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All of us have had the experience of walking through a show looking at the awards and wondering what was the judge thinking?  When you enter shows the jurying process seems shrouded in mystery.  Some artist with credentials is assessing your work and labeling it good or bad.  Or at least that is how I viewed it when I first began to enter shows.   Now that I have juried for numerous shows both locally and nationally, I respect the struggle that each juror faces when hired to select the entries and award winners. The exhibition only shows the final results and not the questions, comparisons, and selection process of each juror.  The goal of this blog is to take some of the mystery out of judging.

The first thing to know is that every jurying experience is unique.  Some shows are juried in person and some are juried online.  Sometimes one person judges for entries and awards and other times there are many jurors involved.  Each juror was hired to narrow a selection of entries to form the exhibition and then select what they feel are the best works in those entries for awards.  Most jurors have entered shows and know the impact their choices will have on those who have entered.

Jurying in person is preferred but not always possible.   With seeing and comparing work in real life, the juror can see the mark making, values, and color that a photograph may distort.   Some shows are juried by CD and the juror must rely on the photographs provided to make their choices.  The quality of the photograph is crucial to the decision making.  I have juried paintings where the photographs were blurry.  Although the design and color may have looked good, I couldn’t really tell because the photo was poor.

A newer method of jurying online is very fair.  This is done through popular websites like Juried Art Services or Online Juried Shows.  Artists register and send their images in for a specific show. Several jurors are hired to make the initial selection and they score each work individually.  It can be a 1-10 or 1-5 scoring system.  The scores are tallied by a separate person.  Often there is a juror of awards who views the show in person.   This way you have several opinions and the bias of each judge is balanced by the others who are judging the same images.

No matter the method that is used, each juror must keep in mind that they are being hired to work for a client.  Each prospectus lists the criteria for the works that are entered.  I always read the prospectus before I jury and, when I jury in person, always ask the following questions:

1. Numbers: How many pieces are allowed in the exhibition?  How many works is each artist allowed?
2. Exhibition: What should the show represent - the diversity of the group or personal preference of the juror?  Is there a theme?  How important is the theme? 
3. Awards: How many awards are there?  Can one artist win more than one?  Is there leeway with the number of awards?

My method of jurying from life and online is similar.  I first look at all of the entries several times before I make any decisions.  This gives me an overall feeling for the show and quality of the submissions.  Then I begin to group the work according to how I feel each piece compares to the other entries.  I will usually begin by selecting the strongest work and giving it a top score.  Online services will automatically group the paintings according to the score. If ten is the best, then all of the tens are placed in a folder and can be looked at as a group as well as individually.  If I am working from a CD I will copy the CD then create my own folders to score the work. Either way I can go back and compare paintings that I feel are similar in quality.  When paintings are viewed next to each other it is much easier to see the strengths and weaknesses. Online jurying takes place over a long period of time giving the juror the luxury of looking at the paintings again and again.  I will go back numerous times and look at the show and continue to move paintings into different folders to see how they compare.  I do this until I am satisfied that I have made the best decisions possible.  In person, I will group the work that I think is best and the work I like the least to narrow the selection.  Usually the work that is rejected is removed from the room so the juror can get a better feel for the exhibition. Sometimes artists enter several paintings but can only have one or two accepted.  After the initial selection I will group the artist’s work together to decide which ones should stay in.  This can be tough and I have had to reject some very beautiful work because of these limits.

Choosing the award winners is the most difficult task.  Often this takes just as long as selecting the show.  When the top works are comparable, it is like favoring apples or oranges.  I have agonized over selection of Best of Show vs. First Place - running them through the criteria listed below to see if either of them has an edge over the other, and yes - this is where framing can make all the difference.  Artists should always keep in mind that framing becomes important when jurying in person. A good frame shows the artists’ respect for their work and can go a long way in making a judge look at the work favorably.  Sometimes there are more paintings deserving of awards than awards that are granted.  Again, it comes down to subtle differences.  If you are rejected from a show, or do not get an award, know that your painting may be one of those that was agonized over.

As far as personal bias, all jurors have them and every exhibition will be influenced by the personal viewpoint of the juror.  Portrait is my strongest subject and I may be harder on portraits than a juror who specializes in seascapes.  That juror may be harder on seascapes than on figurative work. That does not mean you should not enter a portrait if the juror is a portrait artist; just know that your portrait will be facing a well trained and critical eye.  To keep my bias at a minimum, I use the criteria below to jury shows. This is especially helpful if there is a medium in which I am unfamiliar.

This is the criteria I use for judging a show.  It helps me to be impartial to style or subject matter:

1. Concept: What is the painting about? Do all of the parts of the artwork come together to create a whole concept?  The whole is more important than any part.
2. Composition: How do the shapes fit within the picture plane?  Do the values and or colors support the concept?
3. Shapes: Are the shapes interesting and unique? How do they fit the format?  Is there a dominate shape?   What is the quality of the perspective, proportion, and line quality (drawing)?
4. Values: How are they used for design quality? Is one value dominant?  Do the values explain form (if applicable)?  
5. Edges: Is there a nice flow of sharp and soft edges?  Does the edgework explain the narrative of the piece?
6. Color: Is there a dominant color harmony?  Does the color explain light (if applicable)?  Does the color support the concept?
7. Technical Mastery: Is the application of materials or medium interesting and well crafted? Does it support the concept?
8. Presentation: Does the framing or presentation complement the work?

I hope this post on judging and the two previous posts on entering juried shows will give you a better idea of what to expect when submitting.  Competitions can be a rewarding and useful method of building confidence and gaining recognition.  My best advice is to not take them personally but learn from them.  Study the work in the top shows, read jurors statements, and visit shows in your local area. If a painting is rejected from one show, enter it in another - another juror may give it Best of Show!

Good luck and happy painting.