Juried Art Shows

© by Carl (CAKUart); all rights reserved

It’s not uncommon to hear mixed reviews from artists who have participated in juried art shows. Juried events can be obscure environments. 

The whole idea of assessing one piece of art against another in order to determine a winner seems a little vague to many artists because ultimately art is always going to be open to so many different interpretations.

However, aside from the ambiguous climate associated to juried art shows, they are generally promoted as quite prestigious events – which means you can often be exposed to a lot of people who are prepared to pay for quality art.

Who Is Judging You?

The jury panel generally consists of art industry folk like gallery owners, people involved with art education, people with experience in the fine art industry, art historians, professional artists as well as the promoter organising the show.

Quite often, the process associated to participating in juried art shows is little more stringent than a regular art show. The main purpose behind this is to avoid having every artist wandering in off the street wanting to participate. In other words, the judges want to maintain a certain level of consistent quality in the artwork being submitted. 
 

Proceed With Care When Applying for 
Juried Art Shows 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make as an artist when applying for a juried event is to submit work to suit the event. Keep in mind that you are an artist first and foremost, so always submit the work you are passionate about creating. Remember you are being judged on your creative clout, so put your best work on show.  

A few things to keep in mind when applying for juried art shows are...

• Make sure the photographs you submit of your work are good quality. Your photographs are representing you and your art well before you even get a chance to.
  
  

• Always follow the application requirements to the letter and don't leave anything out. In other words, do not give the judges any reason to cancel you out of contention before you even get a look in.
  
  If they see that your application is only part filled in and resembles someone who would have rather been ten pin bowling than filling out an application for an art show, they will treat your application with the same regard as you did when filling it in. 
  
  

• Consistency is the key. Have a good look at your work and determine for yourself as to whether you can see visual consistency in terms of theme, colour and size. 
  
  

• Frame your art to further compliment it.
  

Participating in juried shows can help to bring broader attention to your work and yourself as an artist. Keep in mind that it can be quite a hazy environment in terms of what potentially represents a winning piece of art. 

However, If you like the idea of doing juried shows, don't feel rejected if you do not succeed in getting your application accepted the first time round. Keep persisting. There will always be another opportunity right around the corner.    

Get Your Art Out There
The Artists Definitive Guide To Selling Art at Outdoor Shows and Festivals 

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