Art Through the Lens is open to all without restrictions on content. It provides photographers with an outlet for their art, encouragement for growth in their vision and presentation and cash rewards for works of exceptional merit.  Each year from the works submitted, 50-70 images are selected for exhibition by a highly qualified juror. $2000 in Cash Awards will be given to works of high merit. An awards presentation will be held during the opening reception.

Yeiser Art Center is a non-profit visual arts organization celebrating sixty years of serving the community with exhibitions and education throughout the Tri-State Region. It is situated near Paducah’s riverfront at 200 Broadway in the historic 1905 Market House building.

HISTORY
Originating in 1975 as the Paducah Summer Festival Photo Competition, Paducah Photo has grown from a fledgling contest into an international juried exhibition. Over the past 40 years, this exhibition has become one of the Mid-South’s most prestigious annual photographic events.

In 2013, Paducah was bestowed the honor of being designated a member of the United Nations Educational, Scientific & Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Creative Cities Network in the area of Crafts & Folk Art. To embrace both this international honor and reflect the international growth of the exhibition, Paducah Photo has taken on a new name, Art Through the Lens.

2017 JUROR Eliot Dudik is a photographic artist, educator, and bookmaker exploring the connection between culture, history, and politics. In 2012, Dudik was named one of PDN’s 30 New and Emerging Photographers to Watch and one of Oxford American Magazine’s 100 New Superstars of Southern Art. He was awarded the PhotoNOLA Review Prize in 2014 for his Broken Land and Still Lives portfolio, resulting in a book publication and solo exhibition. Broken Land was most recently published as a feature in the July/August 2015 issue of Smithsonian Magazine. Eliot taught photography at the University of South Carolina from 2011 to 2014 before founding the photography program within the Department of Art and Art History at the College of William & Mary where he is currently teaching and directing the Andrews Gallery at the college.

SPECIFICATIONS

Artists may submit unlimited entries, including video and moving images.  All photo-based imagery created through photographic processes is eligible including non-lens made images. All work submitted must be original, completed in the last three years and not previously exhibited in an Art Through the Lense (formerly Paducah Photo) exhibition. Size restrictions: No single work may be more than 6 feet in width and 8 feet in height.

ENTERING
Entries are now submitted solely online through CaFE, a call for entry hosting site. This is an international juried exhibition; works will be selected to exhibit by a juror. If one or more of your works should be accepted into the show, you will receive subsequent instructions on final presentation. Unlimited entries are permitted. A nonrefundable entry fee of $15 is required for each photographic artwork submitted for consideration. Entries submitted via email or mail to the Yeiser Art Center will not be accepted.

Additionally, applicants which live within a 100 mile radius of Paducah, Kentucky will automatically be entered into a second jury round for a Regional Showcase component to the show. The Regional Showcase will take place on the same dates as the International Show at our community partner US Bank, located at 333 Broadway St, Paducah, Kentucky 42001. Those entries will be juried by a second regional juror, TBA.

Exhibition dates: October 14 – November 25, 2017.


NOTIFICATIONS & ACCEPTED ENTRIES

All entries selected for exhibition will be notified by September 8, 2017. Work must arrive at the Yeiser Art Center no later than October 6, 2017, 5pm.

AWARDS

$2,000 in cash awards will be given in the following amounts:

First Place $1,000

Second Place $500

Third Place $300

2 Honorable Mentions, $100 each
 

SALES

Sales will be encouraged where works are offered for purchase, but work need not be for sale to enter. Yeiser Art Center will keep a 40% gallery commission on all sales, please price your work accordingly. Work will be insured for the duration of the exhibition for the value of the work, or 60% of the retail price. Artists are responsible for insuring their work during transit to and from the Yeiser Art Center.


REGIONAL EXHIBITION

Art Through the Lens includes a second venue that will feature photography by regional photographers catagorized as living in a 100 mile radius of Paducah. The Art Through the Lens, Regional Showcase exhibition will be held at our community partner US Bank Lobby, located at 333 Broadway St during the Art Through the Lens exhibition. Accepted Regional Showcase entries will be notified September 15, 2017.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria