Art shows and jurors

How jurying a show works for me

After talking with others on their jury process, I’ve come up with my own that works pretty well.

I base my selections for an organization’s survey show of members work (it would be different for a curated show) on these three qualities in each piece: mastery of composition, technique, and foremost, the expressive quality of the artist’s idea or concept. These qualities are what I return to when I analyze a piece. Other things affect my decisions as well, including presentation.

Recently, I was the juror for prizes for the 75th Anniversary Show of work by members of the Greater Norristown Art League in Pennsylvania being hosted by Montgomery County Community College. There were 125 works entered with eight prizes to be awarded, including “Best of Show.”

There were many high-quality traditional pieces in a variety of mediums entered in this show with some work having exciting non-traditional mounting methods and unique viewpoints in both 2D and 3D.

IF YOU GO: The show’s opening reception is Wednesday, Sept 15th, 5–7pm. Next week there will be a gallery talk on September 18, 1–3pm. The show will be up until Friday, September 30th at Montgomery County Community College, Fine Arts Gallery, Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422 (USA).