portal :  doorway, entrance, opening, entry, gate, egress, opening, aperture, porte, exit, hatch, mirror, passage, threshold, cut, entrada, hole, scuttle, window, approach, camera, breach, mirror….

—oOOOo—

“In college I had a professor that thought the blues were a portal into the underworld. Not a hell kind of underworld. A cosmic, not quite inscrutable, universal underworld. An underworld imagined by an anthropologist with a mystical bent, which he was. And a kick-ass, straight ahead, blues guitar player. His blues were a stroll through the underworld here and now, showing, howling, and moaning about the pain and simple joy of living, preparing for what comes next. Admonishing listeners to pay attention, pay attention to simple things, stay healthy amongst the pathos and hypocrisy of wonderful falling man. He thought, like the helper beings peopling the underworld, whether Tibetan or Mexica, blues musicians help us move through the struggle with a growl or a giggle. One day in class, adopting an old blues character he had created, he said, “Sure enough, Robert Johnson went on down to the crossroads but he didn’t meet no devil, no sir, he jes walk right on through a magic door into a room plumb full of us.”….”  From “Talking the Blues” By Franklin Cincinnatus

—oOOOo—

JUROR | Crista Dix will be the juror for “portal”.  Ms. Dix is the Griffin Museum’s Executive Director. Before coming to the Griffin Museum she spent fifteen years creating and operating her own photography gallery, wall space creative, closing it in 2020. Having a career spanning many paths she has a background rooted in science, business and creative art. This well rounded experience provides a solid background for supporting the Griffin’s mission to encourage a broader understanding and appreciation of the visual, emotional and social impact of photographic art.

Her gallery, wall space, supported emerging and mid-career artists with exhibitions, talks, events and art fairs around the country. As an internationally known gallery, Crista worked with clients all over the world and represented national and international artists. In addition to wall space’s special event and exhibition schedule, it hosted a series of artist lectures, studio and community events.

Ms. Dix, wall space and the artists who were part of its success believed in giving back, creating a charitable giving program called Life Support. In ten years Life Support worked with over 400 artists, donating over $80,000 to charitable foundations Doctors Without Borders, Direct Relief and Habitat for Humanity.

Ms. Dix has written essays about photography, introducing creative artists work to a broader community. She has been a member of numerous panels and discussions, juried creative competitions and has participated in major portfolio reviews across the country in cities like Houston, Portland, Los Angeles, Chicago, Santa Fe and New Orleans.

—oOOOo—

SUBMISSION | Guidelines: Digital images should be up to 1800 pixels on the longest side saved in JPEG format at 72 ppi. Each image should be labeled with consecutive numbers followed by your name, i.e. 1FirstName_LastName.jpg. The number should correspond with the number on the application form.  Please do not watermark your images.  If you need help sizing your images, please follow this link https://convert.town/image-dpi

SUBMISSION | Online:  Fill out our online application to apply, send images, and make payment with Paypal. You will receive an email confirmation upon receiving the submission and payment. You can also fill and submit the online application, print out your confirmation email, and mail it with a check for your fees to the address below.  Please note that gallery emails often end up in spam folders.  Please check your spam if you did not receive a confirmation email.

SUBMISSION | Entry Fee: $40 for the first 5 images, $5 per each additional image.  There is no limit to the number of images you may submit. Submission fees are not refundable.

SUBMISSION | Entry Reviews:  Photographers submitting 13 or more images are entitled to receive a complimentary review by the gallery directors. Photographers that enter less than 13 images, can receive a review for an additional $20. All reviews will be 30 minutes and typically scheduled a week after the exhibition results are announced.

ELIGIBILITY | The competition is open to all photographers both professional and amateur working in all photographic mediums and styles. International entries are welcomed. Work that has been previously exhibited in an A Smith Gallery competition is not eligible.

ONLINE EXHIBITION AND CATALOGUE | Jurors will be selecting 55 images in total. All 55 images will be in an exhibition catalogue and also be included in the online exhibition gallery.  A complimentary copy of the exhibition catalogue will be mailed to each photographer included in the catalogue.  There is a postage fee of $15 for non US photographers eligible to receive the catalogue.  The gallery will be featuring each of the 55 images on both Facebook and Instagram over the span of the exhibition.

“THE 27” HARDBOUND EXHIBITION BOOK | 27 images from the total 55 images will be selected for “The 27”, a hardbound fine art book of the exhibition.  “The 27” will be available for purchase.

NOTIFICATIONS | All photographers who have submitted an entry will receive an email notification of the juror’s selection as well as confirmation of your entry being received.  Confirmation emails are sent directly from the gallery directors and may take a few hours to be sent.  Please note that gallery emails often end up in spam folders.  Please check your spam if you did not receive a confirmation email.  If concerned, please email amanda@asmithgallery.com.

AWARDS| The awards are as follows:

Jurors Award – an online solo exhibition, “The 27” exhibition book and feature story on the gallery blog
Directors Award – “The 27” exhibition book and a feature story on the gallery blog
Visitors Award (most Instagram likes) – $100

The solo exhibition awarded as the Juror’s Award will be scheduled at a mutually agreed time for the duration of a month.  An artist reception will be scheduled the last Saturday of the month during our FaceBook Live GalleryWalk(virtual).

SALES | The gallery has an online store and will include all images from the exhibition. The gallery will retain 40% of the sales price.  When a print sells, there are two options.  First, the artist may ship a signed print directly to the buyer.  Or the gallery will print the image for the artist.  Please see Printing Services for details.

USE RIGHTS | Photographers retain full rights to their own images. The gallery will use the photographer’s images for publicity purposes as well as on line gallery, online store, exhibition catalogue and “The 27” exhibition book.

FOR MORE INFORMATION | amanda@asmithgallery.com