I thought it might be a nice time to talk more about juried shows. The process of finding out about them, the process of entering them, the way the work, the sort of (if you will) anatomy of them. In my attempt at being educational, I thought it would be a nice idea to provide you with some of these details, so that you can make informed decisions about them, maybe even enter them (and get in!) on your own.
Over the next few posts (maybe even spread out a little bit) I’ll offer you my tips and guidance, my advice, my ramblings too, about the entire process. At this point, I thought it might be a nice idea to dissect the entire process, so that you too can see what goes on behind the scenes (and maybe start to think about participating yourself.) For starters, I’ll answer the most obvious question first.
What exactly is a national juried show?
From the wiki for art exhibition: “Art exhibitions can be juried, invitational, or open. A juried exhibition, such as the Iowa Biennial, has an individual or group which acts as judge of submitted artworks and chooses which are to be shown.” Sadly, even the wiki is a bit lacking on this particular topic, so I’ll start by giving my own definition.
National (or international, as the case may be) juried shows are shows typically held in galleries or museums where artwork (in various media) are showcased, usually for the purpose of sales (but not always) or education. The artwork to be showcased is selected by a curator (or “juror”) from a pool of submitted (available) artwork. Sometimes, the juror is actually a panel, but is typically a person (or people) of significance in the artistic community (a professor, a professional, a well-known artist who is successful in the field, etc.)
So, there you have it. My definition of the “juried show.” In the coming posts, we’ll look at why you might want to enter one, how you go about entering one, how you go about getting into one, and what happens when you do. In the meantime, if you have any specific questions or there are any topics you’d like me to address, please drop me a note and I’ll try to cover it as part of this new, upcoming series.
Until next time…
