Dec. 6, 2011
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) is announcing an immediate call for entries for a juried art exhibition with the theme “Portraits of Historic West Virginia Figures” at the Culture Center, State Capitol Complex in Charleston. Entries must be postmarked no later than Dec. 27, 2011. The show will be the final installation in the Inspired: A West Virginia Series of Juried Exhibitions< /em>. The exhibition will open in February of 2012 in the Commissioner’s Gallery of the West Virginia State Museum.
The exhibition is open to all West Virginia artists whose historic figure portrait submissions can be hung from a wall. Eligible entries include works created in the past two years in the areas of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, mixed media and crafts/wall hangings.
Entrants must be over the age of 18 and must be current residents of, and maintain a permanent residence 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 or digital images per entry. Entry forms and properly identified slides or digital images must be mailed to WVDCH, Inspired: Portraits of West Virginia Historic Figures exhibition, The Culture Center, 1900 Kanawha Blvd. E., Charleston, W.Va. 25305-0300 anytime from now to a postmark date no later than Dec. 27, 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 their current work for the file at the Division. The slides previously 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 are due on Dec. 27.
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 in February 2012.
Only after the juror has selected the show will artists be required to deliver their art. Entry forms for the Artists’ Register and the Inspired: A West Virginia Series of Juried Exhibitions can be downloaded from our website at http://www.wvculture.org/museum/exhibits.html.
The Inspired series of exhibitions was conceived by WVDCH Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith 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.
For more information about the juried “Portraits of Historic West Virginia Figures” art exhibition, call Betty Gay, exhibits coordinator for the Division, at (304) 558-0220, ext. 128.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
-30-
