Enter now for 2013 North Charleston Arts Festival Judged Fine Art & Photography Competitions & Exhibitions

Fine artists and professional and amateur photographers ages 18 and up are invited to participate in the annual North Charleston Arts Festival Judged Fine Art and Judged Photography Competitions and Exhibitions.

Entries will be on display throughout the festival, May 3-11, at the Charleston Area Convention Center Complex, located at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. Cash prizes are awarded for winning entries. Complete entry instructions are available for download on the Apply page at www.NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com. Entries for photography will be accepted at the Convention Center on Wednesday and Thursday, May 1 and 2, from noon to 7:00pm. Entries for fine art will be accepted on Wednesday and Thursday, May 1 and 2, from noon to 7:00pm, as well as Friday, May 3, from 9:00am to noon. Entry fees are $5 and $10, respectively.

Fine artists may submit work in five categories: Acrylic, Oil, Drawing/Pastel, Watercolor, and Mixed Media. Entries will compete for cash prizes totaling up to $4425. Awards are at the sole discretion of the juror, Sara C. Arnold.  Arnold is the Curator of Collections at the Gibbes Museum of Art in downtown Charleston. In this role she is responsible for the study, care, and interpretation of the museum’s permanent art collection. During her nine year tenure at the Gibbes, Arnold has curated numerous exhibitions and written articles for American Art Review and Antiques and Fine Art magazines. She is also the co-editor of The Life and Art of Alfred Hutty: Woodstock to Charleston, published by the University of South Carolina Press in 2012. She holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of Alabama and a master’s degree in Historic Preservation and Museum Studies from Georgia State University.

Photographers may submit work in the Professional/Advanced division or Amateur division under the categories of Color or Monochrome. Entries will compete for cash prizes totalling up to $1450 and are judged using the Photographic Society of America Print Guidelines.  Scoring is done by three competent judges in the field of photography who will score entries using the 3-9 range of scores.  Each judge will evaluate each entry as a whole, considering the areas of Impact, Composition, and Technique.  However, there is no specific weighting or allotment of points for each category.  This system is used efficiently and effectively by many councils, at international exhibitions, and by camera clubs. It allows an adequate qualitative separation of entries while lessening the potential for a large number of the higher scoring entries having identical scores. In the event of a tie-breaker, judges will choose the winning entry.

Awards for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place in each division and category, as well as Honorable Mentions for both competitions will be announced at an artist reception on Friday, May 3, from 6:00-7:00pm at the Charleston Area Convention Center. The reception is free and open to the public. Exhibition viewing times are Saturday, May 4, 10:00am–4:00pm; Sunday, May 5, 2:00–5:00pm; Monday through Friday, May 6-10, 9:00am–5:00pm; and Saturday, May 11, 9:00am–Noon.

The North Charleston Arts Festival, scheduled May 3-11, is one of the most comprehensive arts festivals in the state, providing thousands of residents & visitors with a fabulous array of nearly 100 performances, exhibitions, and activities. The Main Event, held May 4 and 5 at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center and Charleston Area Convention Center, offers free admission and parking to over 40 performances on four stages, exhibitions, a gem and mineral show, an antique show, children’s activities, art and crafts booths, and a food courtyard.  The Arts Festival continues with over 65 free or moderately priced ticketed events throughout the week at various locations and concludes with fireworks over the Cooper River at the Grand Finale at North Charleston Riverfront Park.    

For more information about the North Charleston Arts Festival, or to download entry instructions for the Judged Fine Art and Photography Competitions and Exhibitions, visit www.NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com. For more information about other exhibition opportunities offered by the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department, visit http://bit.ly/culturalarts or call 843-740-5854. 

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