if a juror has access to the actual piece instead of a photograph of it.

The past two jurors have commented on actually being able to see the work. They thought it helpful to be able to see the work.

The juror for the upcoming exhibit is painter Carol Benson, an alumna of the University of North Texas and Texas Christian University.

For the 2004 exhibit, artists must submit up to three slides of their work by Jan. 23. Artists must mail slides, entry form, fee and a self addressed, stamped envelope to VAST, 2004 Exhibition, P.O. Box 1281, Denton, TX. 76201.

The exhibit is open to all Texas and Oklahoma artists.

The society will host a slide night at 7 p.m. Jan. 23 for all those interested in viewing the art submitted for the show. Artists will be notified of selection after Feb. 23. The exhibit opens April 18 in the Meadows Gallery inside the Center for the Visual Arts, 400 E. Hickory St.


LUCINDA BREEDING can be reached at 940-566-6877. Her e-mail address is cbreeding@dentonrc.com.



 

36th annual Juried Fine Arts Awards Exhibition

Eligibility: All Texas and Oklahoma artists

Entry form: Available online at www.ntaal.org.

Media: Two- and three-dimensional work, including painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, textiles, graphics, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, metalworking and wood

Slides: Artists may submit up to three slides for a nonrefundable fee of $25 for members of the Visual Arts Society of Texas and $30 for nonmembers. Slides must be in standard 2-inch-by-2-inch plastic or paper mounts. No tape or labels on the outside of the mount, with the exception of Avery slide labels. No glass mounts. Slides must show only the work of art being entered. One entry per person will be selected for the exhibit. A diagram of slide labels is included in the online prospectus at www.ntaal.org. Slides of accepted entries will become the property of the Visual Arts Society of Texas to be used for the catalog, Web site and other printed material.

Awards: $1,000 Best of Show Award; $9,000 total cash and merchandise awards


Entry requirements

- All work must be original and completed in the last 24 months.

- Work previously exhibited in the Center for the Visual Arts is not eligible for the exhibit.

- No copies of paintings, reproductions or photographs, other than those taken by the artist are permitted.

- Two-dimensional work selected into the show must be framed and ready for installation no saw tooth hangers or uniframes (two pieces of plexiglas held together by clamps).

- Two-dimensional work can’t exceed the 50-inch width maximum.

- Two-dimensional work can’t exceed the 70-pound weight limit.

- Two-dimensional work must use white or off-white mats only.

- Diptychs or triptychs constitute one piece and must be combined in one frame with a 50-inch width maximum.

- Pieces perceived as installation problems must be handled through the office of the associate director of the Greater Denton Arts Council, and solutions are the responsibility of the artist.

- The arts society reserves the right to reject any piece not accurately represented by the slide. The society reserves the right to reject any piece not in compliance with entry regulations.
 

Beverly Sipos won best in show at last year's Juried Fine Arts Awards Exhibition for her oil painting
December -- Lake Ray Roberts.