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The 2010 ACC Jury |
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| 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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| Slide scanning for ZAPP and other digital jury systems |
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1970s ABA and NBA
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email Larry Berman - larry@bermanart.com
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