September 3, 2010
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) is announcing a call for entries for a juried art exhibition with the theme “Historic Buildings and Structures” at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. The show will be the second of four in the Inspired: A West Virginia Series of Juried Exhibitions presented by the Division. The exhibition will open Jan. 24, 2011, in the Commissioner’s Gallery of the West Virginia State Museum.
The Inspired series of exhibitions was conceived by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith of the WVDCH as a way to commemorate the Mountain State’s sesquicentennial, which culminates in 2013. The series harkens back to the museum’s early days, when artists were asked to focus on a specific theme to help increase the size of the state’s art collection.
The “Historic Buildings and Structures” exhibit may include artworks that are a stylistic or city structure or a county, city or regional landmark. The exhibition is open to all West Virginia artists whose submissions can be hung from a wall. Eligible entries include works created in the last two years in the areas of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, mixed media and crafts/wall hanging.
Entrants must be over the age of 18 and must be a current resident of, and maintain a permanent domicile in, West Virginia. Exceptions may be made for students, and military personnel with West Virginia resident status and a home address within the geographical boundaries of the state.
Artists may submit two entries for the exhibition with a limit of two slides/digital images per entry. Entry forms, and properly identified slides/images must be mailed to WVDCH, Inspired: Historic Buildings and Structures Exhibition, The Culture Center, 1900 Kanawha Blvd., E., Charleston, W.Va. 25305-0300 anytime from Monday, Oct. 18, 2010, to a postmark date no later than Monday, Nov. 29, or hand-delivered to the Culture Center at the State Capitol Complex no later than 5 p.m. on the same date. Submissions may not exceed seven feet in any direction or one foot in depth.
Entrants also must have completed a WVDCH Artists’ Register form and submitted six slides or a CD with digital images representative of current work for the file at the Division. The slides submitted for the Artists’ Register are not used in jurying entries into the exhibition and will not be returned to the artists. The completed Artists’ Register form and six images of current work also is due on Nov. 29.
The Division will present $1,000 for the Best in Show, which is a purchase award that will become part of the West Virginia State Museum’s Collection. A second place ($500) and third place ($250) award also will be presented. These are not purchase awards. The prizes will be awarded at the opening reception on Jan. 24, 2011.
Only after the juror has selected the show will artists be required to ship/deliver their art. Entry forms for the Artists’ Register and the Inspired: A West Virginia Series of Juried Exhibitions can be downloaded from our Web site at http://www.wvculture.org/museum/exhibits.html.
For more information about the juried “Historic Buildings and Structures” art exhibition, call Betty Gay, exhibits coordinator for the Division, at (304) 558-0220, ext. 128.
The Inspired: A West Virginia Series of Juried Exhibition will continue with an opening Aug. 8, 2011, with the theme “West Virginia Wildlife” and Feb. 20, 2012, with the theme “Portraits of Historic West Virginia Figures.”
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Culture Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Culture Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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