We invite all New York State visual artists residing in the Southern Tier to apply to this prestigious, long running show!

2023 Southern Tier Biennial

Exhibition Dates: September 16 – November 4, 2023

Entry Deadline: June 17, 2023

Entry Fee $30

*The entry fee is non-refundable and helps defray the costs of organizing and exhibiting the Southern Tier Biennial.

Location: Peg Bothner Gallery at the Tri-County Arts Council, 110 West State Street, Olean NY 14760

Presented by the Tri-County Arts Council and the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation (CRCF) made possible by an endowment from the estate of F. Donald Kenney.

ELIGIBILITY

Open to all artists, 18 years of age or older, who are currently residing in New York State’s Southern Tier (the counties of Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Steuben, Schuyler, Tioga, and Tompkins). 

MEDIA

Artists may submit up to three works in any visual media (this includes everything from pottery to painting to video-if it is meant to be seen then it is welcome!) with the understanding that the Biennial’s exhibition venue and format may not be able to accommodate all work. 

All works must be original and completed within the past two years. Works previously submitted to the Southern Tier Biennial are not eligible.

Works will not be judged by media categories. 

Submitted works must be the actual pieces you will be showing, not samples of your work. 

Accepted works must be finished, dry, and ready to hang/install. 

AWARDS & STIPENDS

For the 2023 Southern Tier Biennial, we are pleased to be able to present each accepted artist with a $175 stipend to help allay costs associated with travel, shipping, and production. In addition, five cash awards totaling $5,250 will be presented: $3,000 to the Best of Show winner ($1,000 cash and $2000 stipend towards a solo show in 2024), a $750 Juror’s Choice Award, and $500 for three Honorable Mention winners..

The Best of Show winner will also be presented with a solo show in the Fall of 2024 in the Peg Bothner Gallery at the Tri-County Arts Council Gallery with a four-color catalog, and a $2,000 stipend for show expenses (materials, framing, displays, travel etc.). 

CATALOG

Among the project’s benefits to accepted artists is reproduction of their work in a color catalog. Accepted artists must provide a high resolution print-ready image. Organizers retain the right to photograph and reproduce works for purposes of documentation, publicity, and catalog publication. All entrants may receive a print or electronic catalog upon request.

2023 Jurors 

Andrea Alvarez, PhD is Associate Curator at the Buffalo AKG Art Museum (formerly the Albright- Knox Art Gallery) in Buffalo, NY, where she has worked since she joined as a Curatorial Fellow in 2017. In her time at the museum, her curatorial projects have included organizing Comunidades Visibles: The Materiality of Migration (2021) and The Swindle: Art Between Seeing and Believing (2018); and co-organizing the Buffalo AKG’s presentation of We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965–85 (2018).

    From 2014 to 2017, Alvarez was Director of Exhibitions at Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts, where she organized student, faculty, and alumni exhibitions, created interdisciplinary activities and programs, and taught Arts cross-disciplinary courses. She has previously held positions at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, and Fundación Guayasamín, in Quito, Ecuador.

   Alvarez earned her PhD from the Department of Art History at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2020, where she previously earned her Master’s degree. She received her bachelor’s degree in Art and Art History from the College of William and Mary. Alvarez’s curatorial focus is on contemporary art, with a particular interest in the work of Latinx and Latin American artists.

Judy Barie, is a fine artist and curator.  She splits her time between Pittsburgh PA and Chautauqua NY, where she has served for the past 16 years as the Director of the Chautauqua Visual Arts Galleries in Chautauqua Institution. Her contemporary abstract paintings have been shown in one person and group shows across the country, and reside in  corporate collections, personal homes and museums. After earning a BFA from West Virginia University, she spent a year-long printmaking residency at Atelier 17, now known as Atelier Contrepoint in Paris, France. 

    Barie applies her aesthetic vision to curate several exhibitions in the CVA Galleries each summer. The mission of the CVA Galleries is a commitment to introduce the audience to artwork that is inclusive, inventive, and created by professional and emerging artists. There is a  focus on building strong relationships and conversations with collectors, art enthusiasts, curators and those new to contemporary art, resulting in a universal support of artists both financially and professionally. CVA strives to be an incubator for some of the most talented working artists today, while encouraging others to discover their craft.  The galleries are a place to educate and inspire a growing audience on the importance of appreciating and living with art, while exploring an artist's vision and practice.

Tullis Johnson, Curator and Manager of Exhibitions and Collections at the Burchfield Penney Art Center, in Buffalo, New York, has organized more than 40 exhibitions of contemporary and historical art. Through his writing on Charles Burchfield, he is an emerging Burchfield Scholar. Respected for placing the work of Burchfield into a contemporary context, Johnson’s scholarship continues to break new ground in the understanding of the artist. His exhibition Blistering Vision: Charles E. Burchfield’s Sublime American Landscapes, examined Burchfield’s role as a link between the American naturalists of the 19th century and the environmental movement emerging in the second half of the 20th century. He co-curated, In the Fullness of Time, Painting in Buffalo, 1832-1972, an exhibition accompanied by a 240-page hardcover illustrated catalogue. He currently manages the curatorial staff at the Burchfield Penney. Johnson received his B.F.A. from the Visual Studies Department at the University at Buffalo earning the Eugene Gaier Award for Excellence in Printmaking.

About the Southern Tier Biennial
Founded in 2005 to make a measurable and positive difference for rural artists, the Southern Tier Biennial affords artists an opportunity to take part in the process of a professional art competition and be rewarded for those efforts. Past shows were tremendous successes, with hundreds of artists entering, creating exhibitions that showcased the vitality and diversity of visual art in the region. Each biennial is juried by new jurors and, therefore, the shows they create are different in tone and scope yet equally true to the definition of "a regional survey of visual art.” 
Accepted works are exhibited in the stunning Peg Bothner Gallery at the  Tri-County Arts Council in Olean, NYs. This project is produced by the Tri-County Arts Council (Formerly the Cattaraugus County Arts Council), the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation, and made possible by an endowment from the estate of F. Donald Kenney. 

CALENDAR

June 17, 2023: Deadline to apply 

July 14, 2023: Notification emailed. 

August 5, 2023: Accepted artists contracts due back. Stipend checks mailed upon receipt.

September 9, 2023: Deadline for delivery of accepted work.

September 16, 2023: First Day of Exhibit, Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony.

September 17, 2023: Notification of awards for those not attending the opening reception.

November 4, 2023: Final day of exhibition.

November 18, 2023: Deadline to pick up work and return shipping completed

For questions contact :

Sean Huntington, Exhibition Coordinator, Tri-County Arts Council. 

(716) 372–7455 or info@southerntierbiennial.com .
Find general information at www.southerntierbiennial.com and https://www.tricountyartscouncil.org

Application Requirements

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

All visual media accepted including video. Applicants may submit up to three works for consideration. 

*For those working in 3-D, you may submit a video of your object instead of a photo (we recommend this for those working in sculpture meant to be seen on all sides). We will ask for a 300 dpi hi resolution photo of the work for the catalog if you are accepted. 

All applications must be submitted by 11:59 PM, June 17th 2023

$30 Entry fee must be paid online through CAFE 

Notification of acceptance will be sent by July 14, 2023.

Here is a quick article of photographing your work for art competitions and exhibitions. https://artdeadline.com/articles/good-images/ 

Eligibility Criteria

This show is limited to visual artists, 18+ years old, residing in nine counties of New York State's Southern Tier (Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Steuben, Schuyler, Tioga, and Tompkins). 

*Artists from outside this region will be automatically disqualified. We are unable to provide application fee refunds at this time.