". . . a brush with nature"

The following are a few things that I have found to be key when navigating the juried show process through the years. They may seem simple, straightforward and very obvious, but keeping them in mind has helped me and, I hope, they will help you, too.

1. Be careful. No two prospectuses are ever alike, so it is of upmost importance to read each one carefully and thoroughly a number of times. Never assume you know what the prospectus is going to say based on what you have seen before. Then, to further clarify things for myself, I usually make a hard copy of the prospectus and highlight all the important details I need to remember.
2. Give yourself plenty of time to complete the submission. I have found that by allowing myself more time I feel less stressed as I go through the process. Starting earlier also allows you to deal with those unforeseen and unexpected challenges that sometimes come up (i.e. technical glitches, illness, family emergencies, etc.)
3. Check and recheck your submission…then check it again! 
4. Always be professional and respectful with everyone. Whether you’re asking questions by email or phone at the beginning of the submission process or interacting with others (show organizers, gallery owners/staff, other artists or patrons, etc.) once your work has been accepted and you’re at the event, it is always important to act in a professional manner. It really does matter to people and you want to be remembered in the most positive way. 
5. Maintain a positive attitude throughout. Along with the excitement of acceptances there will also be rejections, low sales and other things that don’t always go just as planned. But please try to remember that there is something of value to be gained/learned from each experience. You just have to take a breath and find it.

I like the challenge of putting myself and my art “out there” by submitting my work to juried shows. I have been doing this for years now and the shows I have tried for have gotten larger both in size (routinely including national and international shows now) and number along the way. Not only have the shows changed, but the entire submission process has, too.

Back when I first started submitting paintings artists still had to, in many cases, deliver or ship the actual work to the venue for the jury process. This was not for the actual show, but just to find out if your piece was accepted for the exhibition. Then, either way the decision went, you picked up your art and waited to deliver it to the show later if it actually made the cut. This wasn’t too bad if the show venue was somewhat “local” and if decisions were made the same day, but if you were an artist trying to branch out into new areas it could be somewhat of a commitment, both in time and expense.

The second popular submission process at that time was to send in a professional slide of your art for jurying. Of course this did not involve the same time, travel and other expenses as the first option, but most of us had to hire a professional photographer to have our slides taken. That was expensive, too, so many of us got together, hired the photographer and made a day of it, having lots of photographs taken of LOTS of art.

Things are so much better/easier now because of digital cameras and the digital submission process itself. For example, I am extremely blessed to have a husband who takes great photos of my artwork right here in my own studio for all my art business needs. This includes submissions, my website and anything else that should happen to come up.

Even though the submission process has become very streamlined these days, one thing has still not changed, and I don’t expect it ever will. That is the wait time to find out the results! I’m not good at waiting and it is still excruciating to do so.

Remember that old saying, “Hurry Up and Wait”? Well, it’s an “old saying” for a reason, I guess . . . and I am still waiting for more results.