The Juried Visual Art Exhibition showcases exceptional new art by regional artists and is one of the pillars for the Festival’s high-quality visual arts offerings. The exhibition will take place in SPACE Gallery 812 Liberty Avenue in the Cultural District during the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, June 3 – 12, 2023 and extend through July 31, 2023.  The theme for this year's exhibition is Taking Up Space.  

(See below for more details)

The Juried Visual Art Exhibition welcomes thousands of visitors over the course of ten days and SPACE gallery sees hundreds of visitors weekly. Often reviewed by esteemed art critics, artworks may be featured in Festival press coverage, as well as purchased by attendees for personal and corporate collections. Select JVAE Artists have also been recruited to exhibit in solo and group shows as part of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s gallery system as well as other gallery opportunities citywide. All accepted artists will be invited to the private preview of the exhibition on June 2, 2023. Admission to the exhibition is free and open to the public. Please review eligibility, rules, and procedures before applying.

THEME

Taking up space means embodying the ability and perception that I can show up in whatever way I choose–verbally, physically, emotionally.

Kennedy Yanko

Taking up space is both a physical and psychological action. It can also be emotional, and relational. This exhibition considers the idea of taking up space and aims to highlight the ways in which artists choose to take up space within their own individual practices. This could include the use of scale as a means to take up space in the literal sense, to create works that are challenging, political in nature, or rooted in advocacy and social justice, or works that are identity-based. We ask artists to reckon with the difficulties with taking up space - the ways in which we are made to feel unworthy or undeserving and reflect on how artmaking can function as something that challenges that very notion, while considering their own practices in the context of taking up space. 

The Awards

Best in Show – $2500 (as selected by all three jurors)

Juror's Choice – $500 (4 total awards - 1 from each juror)

Special Anonymous Award - $500 

People’s Choice – $500 (as voted on by the general public)

ARTWORK ELIGIBILITY

Artists are invited to submit up to 3 applications for jury. Each application should be for 1 piece of art. Artists may submit up to 3 images of the work including wide angle and detail shots. All applications must meet the following requirements:

Artists must reside within 150 miles of 812 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

All work must be original, designed and created by the applicant(s).

All work must have some relation to the exhibition theme, “Taking Up Space”, described above.

All work must not have been previously exhibited in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

All work must have been completed within the past 2 years from the exhibition date of June 2022.

Video and sound components must be intended for display in a gallery setting. Documented performances (such as concerts, recitals, music performance, etc.) are ineligible. The video or sound art piece must be the original work of art.

All work must be ready to hang, exhibit or be installed during the scheduled hours of operations as determined by the Festival. Installation-based works must be installed by the artist, and should take no longer than two 8-hour work days to install.

All work must be available for display for the full duration of the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, June 3 - 12, 2022.
 

EXHIBITION REQUIREMENTS

The Juried Visual Art Exhibition will be displayed at SPACE Gallery 812 Liberty Avenue in the Cultural District during each day of the Festival, June 3 – 12, 2023 and will extend through July 31, 2023. The Exhibition will also be included in the Trust's Gallery Crawl on July, 29, 2023.

Artists will receive notification of application status in March. Selected artists must sign and return the JVAE exhibition agreement by April 20, 2023.

All accepted artwork must be delivered in person and picked up at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s gallery at 805/807 Liberty Avenue during the schedule outlined in the acceptance letter.

Shipments of artwork cannot be received directly by the Festival. Arrangements must be made by the artist to deliver the work to the gallery per the acceptance letter requirements and exhibition agreement.

Works that are selected for exhibition may be offered for sale at the artist’s discretion. The Festival receives a 20% commission on all sales to support the exhibition.

The exhibition will be staged at the discretion of the Festival. The Festival reserves the right to refuse any work that differs from the work sample submitted as well as any inappropriate work or display.

CANCELLATIONS

If your work is selected, a signed application, as well as agreement, is a commitment to show the selected piece(s) in the exhibition. Cancellations are discouraged. Notification must be received in writing to the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, 803 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222 before March 31, 2022. Works selected for display may not be removed until the Exhibition's conclusion. Failure to comply with the cancellation policy may result in denial from future Trust festivals.

2023 Jurors

Jillian Daniels 

Jillian Daniels is a mixed-media artist, curator, and designer specializing in communication design. She holds a BS and BA from University at Buffalo and is a McNair Fellow whose research is grounded in historical narratives and design theory to better understand social, political, built, and cultural environments through visual and graphic storytelling. She currently serves as the Deputy Director of Operations at Silver Eye Center for Photography. 

Lexi Bishop 

Lexi Bishop is the director and founder of here Gallery in Pittsburgh, PA. Prior to opening here, Lexi was Associate Director of Nino Mier Gallery, Los Angeles. From 2014 to 2019, she worked in the Post-War & Contemporary Art department of Christie’s Auction House, New York as a specialist. Before joining Christie’s in 2014, she worked for Kim Heirston Art Advisory and at the Brant Foundation Art Study Center in Greenwich, CT.Lexi received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History and Russian Language from Bryn Mawr College, and a Master’s degree in The History of Art and The Art Market: Modern & Contemporary Art from Christie’s Education. She has also successfully completed training in the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice facilitated by a certified AQB instructor from the Appraisers Association of America. Lexi is on the board of the Silver Eye Center for Photography. 

Kemuel Benyehudah

Kemuel is an interdisciplinary culture worker whose work moves across a number of disciplines. His interests intersect the arts industry, contemporary social issues, and visual activism. He is a Visiting Scholar and Research Associate at the Rutgers Center for Minority Serving Institutions, and a doctoral candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has work in progress at the Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, Higher Education Policy & Leadership Studies, and Routledge. He has contributed to the ArtBlog, and currently works with the Mattress Factory on their community engagement efforts. 

Steve Alexis
Steve Alexis is PGH based artist, curator, and educator. He is currently a student in the MFA program at the CMU School of Art. He is driven to make things by an obsession with materials. Exploration and continuous experimentation are conduits for his practice, and he creates objects to convey emotion, emphasize the process of making, and to portray a sense of the instinctual nature of his work. These objects serve as physical embodiments of sentiment.

Application Requirements

EXHIBITION REQUIREMENTS

The Juried Visual Art Exhibition will be displayed at SPACE Gallery 812 Liberty Avenue in the Cultural District during each day of the Festival, June 3 – 12, 2023 and will extend through July 31, 2023. The Exhibition will also be included in the Trust's Gallery Crawl on July, 29, 2023. 

Artists will receive notification of application status in March. Selected artists must sign and return the JVAE exhibition agreement by April 20, 2023.

All accepted artwork must be delivered in person and picked up at the SPACE Gallery 812 Liberty Avenue during the schedule outlined in the acceptance letter.

Shipments of artwork cannot be received directly by the Gallery. Arrangements must be made by the artist to deliver the work to the gallery per the acceptance letter requirements and exhibition agreement.

Works that are selected for exhibition may be offered for sale at the artist’s discretion. The Trust receives a 20% commission on all sales to support the exhibition.

The exhibition will be staged at the discretion of the JVAE Coordinator, an independent contractor temporarily employed by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The Trust reserves the right to refuse any work that differs from the work sample submitted as well as any inappropriate work or display.

Eligibility Criteria

ARTWORK ELIGIBILITY

 Artists are invited to submit up to 3 applications for jury. Each application should be for 1 piece of art. Artists may submit up to 3 images of the work including wide angle and detail shots. All applications must meet the following requirements:

Artists must reside within 150 miles of 812 Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.

All work must be original, designed and created by the applicant(s).

All work must have some relation to the exhibition theme, “____chian”, described above.

All work must not have been previously exhibited in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

All work must have been completed within the past 2 years from the exhibition date of June 2022.

Video and sound components must be intended for display in a gallery setting. Documented performances (such as concerts, recitals, music performance, etc.) are ineligible. The video or sound art piece must be the original work of art.

All work must be ready to hang, exhibit or be installed during the scheduled hours of operations as determined by the Festival. Installation-based works must be installed by the artist, and should take no longer than two 8-hour work days to install.

All work must be available for display for the full duration of the Dollar Bank Three Rivers Arts Festival, June 3 - 12, 2022.