DECISION STATEMENT:
2024 MATERIALS MATTER AT POWELL LANE ARTS
Hi,
We’re going to be direct and rip the band aid off quickly: we couldn’t accept your work into this show.
Some of you read that line, and just archived or deleted this (which is fine!), but some of you will want more details on the conditions of the selection process. For those of you who know us, you know that is very important to us. We want artists to grow, and find the spaces that work for and with them. Initially we would just give stats on selection, but part of what we have learned as we grow as a space is that sharing stats will not be sufficient for understanding what is happening in our decision process. With that in mind, we have added to our process a post-selection autopsy. What you are about to read is that. We’ll start with the usual stats, give the conditions of the selection process and feedback on commonalities between work that was not selected.
As creatives, we have always found this kind of after-action report valuable in our growth. If you don’t find value in this, that’s okay; but de-mystifying what’s happening is very important to us (Carol & Caroline) as a creative team.
We’ve blocked this into sections, so you can kind of get an idea of where your submission might have landed under these conditions. Read in full, skip around or flip us off and delete this. Ironically, as the “judges”, we would never judge you for how you feel or cope. :)
With that levelling set, here goes…
THE STATS:
For this show, we received 64 submissions and about 180 pieces. Of those we chose 42 artists, and 81 pieces. For those who prefer ratios, this is actual a pretty good ratio for artists 66% of artists were selected and it was about an average chance of artwork selection at 45% acceptance. This means the story is not in the amount of artwork, but rather the why of the selection process.
CONDITIONS OF THE SELECTION PROCESS:
As most of you likely know, we are a fairly new art space. We have been opened for just over 2 years, and are about 2/3s of the way through our 3 year plan. We are still learning and – most importantly – adapting to the situations we encounter.
This year in order to sustain our space past our initial 3 year plan, we – for the first time – started assessing a submission fee of $20 for any of our “in-house” exhibits (i.e.selections are made by Carol & Caroline). We also allowed only 3 pieces per submission.
The purpose of this was two-fold:
assist in us getting an assistant/intern
cull down the body of work we are reviewing
And it worked! We now have a great intern/assistant named Jess, who is helping us catch up, and it did get our submissions back down to 60-80. (Three of our 5 shows last year had over 110 submissions, and had us reviewing almost 450-500 pieces per show, which was daunting.)
Since, realistically, we can only manage about 30 artists and 70-80 pieces at a time, we thought this would make decisions easier. We were wrong. We now are getting mostly very high-quality submissions. In this show almost 85% of the submissions could have been accepted.
Once we realized the strength of these submissions, we focused-in on three selection parameters:
The quality of the images and the submission
The maturity and cohesiveness of that work
Its singularity (i.e. did we have a lot of work covering the same ground)
THE DECISIONS:
The quality of the images and the submission.
Essentially, this boils down to one question: Did this submission give us what we needed to understand this work? In other words: Was this submission clear, were the details thorough but well edited, and did we feel it gave us the appropriate grasp of what you as an artist were conveying to us. In even more other words, clear artist statement, high quality images and appropriate detail of materiality so we knew what we were seeing. The caveat here, of course, is that there is always an ineffable quality that no written or photographic description can give, but what you provide should essentially help us to create a low-level para-social relationship with you and your piece.
The biggest red-flag of this decision element was of course images. We feel like a broken record, but everything hinges on the images. This is a visual medium: we need clean images on a neutral background. Well cropped, well lit, directly aligned and high res. We need the piece to be the focus. No hands, no feet, no rug, no countertops or backsplashes or windshields of cars. No severe darkness or hot spots that distort the color or saturation. A direct, squarely (not square, but squarely) shot piece. Several of you would have been yeses, and had pieces we really loved.
Unfortunately, some of the images we received were blurry, poorly lit, had hands in them or exhibited elements of “is this a photo issue or a feature of the piece?”. This made it difficult to know what we were selecting.
We don’t mean this is a condescending or scathing way. It is simple: what we see is all we can know. If we can’t synthesize a visual and MORE IMPORTANTLY show a visual to a buyer, we can’t accept the work – even if we like it.
The yellow-flag here is the field in which you listed the medium. If you simply listed “mixed media”, that was not particularly helpful for us. This is a show about mediums. Even if your medium is oil on panel or acrylic on canvas, we need to know that. It informs how we view the work, so please include the entirety of the medium – what is it on, what is on it, what is it of, what have you included, et al..The maturity and cohesiveness of the work.
Works with severe technical flaws are rare here. In those few cases, it is also rarely a significant issue with the work. In most cases, it is that we think the body of work needs to germinate a bit longer. Particularly at beginnings of new bodies of work or during materiality changes, this is VERY common. We see it in our Coffee 4 Creatives all the time, and have experienced it ourselves.
A sub issue here is presentation. There were several pieces that we loved, but the presentation was not where it needs to be for our space. All of our shows are group shows. Everything is hung salon style. It means everything needs to be thought of in conversation, and presented accordingly. If it’s a collage or shadow box, is it squared, does it look solid, does the framing enhance the piece or is it just holding it together? If it is an installation piece that you are now trying to show as individual or diptych, have you thought through how this work needs to be presented in a commercial space as opposed to an experiential installation space? The answers to these questions are really important. It lets people know how to interact with your art.Finally,
Singularity (i.e. did we have a lot of work covering the same ground).
You only have so much control about this. We receive a lot of work compared to the size of our space. We try to show as many options as we can, but that means if we receive an abundance of an single type of thematic, stylistic or materialistic work, you have more competition in that area. We know that stinks, but for us, it is the reality because when all the options are strong, you know that you have to leave good, worthy artwork on the table.
So… that is where we are. Thank you for staying in this email for so long. So what do you do now?
Here are some suggested next steps:
If you think you have a good idea of which bucket your submission ended up in, cool.
Keep an eye on our calls, and if we haven’t scared you off, we’d love to see more.If you are at a loss and would like more specific detail, here are two recommendations for feedback: two brave and one very brave, and combined the bravest of them all.
Contact us. Ask us for Feedback. We promise it is never our intention to be hurtful, callous or exclusionary.
Come to a Coffee 4 Creatives. This is a crit group with SNACKS ** and coffee ** :) . Crowd-source a solution to the above potential issues. Plus, silver lining, make new art friends to support you.
You can find out more here: www.powelllanearts.com/c4c . And here are the upcoming dates:
* Sunday, May 5, 2024 from 12 PM - 3 PM.
* Sunday, June 2, 2024 from 12 PM - 3 PM.
* Sunday, July 7, 2024 from 12 PM - 3 PM.
* Sunday, October 6, 2024 from 12 PM - 3 PM.
* Sunday, November 3, 2024 from 12 PM - 3 PM.
* Sunday, December 1, 2024 from 12 PM - 3 PM.Come to the Opening. See what we chose. Talk to the selected artists. Talk to us. Make new friends. It’s on Saturday, June 8, 2024 from 3pm - 6pm.
If the opening is too much for you, just come have a visit with us. We’re open Thursday through Saturday from 11am – 6pm and on Sunday from 11am-4pm. This show will run from Thursday, June 6, 2024 to Sunday, August 4, 2024.
We will say, though, that Coffee 4 Creatives and our Openings are pretty fun. And we take no credit for it: we are not a membership gallery, but artists make community, and artists like yourselves have made this a community.
Now for the pep talk: You are strong. You are brave. And we value you. So have a cuddle and a cry. Bad-mouth us to your friends, family and community, and then get back on the horse, and get back to it.
In the meantime, and as always, we continue to wish you the best, and thank you for your continued support of our space. In the clearest, most sincere voice we have: The work you submitted was good, we were really impressed with all of the submissions, and we hope to see more of your work in the future.
With gratitude and continued earnestness,
Carol Taylor-Kearney & Caroline Kearney
Curators and Co-Owners of Powell Lane Arts
