You did not read the application carefully. Your work is not appropriate to the show. Not all shows are open to all media.
- You did not fill out all of the spaces. You skipped sections where you could show the special nature of you as an artist, or point of view. All facets of the application process are important: all spaces filled in, solid booth images, an artist statement that sets you apart.
- Your work is poorly photographed with bad exposures and messy images.
- Your artist statement is poorly written: misspellings, bad grammar, doesn't reflect the imagery being displayed. Tip: review your statement annually, update it to reflect current work and say what is really special about your work. Think of it as a resume, why it should make the cut. Jurors don't care about what paper you use, the cone firing, etc.
- Have someone else read your artist statement. Read it out loud yourself so you can hear what the judges are going to hear. Are there abbreviations they won't understand?
- The images are not consistent. Think of the art as a "family", not identical but clearly from the same maker. The work should be related.
- The workmanship is not up to the level of the other work being presented. Make sure the images you send in truly reflect what your work is. Tip: whenever possible visit other shows and study others in your media, especially visit the shows where you were rejected.
- You didn't project your images to see what they will look like to the judges. You didn't show them to someone else to get a second opinion.
- When applying in two categories you use the same booth shot. The judges don't know what will be in your booth. Or the booth is "photoshopped", a clean empty booth with 4-5 pieces dropped in. Clearly not what will be appearing at the show.
- You complete your application at the last minute, so that if there are errors, or the show director has a question about it, there isn't time to get it right. Best tip, especially if you are relatively new to art fairs or applying to a very competitive show: Apply early so you can be sure your application is reviewed by show staff for any problems.
This list is from our recent podcast. Listen for more details here.
Can we make this "20 Reasons?" Do other show directors have some more to add to this list? Do you agree with this list?
Thanks to Cindy Lerick, Saint Louis Art Fair; Christine Berthiaume, New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Marguerite Esrock, St. James Court Art Show.
Comments
I haven't been turned down by any shows for following ZAPP instructions instead of "Zapp Speak". Over 20 years I suspect some of the originators have died off and new ones would expect people to follow the directions. IMO, and it works for me. I juried a show held at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and applications that did not follow directions were the first to be pitched.
NO! Why would you think that, Tina? Zapp asks for a DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE.
So, am I to understand that instead of describing our techniques and materials, we are to insert an artist statement? I may be more confused than before I started reading this thread.
If you're tired of it, Larry, don't waste your time and ours commenting about it. And certainly don't try to undermine my point with a comment such as this one.
When submitting an application, on the application page for SLAF, zapp asks us to select 4 images and 1 booth shot. It doesn't ask us to submit a "sample" on an application. That's perfectly clear.
When uploading images to the zapp system in the artist's portfolio, we have to click the green button labeled +ADD SAMPLE. And clearly just under that button are the words IMAGE SAMPLES directly above our artwork images in our portfolio. How in the world would that ever be confusing to anyone?
You and I were around for the beginning of zapp. I never assumed zapp was asking for an ARTIST STATEMENT when in fact the block has always been labeled DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE.
Isn't this getting tiring yet?
ZAPP has labeled their fields based on what the founding shows requested. Everyone knows the required field within an application is for an artist statement because that's what it was always called on paper applications before ZAPP was started. When the shows told ZAPP that they needed an artist statement field, ZAPP took it upon themselves to call it something else.
Have you uploaded a "sample" yet? That's ZAPPspeak for images.
Larry Berman
http://BermanGraphics.com
412-401-8100
Connie, the zapplication system will not allow the zapplication to be submitted without something being filled in a required space. A DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE has been required information on every zapplication I've submitted since the dawn of zapp.
Since some of the artists on the Saint Louis Art Fair website have no description next to their work, I'm guessing that the show asked for that to be provided once the exhibitor confirmed their participation in the show. And I bet a lot of what is submitted for that has to do with what Cindy mentions upthread about wanting artists to submit an Artist Statement about their work. Some of the descriptions on there are probably the same as what artists use in the zapplication process, and others go into Artist Statement type stuff. Some say stuff that makes no sense to me at all. And then some don't have anything there.
Saint Louis Art Fair has the following EVENT INFORMATION in their very long information and rules page about the show: As part of the application process artists must also submit an artist statement. SLAF allows up to 300 characters. We recommend a description that provides a balance between material & technique and inspiration. Statements are read aloud to the jurors. Jurors are able to see the statement therefore we ask that you not personalize the information.
Here's my problem with this: When an artist decides to apply for SLAF by clicking the big green APPLY TO THIS SHOW button, within that application process there's no space labeled ARTIST STATEMENT. There's one labeled DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE, however. So even if an artist reads all of the EVENT INFORMATION and discovers that SLAF wants some words regarding inspiration, the artist will be confused when they actually apply to the show since the space provided for this is labeled DESCRIPTION OF MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE.
One way SLAF could help remedy confusion is to let the DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL AND TECHNIQUE stand as just that and not mix it with ARTIST STATEMENT stuff. Then have another block of required information for a bona-fide ARTIST STATEMENT that will be used next to the images on the website once an artist is a confirmed exhibitor in the show. Then every artist on SLAF website will have the information next to their images. Nothing will be left blank there.
These DESCRIPTIONS weren't always required. In fact, they are a facet of the zapplication process. Before zapp and the computer entry age, nothing was ever read to the jurors/judges about our process and not very many shows asked for explanations on applications. More about this later. I just brought a cache of old paper prospecutses out of the dark. Cherry Creek 1998 and stuff like that. WOOHOO!
So there you go, Barrie! What was comment #2 up above? You didn't fill in all the spaces ... !!
I just noticed that some artists have no description whatsoever next to their work. ?????????
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