CHARLESTON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History (WVDACH) is announcing a call for entries for its 23rd biennial West Virginia Juried Exhibition. The show will be on display at the Culture Center in Charleston. Since 1979, the exhibition has celebrated the exceptional talents and creativity of Mountain State artists.
Submissions for the exhibit in the form of digital images on CD or USB flash drive are currently being accepted through Friday, Aug. 11. Artists may submit two pieces for the exhibition with a limit of three digital images per entry. Entry forms and properly identified images must be accompanied by a non-refundable fee of $20 per piece. Make check payable to West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture and History. Digital images can be mailed to WVDACH, West Virginia Juried Exhibition (WVJE) 2023, The Culture Center, 1900 Kanawha Blvd., E., Charleston, W.Va. 25305-0300, hand-delivered to the Culture Center at the State Capitol Complex, or emailed to Rachel Keeney, exhibits coordinator. Image file sizes must be small enough to be received through email, an entry form must be included, and entry fee will still need to be mailed to the department.
Eligible entries include works created in the past two years in the areas of painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, photography, digital art, mixed media and crafts.
Entrants must be over the age of 18 and must be residents of or maintain a permanent residence in West Virginia. Entrants also must complete a WVDACH Artists’ Register form and submit six slides or digital images representative of current work for the file at the department. The images submitted for the Artists’ Register are not used in jurying entries into the exhibition.
A prospectus for the exhibit is available online at https://wvculture.org/agencies/museums/.
The department will present up to $33,000 in awards for the exhibition. The awards are made available through the West Virginia Commission on the Arts and the WVDACH through funds appropriated by the West Virginia Legislature and the National Endowment for the Arts. Awards may include three $5,000 Governor’s Awards (purchase awards), seven $2,000 Awards of Excellence (purchase awards) and eight $500 Merit Awards (non-purchase awards). Works receiving Purchase Awards become part of the West Virginia State Museum’s permanent art collection.
The exhibit will open at the Culture Center with an awards ceremony and reception at 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023, and remain on display through Feb. 10, 2024. The exhibit showcases the work of state artists and craftspeople and provides the public with a comprehensive view of art and craft activities in the state.
For more information about submitting your entries or signing up for the artists’ register, contact Keeney at (304) 558-0220, ext. 128 or Rachel.M.Keeney@wv.gov.