Thinking of joining The Art League Gallery? Perfect timing! Our new membership year starts tomorrow on July 1. (Of course, you can join any time.)

We pride ourselves on offering a space for emerging and established artists to exhibit work with sales and promotion managed by professional staff. Anyone can become a member, which means you can enter work in a different juried show each month and apply for a solo exhibit. If your work is accepted into three shows in one membership year, you’re also eligible to exhibit framed and unframed work in the Bin Gallery on a monthly basis.

See below for answers to all the most common questions about membership. All these questions and more are also covered in new member orientation, coming up Wednesday, July 16, at 5:00 pm and Thursday, August 14, at 7:00 pm.

Table of contents

• What’s jurying?
• Who are the jurors?
• How does the receiving process work?
• What can I submit?
• What about special hanging issues?
• How does the jurying process work?
• What do the volunteers do during jurying?
• What about online jurying?
• What criteria do the judges use?
• How does hanging work?
• Where else does my work go?

What’s jurying? Is that even a word? (back to top ↑)

It is now!*

Jurying is the process by which we put on a monthly group show. For each exhibit, we invite a different juror (one without a connection to The Art League) to narrow down the hundreds of submissions to the 100 or so you see on the wall.

Because we have hundreds of artist members and limited wall space, jurying provides a fair opportunity for artists to have their work exhibited. Some shows have themes related to medium or subject matter, while others are unthemed — we call those “all-media” shows.

Who are the jurors?(back to top ↑)

Jurors are regional (and sometimes national) artists, art critics, art teachers, and art writers invited by the Gallery Director. For most exhibits, we use a jury of one, but to select solo exhibitors, we employ a panel of jurors. The same person can’t jury more than once in a five-year period so that our members are ensured a wide variety of opinions.

How does the receiving process work?(back to top ↑)

Artwork receiving (not to be confused with the opening reception) is when artists drop off their artwork each month before the jury. There are two times to do so: Monday evening, 6:30–8:30, and Tuesday morning, 10:00 am–12:00 noon. Generally these are the first Monday of the month and the Tuesday immediately after. Some exhibits, like Art in City Hall or the annual sculpture exhibit, are juried online and have deadlines a few weeks ahead of the exhibit. Check our website for the specific dates.

1. When you come in, there will be a table outside the Gallery with blank entry forms. You fill out your name and the artwork’s title, medium, and price. (Photographers also have a Photographic Process Form to fill out).

2. Inside you’ll wait in line to pay your entry fee and get your entry number. The fee is $5 for each piece (you can enter one or two).

3. After a volunteer has taken down your entry info and given you a receipt, you attach the label to the back, and a sticker with the entry number to the left of the piece, like this:

For sculptures and 3-D work, attach the label and number in a place where they’ll be easy to find.

4. Finally, find a place along the wall to leave your piece (or pieces). There will be signs for the following categories:

• Photographs
• Work under glass
• Canvas
• Sculpture/3-D

Pick the one that fits best. The category isn’t as important as that you keep both your pieces together if you have two, which makes the juror’s job easier (see below). We provide cardboard to put between works to protect them.

What can I submit?(back to top ↑)

We have no restrictions on subject matter or size (unless noted otherwise in the call to artists). If you can fit it through the door, you can submit it. However, artwork cannot weigh more than 60 pounds.

We accept all media, with these exceptions:

• No giclee prints or reproductions of original artwork (whether by you or by another artist)
• For prints, the edition must have been pulled by the artist himself or herself (it cannot be mass produced off-set lithography)

If a piece has been accepted to a previous Art League exhibit, it can’t be submitted again. Rejected pieces can be resubmitted.

Please note that Gallery rules prohibit live, perishable, or insect-ridden materials.

What about special hanging issues?(back to top ↑)

Special hanging requirements must be approved by the Gallery Director prior to receiving. If you have questions about where or how to leave your piece at receiving, ask the gallery staff.

How does the jurying process work?(back to top ↑)

After receiving is complete on Tuesday, the juror arrives. He or she typically stays in one spot while the volunteers bring artwork to them.

All work is shown to the juror except paintings that are still wet – those are automatically disqualified. If other framing guidelines are not met, a letter will be attached to the piece and if accepted, the artist must replace the frame with one that meets gallery requirements. (See framing requirements in the membership packet.)

Each piece gets a “yes,” “no,” or “maybe” from the juror. Since artists can have at most one artwork accepted to the exhibit, artists who submitted two pieces will have both presented together, and at least one must be a “no.” Not all jurors use “maybe.” Those who do go back to the maybe group if there is still room at the end of jurying.

After the exhibit is finalized, the juror selects the cash awards and honorable mentions for the exhibit. Each exhibit has different cash awards. Some are specific to medium, like pastel or collage. The number of honorable mentions is at the juror’s discretion — these pieces are designated with an asterisk in the show program and a gold seal on their wall label.

What do the volunteers do during jurying?(back to top ↑)

The volunteers are responsible for presenting the pieces for the juror, then organizing them into “yes,” “no,” and “maybe.” If the juror asks, they can read the piece’s title or medium (but not the artist’s name) from the label on the back. Any other questions need to go to the Gallery Director.

What about online jurying?(back to top ↑)

For online juried exhibits, we upload submitted images to a private Flickr album so the juror can view them online.

What criteria do the judges use?(back to top ↑)

We interview jurors for each exhibit to get general feedback for our artists. You can see these juror’s dialogues on our website or in hard copies in the Gallery. See this blog post for some of the most commonly heard feedback from jurors. The main refrains: pay close attention to your framing and presentation, and if your work is rejected, try again next month. Jurying is necessarily subjective.

How does hanging work?(back to top ↑)

There’s a hanging committee of volunteers that come in to hang the show after the juror is done, around 5:00 Tuesday afternoon. The hanging chair and Gallery Director consult on placement of work. Rarely, jurors will have suggestions on how to hang specific pieces. The award winning pieces go in the front of the gallery, unless they’re too big for that wall.

If pieces sell and are removed during the show, we’ll rearrange the artwork as needed to avoid blank spots.

Where else does my work go?(back to top ↑)

In the days after a new exhibit opens, we photograph every piece to upload to a Flickr album along with the artist’s name. This provides an archived record of our exhibits and is another opportunity for people to see the exhibit or contact us about a purchase. If you already have a photograph of your accepted piece, please send it in to us! This is especially helpful for works under glass. Our email is [email protected].

We also use images of the exhibit — both individual pieces and installation views — for press releases and online outlets like Instagram and this blog. We try to post a wide variety of work so people can get a sense of the show and get excited to come in and see it. We also do Q&As on the blog with the award winners each month.

Any other questions about receiving or the jury process? Let us know in the comments and we’ll get you an answer.