Juried Competition Committee

Purpose

The Juried Competition Committee keeps the judging standards current; selects judges; purchases the awards; and organizes and conducts receiving, judging, set-up for Best of Show, returning art, and distributing award checks.

The Juried Competition Chair is selected by the Fair Chair and is a member of the Steering Committee. The Chair should have lengthy experience working on the Indian Fair & Market. The Chair, in turn, selects key people to lead subcommittees of JC all of whom must be members of the Museum and members of the Guild and all of whom attend JC Committee meetings.  The below subcommittees can be combined. A separate person or any one of the lead people can also be JC Chair.

 

COMMITTEE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES as of July 2021

Juried Competition Committee Chair:

  • Coordinates all aspects of Juried Competition.
  • Writes, updates, maintains all policies and procedures including the JC Entry Form.
  • Provides a budget to the Fair Chair
  • Reports progress and issues to the Fair Chair and attends all meetings scheduled by the Fair Chair.
  • Coordinates with Staging, Exhibitors Committee, Security, Marketing, Signs, and other Fair Committees as needed such as judging night parking.
  • Throughout the year, maintains an up-to-date notebook.
  • Point of contact for artists via Guild emails about Juried Comp questions..
  • At the end of the year, reviews the JC portion of the Guild website including the JC committee job description. Sends changes to the Fair Chair.
  • Submits annual report to the Fair Chair.

JC Standards, Classifications/Divisions, Awards and Award Amounts

  • Prepares for and conducts meeting to update the information. Attendees: JC Chair, prior JC Chair, Subcommittee Chairs, Fair Chair, Curators, Sponsorship Committee, and Museum Director.
  • Secures Classification Managers.
  • Updates the documents, posts on website, and provides documents to Exhibitors Committee for their three mailings.

JC Ribbons

  • Secures a vendor and places order
  • Maintains contact with JC Chair and Sponsorship Committee for sponsor names to pass along to ribbon maker.
  • Picks up ribbons. recruits volunteers and assembles the ribbons.
  • Night of judging, ensures ribbons are placed with correct winning art.

Volunteer Recruiting

  • Recruits volunteers who meet criteria depending upon the task, for example:
  • Experience in handling high-end artwork;
  • Sufficient physical stamina, including the ability to stand for long periods of time and to carry objects;
  • Has patience and tact during interactions with artists, curators, judges, and fellow workers.

 

Receiving and Returning (must be same person for both activities)

  • Reproduces JE Entry Form for 3rd Exhibitors Committee mailing.
  • Assembles instruction materials and notebooks.
  • Recruits photographers
  • Sets up receiving area
  • Instructs volunteers about Receiving and Returning procedures
  • Monitors receiving art including receivers, door monitors, runners and photographers
  • Monitors returning art including returners, jewelry guard, and check distributers
  • Settles disagreements with assistance of curators: usually about proper classification, damage, instability, and stands.

 

Judges

  • Prepares a list of about 6 judges per judging group and obtains input and agreement from curators and Museum Director.
  • Recruits the judges and obtains their biographies and head shots.
  • Arranges judges’ dinner. Recruits volunteers to assist at dinner.
  • Maintains contact with the judges and provides them with information.
  • Submits a list of jurors who are to receive honorariums to Guild Treasurer.
  • Updates Artist Database with judge and artist information.

 

Judging

  • Requires two people in charge who must have thorough knowledge of Standards and the Classifications & Divisions as well as knowledge of past problem areas and their resolution, judging process, and award definitions.
  • Prepares all forms in accordance with the procedures
  • Sets up judging area
  • Briefly welcomes the judges and give instructions
  • Monitors and reminds judges of time constraints, facilitates decisions, resolves conflicts.
  • Conducts balloting and selection process for Best of Show and other special awards.

Computer (Guild Technology Committee member)

  • Preprints ribbon backs and participates in ribbon assembly
  • Enters award winning information into computer
  • Proofreads entries and distribute reports to Museum, to Guild Treasurer, etc.
  • Prints tent cards and deliver them early Friday morning to curators.

TIME LINE

March to July

  • Reserve Steele Auditorium for next year’s event.
  • Develop list of judges, secure agreement with Museum and begin contacting.
  • Update Standards and update Classifications & Divisions
  • Review award and award amounts for any changes.
  • Update web pages.

August

  • Submit budget
  • First mailing to artists from Exhibitors Committee (Fair entry form): Paragraph summarizing JC changes.

September/October

  • Second mailing to artists from Exhibitors Committee (contract with artists): cover letter, classifications, standards, awards and special award definitions..
  • Confirm judges.
  • Recruit volunteers.
  • Order ribbons

December

  • Send judges’ names and biographies to the Museum Marketing.
  • Email draft schedule to volunteers and continue recruiting.

January.

  • Meet and review requirement (in writing) with Museum Security.
  • Third mailing to artists from Exhibitors Committee (booth assignments): JC Entry Form and JC Guidelines.

 

Two weeks prior to Judging (allows time for corrections)

  • Pick up and assemble ribbons

One week prior to Judging

  • Send list of judges to Treasurer to prepare honorarium checks.
  • Reserve two Fair tickets for each judge.
  • Arrange for water delivery for volunteers

Wednesday of Fair week

  • Set up Steele Auditorium according to Divisions and Classifications.
  • Set up tables for receiving and for artists to complete their entry forms.
  • Take delivery of water.

Thursday of Fair week

  • Conduct Receiving
  • Conduct Judging
  • Computer team checks list of winners for accuracy and provides awards information to Museum Marketing, JC Chair, Fair Chair; prints tent cards for Best of Show label; sends list of winners to the Treasurer for award checks; updates website with list of winners (but not what award was won).
  • After Fair, updates website with top award winners along with images. Posts the official Fair list of winners.

Friday of Fair week – Day after Juried Competition

  • Return non-ribbon winning art to the artists
  • Set up winning art for the Best of Show Reception (Curators) including substituting tent cards for JC Entry forms.
  • Return most of supplies to the Guild Room

Saturday of Fair week

  • Return all remaining art
  • Exchange artist completed W-9 for award check
  • Return remaining supplies to the Guild Room and throw away all debris.

April

  • Review and update the Guild website and the JC Notebook.
  • Submit a final report to the Fair Chair.

 

The Heard Museum Guild Board encourages innovation and process improvement, but new initiatives and/or different approaches, activities, or actions must be discussed with the Fair Chair.