Juried Artist Guidelines

OVERVIEW

A Juried Artist Member (JAM) of SAQA is an artist who has successfully presented a portfolio to the Juried Artist Review Panel. This portfolio includes a selected body of work and documentation showing a professional approach to art.

The portfolio presents a body of work that represents a singular point of view or signature collection. The artist’s resume demonstrates a record of juried exhibitions beyond the local. Documentation and images are of high quality, as expected by galleries and museums, as well as collectors and publishers.

The Review Panel evaluates each portfolio against the criteria of these guidelines and gauges whether the works demonstrate an understanding of principles of design and composition and whether the entirety of the application demonstrates that the applicant has a professional approach to art. All Review Panel members are current Juried Artist Members.

For more information, see:
Want to become a Juried Artist? (SAQA Journal article by Dorothy Raymond)

Do you want to become a Juried Artist? (Powerpoint presentation by Dorothy Raymond, includes body of work samples)

Juried Artist Program Overview (Video conversation with Deb Cashatt, Dolores Miller, and Dorothy Raymond)

PROCESS

The Review Panel meets every January, March, May, July, September and November. Applications are due by midnight US Eastern Time on January 1, March 1, May 1, July 1, September 1, and November 1.

The portfolio is submitted online. It must include:

• Seven full images (together with detail images for 3 of them) that, viewed together, present an applicant’s curated body of work.
• A resume providing evidence of your studio art practice, which may include exhibitions, awards, publications, collectors and gallery representation.
• An artist statement that is clear, concise, and connects the viewer with the work presented.

You will find all specifications on the Submission Form. Reviewing it before you are ready to submit will help you with preparing all the information you need to complete the application. We suggest having all your materials (content, image files, resume) in a folder on your computer before you begin. 

MENTORING

SAQA offers mentoring specifically tailored to help prepare your application which is different than the Primary Mentorship program. It is a free service offered to SAQA members. Mentors are current Juried Artists and may include former members of the Review Panel. 
 
Juried Artist mentoring cannot guarantee acceptance. However, a mentor will look at the art you select for submission, evaluate your professional documents, and make suggestions. The final decisions about what to submit are yours. 

To get started with a Juried Artist mentor, send an email to JAMmentor@saqa.com and indicate for which areas of the application you would like mentoring (e.g. portfolio selection, photographic requirements, resume or artist statement).

EVALUATION 

The Review Panel evaluates each application to gauge whether the portfolio would present a credible exhibit at an art gallery and whether the application shows a professional practice, as demonstrated by adherence to these guidelines.

The Review Panel considers:

• The body of work: Do the selected pieces demonstrate an understanding of the principles of design and composition? Are they of high quality? Do the images work together to present a focused point of view rather than a sampler of ideas or techniques?
• The images:  Are the images of professional quality? Could they appear in an exhibit catalog without -photographing? If the edges of your art quilt are not visible in the image, the application will not be accepted.
• The exhibition record: Are there juried exhibitions? Does the exhibition record go beyond local venues? Does the exhibition record include art quilt venues, museums or galleries?
• The resume: Is the resume easy to read?  Does it include the expected items in the requested order?
• The artist statement: Does it connect with the work presented? Does it focus on the idea(s) behind the body of work or is it merely a listing of materials and methods? Is it clearly written?
• The artist's blog or website: While a website is not required to become a Juried Artist, if the artist has one, the Review Panel will look at it. Is it current? Does it demonstrate a professional practice?

NOTIFICATION

Applicants will be notified by email about their application status. If you haven’t received a notification email by the end of the month in which the Review Panel meets, please check your spam folders before contacting us at info@saqa.com.

If your application is accepted, your email notice will contain instructions and information about your membership changes, and reminders about your new benefits.

If your application is not accepted, your email notice will summarize the areas where the Review Panel believed your artistic practice needs further development. Once you believe you’ve addressed those areas, you may re-apply.

Many applicants were not successful their first try, but found the re-submission process worthwhile. Many also choose to use the mentoring process for their re-submission.

DETAILED REQUIREMENTS

Body of work

A body of work, in the context of the Juried Artist Application, is a selection of your artworks that relate to one another that demonstrates to the Review Panel a cohesive, singular point of view. You should select work to submit that presents an organized and cohesive portfolio, one that would be welcomed by jurors, museums, galleries and publications.

The Review Panel also looks at whether the works demonstrate your understanding of the artistic principles of design and composition? This is not a judgement of whether the Review Panel likes or dislikes your body of work but instead whether the body of work shows an artistic intent rather than a mastery of technique.

Professional presentation of images

Your application will be not be accepted if the edges of your artwork are not visible (not cropped out).  The photo images must be excellent: artwork edges are included, no pins or hanging rods show, any visible background has no distractions. The lighting is good and consistent across the entire piece; everything is in focus and shot squarely, not distorted. 

Detail images reveal the stitching or some intriguing portion of the work. They are separate photographs of a selected area, not merely a cropped area from the full image. 

Digital images must be saved as a high quality JPEG file (No TIFF files). Finished images should be at least 2100 pixels on the longest side and not more than 4200 pixels.

Each image file must be 2mb or less - all images on the form cannot exceed 25 MB in total. 
If you do not have software to resize your images, online options are available:
https://www1.lunapic.com/editor/ or https://picresize.com/

For more information, see: 

Help with Resizing Photos by Gloria Hansen (video)

Tips for Successful Art Quilt Photography by Lynn Krawczyk

Submitting Photos to SAQA Publications by Deidre Adams

Professional presentation of documents

Your resume and artist statement should be well-written and easily understood, grammatically correct and free of typos. The Review Panel expects that your documents comply with the requirements.

Resume
The resume submitted to be a Juried Artist provides the Review Panel with evidence of your studio practice and art activity. It is a selected resume; not intended to cover your entire career. Select the highlights for the purpose of this application, rather than everything you have ever done.

Organize your resume in reverse chronological order, that is, provide the most recent activity/entry first, then work back in time. Your resume should include the following categories, in this order. While it is not necessary to have entries in each category, your resume should list sufficient breadth to demonstrate your studio practice and art activity.

• Exhibitions: Solo, Invitational, Juried Group, and Non-juried Group exhibitions. Each entry should include the title of the exhibition, the name(s) of the juror(s) and/or curator(s), the name of the venue, city, state, country, and date.
   
  • A solo exhibit means that a body of your work is exhibited together at one venue.
  • An invitational exhibit means that a curator invites you (and other artists) to participate in an exhibit, based on the quality of your work.
  • A juried group exhibition means that a juror has selected your work for exhibition from all works submitted for consideration.
  • A non-juried group exhibition means an exhibit that has not been juried and your selection is based on your membership in the group organizing the exhibition.
• Awards, honors, fellowships or grants: Name of award or honor, sponsoring organization, location, and date.
• Media/Publications: Television, blogs, magazine articles, books you have written or in which your work was featured. Provide the title of program, article, name of station, publication, and date.
• Critical Reviews (of your work) and/or Artist Profile(s): List the name of the publication, title of article, author, and date published.
• Installations and Collections: List the names of any public, corporate, or private collections of your work.
• Gallery Representation: List gallery names, location, and dates of representation.
• Other Professional Activity: List curatorial or other professional activities. Do not list workshops you have attended. List other professional positions held IF you believe they are of sufficient relevance, importance, or influence.
• Professional Affiliations, including SAQA

For more information, see: 

Sample Selected Resume

Artist Statement
The artist statement is a big-picture, concise description of what you do, why you do it, and how you do it. It is best when written concisely and in the first person. It should connect the Review Panel or other viewers to your body of work, and aid in understanding your artistic voice.

Focus on yourself as a designing and creating artist, and concentrate on the pieces or portfolio you have submitted. Do not slip into biography here, except as it directly relates to your submitted work. Short and succinct is good (“ladder-back chairs in my work are a metaphor for the simpler times of childhood”). Generalities (for example, “I like to play with color” or “I am inspired by nature”) are not.

Focus on the content/meaning of your art. Mentioning titles of some of the pieces in the application can work well. Or you may describe repeating symbols, subjects or settings you favored; tell the Review Panel how you use them, and why that corresponds with your artistic voice.

 
For more information, review our resources on Artist Statements.

Contact Info:

If you have any questions regarding the application process, please email jams@saqa.com.