The Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community (VMRC) in Harrisonburg, VA,  hosts an annual Juried Art Exhibition with a history dating back to 2004. The purpose of the Exhibition is to showcase working artists to enhance the lives of VMRC residents, staff, and visitors. The Exhibition is professionally installed in the Park Gables Gallery, located in the main building on the VMRC campus. Spacious and with plenty of natural light, the Gallery is similar to an enclosed mall.  It can accommodate approximately 100 works of art and is open to the public.

The Exhibition has three Divisions:

• Division 1: Drawing/Painting/Printmaking
• Division 2: Photography/Digital Artworks
• Division 3: 3-dimensional/Fabric/Assemblage/Other Media

The application fee of $40 covers the entry of up to three (3) works, regardless of Division.  Juror selections are based on mastery of design, technique, conceptual quality and creativity.  The number of works in each Division is not predetermined but will be decided by the jurors.  NOTE: Works generated by artificial intelligence will not be accepted in any Division.

The following cash awards will be made:

• Best In Show: $1,000
• Best In Division (3): $500
• Honorable Mention (6): $250
• Juror’s Choice (3): $250
• Popular Choice (3): $250
• Park Gables Gallery Grant (1): $1,500.  Funding to support further study. Accepted artists, regardless of Division, will be eligible to apply for this grant to assist in continuing their creative journey.  A recipient of the award in the previous year is not eligible.
• NEW: Anne Pauley Award: $750.  Honoring our Director Emeritus, who is now enjoying retirement after steering the ship from 2007 to 2021.  Only artists who are exhibiting in this Exhibition for the first time are eligible for this award.

Sale of exhibited work is encouraged and no commission is charged. Sales in the recent past have averaged about 30 percent per year and reached over 40 percent in 2023. 

The jurors for the 2024 Exhibition are:

Gina Pierleoni uses portraiture to spark conversations about empathy and our common humanity.  Her mixed media images push past label and judgements in an attempt to ‘de-separate’ us.  Pierleoni earned her MFA from Maryland Institute College of Art. In addition to being an exhibiting artist, she is a professor at Stevenson University. 

Awards include three Individual Artist’s Awards from Maryland State Arts Council; an Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation emergency artist’s grant; an Individual Artist’s Grant from The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts; an Artists’ Fellowship, Inc. grant, and a CityArts Individual Artist’s Grant.  Public collections include Golden Artist Colors.  The Baltimore Sun described her paintings as “gloriously human…there's nothing between them and you to keep them from meeting you head-on. It's hard to get too much of an artist who can convey a sense of self-acceptance and strength even in the knowledge of weakness and fallibility.” 

www.ginapierleoni.com

Stacey Evans has over 25 years of experience as an artist, educator, and professional photographer.  Her art practice focuses on the intersection of the built environment and nature through topographic photography from moving vehicles.  She previously taught workshops on digital photography through the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Piedmont Virginia Community College and now privately.  After graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography, Stacey obtained a job at the Augusta Chronicle Newspaper as a photo lab technician.  She is currently the Imaging Specialist and Project Coordinator in the University of Virginia Library Digital Production Group.  Her work is published, exhibited, and collected nationally. 

www.staceyevansphotography.com

Josh Manning is a studio potter and educator working out of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. He currently teaches at Hollins University where he is Director of the Ceramics Post Baccalaureate program. His work is featured in both public and private collections as well as being published in Ceramics Monthly, Pottery Making Illustrated, and featured in many topical resource books on ceramics. The work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally via traveling exhibitions, juried shows, and invitationals.

Manning works within the continuum that is functional ceramics and its historical precedents.  Formal decisions and discoveries within his work, as well as aesthetical choices, have developed over many years of dedicated studio practice. The work has evolved in many parallel paths - some more dominant than others at times; routed in process/material, food/culture, function/utility, and always with the aim of thoughtful design.

Instagram - @parlourpottery                           www.parlourpottery.com

A schedule of relevant dates is as follows:

• Submission deadline:  Wednesday, March 13, 2024
• Artists notified of jurying results:  Saturday, March 30
• Deadline for shipped works:  Tuesday, May 21
• Hand-delivered works accepted:  Thursday, May 23
• Exhibition installed:  Friday, May 24
• Exhibition opens to the public:   Sunday, May 26
• Reception & awards ceremony:  Sunday, June 2
• Exhibition closes:   Friday, June 28
• Artists/buyers pick up artwork:   Saturday, June 29
• Shipped artwork returned:  by Tuesday, July 9

Application Requirements

Requirements

• One application per artist. Up to three (3) works may be entered per application, regardless of which Division each work is entered in.
• Submit one photo for each  work.
• Two-dimensional works must be suitably prepared for hanging and no larger than 72" by 90", including frame.
• Three-dimensional works to be displayed on pedestals must be no larger than 84" by 30" by 40"; smaller 3-D works to be displayed on a wall must be suitably prepared for hanging.
• Works weighing more than 50 pounds require advance approval for submission; contact the Director for further instructions.
• Delivery and pickup/return of selected artwork are the responsibility of the artist. There is no surcharge for receiving and return of accepted works.
• No nudity.  All entries must be family-friendly.
• No jewelry for security reasons; no installation art, video or audio enhancements because of gallery limitations.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility

• Open to all artists residing in the United States.
• Submitted works must be original and created after January 1, 2022
• Works created through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) are not eligible.
• Works must not have been previously displayed in the VMRC Juried Art Exhibition.