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| "Crater Valley, El Valle, Panama" copyright Ed Obermeyer used with permission |
I recently wrote about my experiences jurying two art shows in a gallery setting. This weekend I had the honor of judging and selecting winners for an outdoor art festival. And wow, was that a different beast entirely. In the gallery shows, I not only juried in the art, I chose the winning pieces. The art surrounded me, so I could compare. I had only the art to speak to me. In the outdoor show, the artists were juried in by someone else. I had an entire booth (aka "body of work") to peruse and the artists were there to discuss their work. Then I moved on to the next booth. Comparing work was difficult, as each booth was a separate environment.
Once I accepted the request to judge the Ocean View Art Show, I knew that my main goal was to meet and listen to each artist tell me about their work. At first, I thought the show would be no more than 80 participants - 64 were already juried in by the time I touched base with the show organizer. This show quickly grew to just over 100 artists. hoo boy.
I'll back up a bit and explain the outdoor show process. Artists apply, usually sending in a jury fee and a booth fee in the event they are selected for exhibit. Most of these shows are sponsored by organizations that either promote the arts, promote a non-profit, or are run by for-profit businesses. The fees generally are used for award money, to pay the judges, for advertising, site rent and expenses, then what is left is given to the non-profit or is salary to the for-profit business. Artists make their money by selling their art. Some outdoor fests will take a percentage of sales, but that's rare and often in lieu of a booth fee.
As an exhibiting artist, one of my pet peeves has always been the aloof judge who walks by my booth and never bothers to enter and see what I actually do. Much of the time I look up to see the "judge's dot" placed on my name card and have no clue what the judge even looked like. I understand taking a quick sweep of the festival, but I have always thought it to be rude for a judge to pass by an artist without even a hello. In shows where there is more than one judge, there is no excuse. I have always respected the judge that takes even just one moment to make eye contact with me and at least see my work close up. Passing by a booth is the equivalent of judging art on-line...the nuances and workmanship may be hidden or overlooked. I set myself up with a goal that, as the show grew, began to seem unattainable. I can tell you I fretted the night before, dividing the number of artists by hours in the show to figure how much time I had to spend in each booth. I didn't think I could do it.
I also knew from my show days that the work would be incredibly varied - and I wasn't disappointed. It's like comparing apples to kiwis to bananas to pumpkins. Fine craft was included, and none of those could be lumped into any one category. The wood carvers, metal smiths, felter, glass blowers and potters had to be considered equally with the painters, sculptors, jewelers and photographers, to name just a few of the categories. Challenging is an understatement.
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| "Think. No Evil." copyright Kate Negri used with permission |
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| "Think. No Evil." copyright Kate Negri |
I arrived about an hour early and casually walked the show. It gave me a chance to be incognito and see some of the work quietly and gather some first thoughts about what drew me in. Of course, not everyone was set up, but that wasn't a problem. I'd see everyone officially later. Thankfully, I had an assistant for the day, who kept track of the time, artists, comments I made, her own thoughts and the paperwork for our trek through the show. Tonya turned out to be a great match for me and shared my enthusiasm for meeting and greeting. Often, I was able to take a closer look at the work while listening to the conversations she was having with the artists. Later, when I had to narrow down some choices, it was helpful to learn she'd had much the same thoughts as I.
Thankfully, I WAS able to see and chat with each artist, even if briefly. The ones that drew me in, that I wanted to know more about, are the ones I considered for awards. Their works were unique, skillful, consistent. Most of the artists were very willing to share their techniques or process with me. (Note to artists: Don't go seeking out the judge, put your arms around the judge or tell the judge how many awards you've won unless asked. It's quite distracting and inappropriate.) Most artists had personal stories to tell about why they create as they do. I loved listening to the elder gentleman explain about his walking sticks (each one was entirely different) as well as learning more about a certain jewelry making process from three of the artists. A young man with a varied display of blown glass intrigued me as did another young man who created intricately detailed paintings of outer space using cans of spray paint. One potter created her own glazes and one jeweler created sculptural faces using precious metal (silver) clay. Photographs ranged from heavily manipulated to straight-up, shoot-to-print images. Narrowing down the awards to just a few artists is not an easy task with so much variety and talent. In the end, I had to select, so those works that stayed with me the most and made an impression each time I made my rounds were the ones that I eventually chose for awards. Not every one will agree with my choices and that's to be expected. But I can say that although not every artist that deserved an award received one, the ones that did receive awards deserved them.
Here are links I had for the winners. (although some of the links are to Facebook posts and may not be retrievable)
Thank you to Ed and Kate for giving me permission to post their images on this blog.
Kate Negri - Best in Show - Felting
Ed Obermeyer - First Place - Painting (acrylic)
Pamela Hill - Second Place - Painting (oil)
Geoff Coe - Third Place - Photography
Nate Avery - Honorable Mention - Glass
Tracy Anderson - Special Recognition - Painting (acrylic)
