The Tarleton State University Department of Fine Arts is thrilled to announce the return of the 23rd annual Rio Brazos Juried Art Exhibition.  This year’s exhibition be juried by Diane Durant, artist, educator, and writer. Open to all variety of media, this exhibition aims to curate a selection of exemplary contemporary work from artists around the country. All proceeds from the exhibition will go to scholarships for the Art and Digital Media Studies program at Tarleton State University.

The exhibition will open on April 9, 2021 at the Dora Lee Langdon Cultural & Educational Center in Granbury, Texas and runs daily through May 2. The exhibition is sponsored by Tarleton State University, the City of Granbury and numerous local and regional businesses. Over $3,000 in artist awards are anticipated. 

CALENDER OF EVENTS

1-31-21 Call for entry opens
3-9-21 Deadline to receive entries (11:59p.m. CST)
3-12-21 Notification of acceptance through email
3-27-21 Artwork mail deliver deadline
3-27-21 Artwork hand-deliver date
4-9-21 Show opens at Langdon Center in Granbury
5-2-21 Show closes
Any questions, please contact Chris Ireland, Rio Brazos Exhibition coordinator, ireland@tarleton.edu 

AWARDS

The juror will select up to 50 images for the exhibition. Of those works selected, they will be eligible for the following awards:

 The David and Claudia Southern Award for Best in Show = $1000Up to 3 Juror’s Selection Awards of $500 = $300
Up to 5 Honorable Mention awards of $100 each

ABOUT THE JUROR 

Diane Durant works with image, text, and found objects to tell true stories, from paddling rivers and road trips to all the everyday stops in between. She is a graduate of Baylor University (BFA '01), Dallas Theological Seminary (MA/BC '04), and the University of Texas at Dallas (MA '07, PhD '13) where she currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Instruction and Director of the Marilyn & Jerry Comer Collection of Photography. She serves on the university's Committee for the Support of Diversity and Equity as well as the Social Justice Council for the WNBA's Dallas Wings organization. Diane is a member of both the Board of Directors for the Cedars Union, a non-profit arts incubator in North Texas, and the Society for Photographic Education’s LGBTQ Caucus Leadership Team. Her photographs have been exhibited nationally and internationally, and belong to the permanent collection of the National Park Service. Her creative writing has appeared in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, RiverSedge, di-verse-city, the Texas Poetry Calendar, Stymie, and The Spectacle. She is the former president of 500X Gallery in Dallas and past editor of The Grassburr, The Rope, Sojourn, and Reunion: The Dallas Review. In 2018, Diane was named as one of four inaugural Carter Community Artists with the Amon Carter Museum of American Art in Fort Worth. Her first monograph, Stories, 1986–88, was released by Daylight Books in April. 

HOW TO ENTER

You may enter through our Call for Entry (CAFÉ) page.  The entry fee for this year’s exhibition is $40 for 3 images.  You may submit additional pieces for 5 dollars each. The exhibition is open to all artists 18 years of age or older. Artists of all mediums and genres are encouraged to apply, although we require that the work has been made in the last 3 years and has not been featured at previous Rio Brazos exhibitions. 

SALES

All work entered must be available for sale. A 25% commission is collected upon sale.

Proceeds from the commissions will go directly to student scholarships. The Dora Lee Langdon Center will conduct all sales during the exhibition. Price, not including tax, must be listed on entry.

ACCEPTED DELIVERY/RETURN OF ARTWORK

•  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. Please keep a copy of the prepaid return shipping label and your receipt.  Prints will be return-shipped in the container in which they were received. We will exercise all due care in handling your artwork but will not be liable for loss, theft, damage or replacement of artwork, nor liable for damage during shipping. Please consider insuring your work.

•  Please ship work with prepaid return shipping label to Dora Lee Langdon Center
c/o Rio Brazos Exhibition, 308 East Pearl St Granbury, TX 76048 Shipments must arrive in Granbury before March 27th. No packing peanuts please!

•  You may drop off your work in person on Saturday March 27th.  The gallery will be open from 10 am to 4pm.  If you would like to make arrangements, please contact the Exhibition Coordinator, Chris Ireland, at ireland@tarleton.edu.

ABOUT THE LOCATION AND SPONSORS
The Dora Lee Langdon Cultural and Educational Center is nestled one block off Granbury’s historic square in the Brazos River Valley and serves as a focal point for the fine arts in the Lake Granbury area. The Langdon Center serves as the cultural and educational hub of the downtown area in cooperation with the City of Granbury and Tarleton State University.

Part of the A&M System since 1917, Tarleton State University offers affordable undergraduate and graduate degrees from locations in Stephenville, Fort Worth, Waco, Midlothian and online. The main campus of Tarleton is located 31 miles southwest of Granbury in Stephenville. Founded in 1899 as a private, liberal arts college, Tarleton is now one of the state’s fastest growing institutions with an enrollment exceeding 15,000 and serves as the educational and cultural flagship of the Cross Timbers region.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria