How Art Fairs Choose and Run Their Juries

In a business full of taking chances the first big challenge an artist has is to make the jury cut at the shows. After all, if you can't get into the show you aren't in business. I'll be speaking with

• Mo Riley, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair: Mo came to the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair (the original one) about 3 years ago from the Detroit Festival of the arts. She inherited a complex jury system that has over a dozen jurors from various media who attend on consecutive days, breaking the jurying down into small pieces.

• Lyn Sedlak-Ford, Board Member Art in the Pearl, Portland, OR: one of a group of 14 artists who started this show 17 years ago. There are 3 left of the original group. We'll talk about how an artist's organization chooses a jury and what they expect from their jurors.

• Jerry Allen Gilmore, juror for many of the nation's best art fairs: with an MFA in painting and drawing he has had a career both as an artist, exhibiting internationally, and as an arts administrator in Colorado. Currently he is concentrating on curatorial projects, artist portfolio reviews, jurying for regional and national art institutions and on his own artwork.

We'll talk about:

• how to choose a jury, qualifications, diversity, experience
• demands on the jury
• how they showcase the applications
• jury instruction
• different kinds of jurying
• jury experiences and recommendations
• what your jury fee is buying you