The 2010 ACC Jury |
|
art show
juror interviews and jury reviews |
The Process |
The jurors juried from home. There were three
general categories, home décor, fashion (which included wearable fiber and
jewelry), and ceramics and glass. I’ve heard from another source that the
ACC used to only jury in two categories, fashion and everything else. The
juror I spoke to juried the home décor category. |
There were seven jurors for the home decor
category and they were given five days to review and score the applicants.
There were four exhibiting artists, one listed as an artist professional,
the director of programs at Penland School of Crafts, and the associate
director of the San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design. |
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Jurying |
What I want to see first of all is quality of
craftsmanship. I’m a real fundamentalist when it comes to looking at
artwork. I had many year career in the gallery business and I enjoy
looking at a lot of artwork. The quality of craftsmanship is the most
important aspect I look for over style or subject or material. Creativity
would come in second. I want to see somebody that’s doing something new
and innovative, and I’m seeing less and less of that in the galleries and
in the shows. I do see some artists that are very creative but have very
poor craftsmanship skills. A lot of artists try and pass off a lack of
craftsmanship as being funky. And while funky is fun to some, it doesn’t
mean that it is true craft. When I look at artwork that interests me, I
ask myself about the WOW factor or what stopped me to look at this piece
of artwork and consider it in the first place. And will I like it in five
years. That’s been a good gut check when I’m making choices for the
artwork I acquire or jury. And sometimes when I’m jurying I throw that in
about the longevity of a particular piece of artwork. Does it hold
substance or is the artist jumping in on a popular fad. Is the artist
doing something different enough to make me say yes to this piece. These
are some of the personal qualifications I consider when I’m on the fence
about something. Over the years I’ve found that my initial instincts are
pretty good when evaluating a piece of artwork. |
With all the jurying I’ve done I think it’s advantageous to have the
jurors in one room so things can be discussed. But on the other hand,
jurying at home without time constraints allows me time to read the
descriptions without feeling pressured. |
Recent Trends |
A lot of good artists are not applying
anymore, which is opening it up for younger artists to apply. When times
were good, the ACC went really big and cut the pie really thin for artists
so the chances of making substantial sales were diminished. Now when you
throw in the economy we’ve had these last few years, the competition with
the Rosen show, and the awkward timing with a week between the two shows
combined with the way buyers are spending money, it’s the perfect recipe
for things to go down hill real fast for the artists. |
One of the things I’m seeing is a greater
emphasis on jewelry and fashion, which is fine except that it’s mostly
groups of women that come in to go through the jewelry and fashion. The
problem is that there are many exhibitors that sell to couples and those
couples are now far and few between. I’m seeing that the attendance is
getting to be far more women than couples, even on the weekends where
husbands used to accompany their wives. |
A lot of the buyers from shops all over the
country no longer have to travel to do their business with so much online
they can do the research right from their desk and connect that way. There
is now a generation of buyers that don’t consider hands on an important
aspect of their decision making. This makes me realize I’ve really got to
get on the ball and work the Internet and get my web site updated and
appreciate how important this may become to my business. |
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