Attend a Mock Jury - Best Thing You Can do for your business - Forum

Sonja Jones February 5, 2018 at 11:10am

I participated by webinar in the mock jury for St. Louis. As a newbie, I think I got a lot of great take-away information. Biggest tips for me where on booth shots. Don't overcrowd your booth with too much artwork, make your displays look professional and inviting, don't have any signage or promotional banners showing in your shot, and don't be afraid to crop shot - you don't need top of tent showing, lol. On the artwork side, I learned that you need carefully photograph your work. Have sharp images that are well cropped. Don't let your colors look faded or washed out. Also, submit pieces that show a consistency in your work. If you paint all kinds of subject matter, but have a very unique style that can be identified across all your paintings, that's ok. But there should be something consistent about the works submitted. Note - that doesn't mean they should all look exactly alike! Someone submitted three photos of their artwork that almost looked like the identical painting, and the jurors dinged it for being too similar. Overall, I found this to be worthwhile, even though the jurors did not make too many comments on my particular submission and I didn't have a booth shot to submit.

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Larry Berman May 2, 2016 at 8:10pm

I think Columbus Ohio is the closest to Kentucky you'll get. I think their mock jury is mid February.

Larry Berman

Barbara Pitorak Bloom February 11, 2015 at 1:31pm

Hi there,

I have a question. I have actually applied to Krasl, and i received the email from them inviting me to the open jury. Living a good 4-4.5 hours drive from them, and having a rigorous day job that makes it challenging to break away for the opportunity is it inappropriate to politely thank them, and indicate my sadness that i cannot attend. I am so sad about it, but have huge deadlines that day in work responsibilities. Love your feedback

Larry Berman February 9, 2015 at 8:27pm

I went last year and wrote about it
http://bermangraphics.com/blog/columbus-open-jury-2014/

Before publishing the article, I checked all the facts and timing with Scott.

Columbus is one of the open juries where the jurors are encouraged to discuss or ask questions while artists are in the room. Not so with Ft Worth or Cherry Creek.

Larry Berman

Thomas Felsted February 9, 2015 at 7:20pm

You wrote "The images are projected simultaneous - 5 across with the booth shot on the right- for about 3 seconds. Jury scores as yes, no or maybe. The yeses and maybes go on to round two on Sunday."

Shaking my head. A glance from a distance in 3 seconds is what I just paid someone 40 dollars for. And all 5 images within that scope of 3 seconds. I suppose you could just look at the center image for 3 seconds and through your peripheral vision absorb the others.

How sad.

Rather than frantically speed judging "all the pretty colors" in flashes, has anyone considered taking 3-4 days for each round? 40 bucks divided into minimum wage would employ a juror to look at my art for 4 hours before clicking a button. I'm no mathematician, but 40 dollars divided by .03 of one minute equals...

Connie Mettler > Thomas Felsted February 9, 2015 at 8:59pm

Thomas, you might get more information on the question of whether artists are getting their money's worth by listening to this podcast: How Art Fairs Choose and Run their Juries, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/artfairs/2012/11/21/how-art-fairs-choo...

The guests are Maureen Riley, director of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, Lynn Sedlak-Ford from Art in the Pearl and Jerry Gilmore, a juror who has judged many art fairs. Learn whether or not you are getting your money's worth.

Thanks for all this info, Trisha. YES! Someone took my advice :)

Good points, Trisha. I think one of the advantages of attending the jury is you get to see what it takes on the administrative end to jury a show.

Where do you live and what made you decide to attend the jury?
- Trisha Sikora > Connie Mettler February 9, 2015 at 9:48pm
  
  Yes, it was really good advise to attend. I had read the article Larry wrote on last year's jury but nothing replaces seeing everything on the big screen. We got into Columbus in '13 and it was our best show of the year. Looking back at our images from that year (especially the booth shot), I feel we were very lucky to get in. We did not get accepted last year and were really bummed. I started doing a lot more reading on this site and Larry's site about what makes good jury images. Our photographer did not specialize in art shows or product shots (the images were good, but not great) and our old booth shot had many problems. The disappointment of rejection spurred us to take our work to Larry Berman and he took some great shots of our lamps (and gave us lots of great advise, including to attend the mock jury in Cols). We also did a new booth shot that is 1000% better after reading lots on this and Larry's website. We were really proud of our new images and wanted to see how we stacked up to the competition. Also, we are already thinking about new images for next year and ways to improve. I found one of our images to read much different projected vs looking at it on the computer screen. My husband and I talked about what we liked and didn't like about the images and we discussed ideas for the next set of images all the way home. We live in Cleveland so it's only a 2 hour drive. I only wish we could have stayed for day two. Next year!
Trisha Sikora > Thomas Felsted February 9, 2015 at 8:05pm

Yes, it's not much time. I was able to scan the images and see all 5 images in those 3 seconds, just barely (unless there was a distraction that kept me from scanning or those white backgrounds where your eyes have to adjust). To be clear, each category has two runs, so the images are up twice (for a total time of 6 seconds). It wasn't enough time to study or really absorb anything, but the best images could convey a lot in this short time. From my understanding the yeses and maybes that make it to day two get a little longer on the screen. I wasn't there for the 2nd round so if someone who was there can shed light on the length of the projection time for those who made it past round one, that would be interesting. Still, even if it is twice as long it is still not much time.

As to if the jury fee is overpriced, I suppose that is a decision we make each time we decide what shows to apply for. Usually we feel like it was a "waste" of money when we don't get in, but we aren't complaining when we do get in:) I am sure there are a lot of expenses that might not be evident (renting the jury space, feeding the jury, upgrading equipment, zapp's cut). I would guess there are smaller shows where the jury takes place around someone's kitchen table and the fee is $10. Is it worth it? If you get in and have a great show you bet it is:)

Trisha Sikora February 9, 2015 at 6:32pm

My husband and I attended the first half of the open jury for Columbus Arts Fest on Saturday. It was seriously an eye opening experience. It was the first time we have attended a jury, and although I had heard from others about them it was very enlightening to see for ourselves. We planned on staying both days, but 2 feet of snow melting on our roof forced us to come home early to tend to a leak. We are already talking about attending day 2 next year. I will share a few of my impressions from the first half of the first day...

Scott Huntley (the director) is very personable. He answered a few of our questions before the jury started. He stressed how important quality images and a good booth shot are, but also mentioned that every year is a new jury and that sometimes a rejection is just a matter of the jury's personal taste. They change the jury every year knowing that a different jury with different tastes will result in a different show, which keeps the attendees attending (and buying). At the introduction he explained the process for the first and second days. There were 1139 applications. The jury is comprised of professional artists and teachers. On day one each category gets a run through and then the images are projected a second time while the judges score. The images are projected simultaneous - 5 across with the booth shot on the right- for about 3 seconds. Jury scores as yes, no or maybe. The yeses and maybes go on to round two on Sunday.

Absorbing all that amazing artwork and fine craft pass by in a matter of hours was overwhelming (and we were only present for the first half of the day). It is easy to realize when watching this process why great images and a great booth shot are essential. Any kind of distraction is going to result in not seeing your work. Images with white backgrounds were so bright it took my eyes a second to adjust. As stated many times on this forum, messy booth shots are a distraction. Models can be distracting. The concept of continuity became much clearer.

A ceramic entry was observed in the digital art category. It was mentioned that it was likely the error was made when applying. The staff makes an effort to correct mistakes, but those who apply at the last minute may not get noticed. He also mentioned that 70% of the applications are sent in the last 2 weeks.

It was great to have the opportunity to observe the jury. I have a new appreciation for the entire process and feel like our next set of images will be better for attending.

Connie Mettler January 12, 2015 at 12:34pm

If anyone knows of any other ones please add them here or send me the info and I'll add it to the body of the discussion.

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