CALENDAR OF EVENTS

05-25-20 Call for entry opens
07-06-20 Deadline for entry (11:59 p.m. MST)
07-27-20 Exhibiting artists announced and emails sent to all entrants
09-11-20 Work due in Abilene, Texas
09-17-20 Show opens at Bill and Alice Wright Photo Gallery, The Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX
11-12-20 Artist reception and juror talk; coincides with ArtWalk in Downtown Abilene
11-14-20 Show closes

AWARDS

First Place = $500
Second Place = $300
Third Place = $200
Up to 5 Honorable Mentions may be awarded

ENTRY FEE

The entry fee for current members of TPS is $30 for 5 images, plus $6 for each additional image. You may enter up to 12 images. You must be a current member of TPS to participate and may join or renew at the time of entry. All entry and membership fees are non-refundable.

ELIGIBILITY

The 33rd Annual Members' Only Show is open to artists at least 18 years old, of all levels internationally. All photographic based work is encouraged including digital, silver and alternative processes.

You MUST be a current member of TPS to enter this competition (read more about TPS member benefits). If you are not a current member, you may join or renew and enter this show at the same time. Works exhibited previously in a TPS show are not eligible. Current members of the TPS Board of Directors are permitted to enter but are not eligible for awards.

IMAGE REQUIREMENTS

Please submit digital JPG files only, minimum of 1200 pixels on the longest side and 5 MB maximum. Please remove watermarks from images. For each image you will need to provide the image title and the process (medium) used to make the image/print (Archival Digital Print, Silver Gelatin Print, Platinum/Palladium Print, Wet Plate Collodian, etc.) To clarify, you will submit a digital file of your image for the contest application; if your work is selected for the show you will print your image and frame it.

Need help resizing images? You can resize via a Mac or PC computer, or use a number of third-party applications, many of which offer free trials or solutions. Please go here for suggestions.

ABOUT THE JUROR

Bill Wright, fine art photographer and author

For thirty-five years, Bill Wright was a petroleum marketer who founded and led Western Marketing, Inc. as its CEO in Abilene, Texas. Active in the local community, Mr. Wright was voted Abilene's Outstanding Citizen in 1986 by the Abilene Chamber of Commerce and later, Outstanding West Texan by the Texas Chamber of Commerce. In 1989, Mr. Wright sold Western Marketing to his employees and directed his interests to photography and writing.

Mr. Wright's photographs have been displayed in numerous solo and group photo exhibitions in galleries and museums globally. His images also reside in many public and private collections including the British Library in London, the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C., the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at The University of Texas at Austin, Norman Rockwell Museum in Corning, New York, Princeton Collections of Western Americana in Princeton, New Jersey, the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Ft. Worth, Texas, the Southwest Writer’s Collection at San Marcos, Texas, The Museum of New Mexico at Santa Fe and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.

In the publishing arena, Mr. Wright organized Historic Texas and Contemporary Texas, two books of photographs published by The Texas Monthly Press, and The Union Guide to Texas Photographic Collections, published by the Texas A&M University Press. In addition, he has written and photographed ten books. Two of these, The Tigua: Pueblo Indians of Texas, winner of the Border Book Award, and The Kickapoo: Keepers of Tradition, are a series on Texas Indian tribes, published by the Texas Western Press of the University of Texas at El Paso. Portraits from the Desert: Bill Wright’s Big Bend, released by the University of Texas Press in Austin in February of 1998, is a collection of photographs and essays on the Big Bend of Texas. Mr. Wright is a 2020 inductee of the Texas Institute of Letters.

Mr. Wright has served on a number of boards and commissions, including The University of Texas at Austin Advisory Board of the College of Natural Sciences, the Board of Visitors for The University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory, the Harry Ransom Center Council, The University of Texas Press Advisory Council, the Texas Commission on the Arts and the Advisory Council of the Texas Photographic Society. Named to the National Council for the Humanities by President Reagan, Mr. Wright served as a board member of the National Trust for the Humanities in Washington, D.C.

For more information, please visit Bill Wright's website.

JUROR'S STATEMENT

It is an honor to be asked to judge the TPS 33rd Annual Members' Only Show. This exhibition has emerged as one of the most reflective presentations of currently practiced photographic vision, presenting not only established and professional work from the members of Texas Photographic Society, but also that of member photographers who are challenging the established norms of exhibition and visualization of art. Recognizing this wide variety, I expect to be generous in my evaluation and select work that represents, in my opinion, the best of photographic endeavor from the traditional to the conceptual.

Let the entries begin - I am excited about seeing the work!

— Bill Wright

IF YOUR WORK IS ACCEPTED

1. Artwork must be ready-to-hang using wire stretched between D-rings on the back. The finished piece must not exceed 40" in the longest dimension (including the frame). Sawtooth hangers are NOT permitted. If applicable, please use white mats and white or black frames that are gallery quality and complement your work (color mats are NOT acceptable). NO glass please; plexiglass only. Clearly label the back of your work with your full name, address, telephone number, email address, image title, medium, dimensions and sales price or NFS. TPS reserves the right to exclude works from the exhibition that are not gallery-ready and professional in presentation.

2. A prepaid return UPS or FedEX shipping label MUST be provided with your work for prints to be returned to you when the exhibition concludes. Work WITHOUT return shipping will NOT be included in the exhibition and will NOT be returned. Please keep a copy of the prepaid return shipping label and your receipt. Packing “peanuts" are NOT permitted. Please ship prints in a flat box (do not use moving boxes) as our storage space is limited. Prints will be return-shipped in the container in which they were received.

3. Framed prints with prepaid return shipping label must arrive at The Center for Contemporary Arts, 220 Cypress, Abilene, TX 79601, no later than September 11, 2020.

4. TPS and The Center for Contemporary Arts (The Center) will exercise all due care in handling your artwork. However, TPS is not liable for loss, theft, damage or replacement of artwork, nor is TPS liable for damage during shipping. The Center does not insure artists' work. Please consider insuring your work.

Our friends at Frame Destination in Dallas, Texas, have prepared a special archival gallery frame kit for TPS artists that meets standard matting, framing and presentation requirements. The frame kit can be customized to meet various print sizes. TPS Members receive an additional 10% discount (contact Frame Destination customer service to join the TPS club customer group). This affordably priced package can be purchased online here.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria