The Crafts Report: Public Opinion

What are the Credentials of the Ideal Show Juror?

What’s your opinion?

Each month, The Crafts Report invites readers to respond to the Public Opinion question. Responses are published in the magazine.

This month’s question is: What kind of motor vehicle works best for your craft business?

Please respond by May 8. Responses to this question will appear in the July 2003 issue.

E-mail: publicopinion@craftsreport.com; or answer online here.

Send responses to: “Public Opinion,” The Crafts Report, Box 1992, Wilmington, DE 19899; fax: (302) 656-4894.

Anonymous responses will not be published.

Whew, that’s a tough one! Recently I had the wonderful experience of being one of the coordinators for a successful textile art show. The juror was both an experienced artist and a museum curator who was adept at realizing the vision of the show. Although she allowed input from the coordinators, it was her tactful approach in accordance with the show’s theme that I feel made for both a pleasant experience and a very strong show. To me, the hard earned industry credentials along with basic sincere people skills is what earns my respect and awe of an ideal show juror.

I think that no matter how educated a juror may be in the arts, they will still pick artists for a show based on their own personal taste. We are all human, so there really is no such thing as an unbiased juror.

I would hope that any juror would have an open mind and would be in tune to what is currently in favor with the buying public. That doesn’t mean that they would pick artists based on what they thought would sell, whether it’s good or not, just that viable sales would be in the back of their mind.

The ideal show juror needs to be someone who has a background in the arts, either through education or hands-on experience, and is currently in an arts-related field.

They should have knowledge of who’s hot in the crafts world and any popular trends that are leading to sales. Ideally, it should be a fellow craftsperson that has some idea of the show circuit and what it takes to put together a show application package.

Show juries should be made up of crafters, not curators or other art professionals. Only actual artists should be able to jury other artists. Maybe they will also be arts professionals, but they should be artists who have done shows some time in their careers.

If juries are supposed to be comprised of our “peers,” then how can anyone other than an artist be able to judge other artists’ work?

I’m tired of juries that are comprised of only arts professionals that are too far removed from the creation process. They may have an eye for what is aesthetically pleasing, but they don’t always have the knowledge of what techniques were used to make a piece. And technique is what separates the good from the bad.

Jurors for shows need to be fluent in the language of art and in the language of sales. If jurors pick work for shows that doesn’t sell, then the show suffers. If jurors pick work that isn’t any good, the show suffers. They need to have a foot in each arena, sales and talent. They should make sure that price points consistent with the image of the show are represented.

I know that many artisans feel that jurors should not judge based on what is sellable. But if they don’t, then who else will? I come to shows to sell, and if my work isn’t appropriate for sales at that particular show, then I’d rather spend my money going to another show where at least I have a chance.