Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Art Quilts XIV: Significant Stitching Call Is Here

The call for Art Quilts XIV: Signigicant Stitching at the Chandler Center for the Arts has been going out, but here it is in an easy-to-find spot -- my blog!

Remember, there is no form to fill out. Just follow the entry guidelines to provide requested information and images. Odd as it seems, when there was a form, people made up their own anyway. Yes, it's true.

-- Diane



ART QUILTS XIV: SIGNIFICANT STITCHING
Chandler Center for the Arts
Chandler, AZ
November 20, 2009, through January 2, 2010

Entry Deadline: September 25, 2009

Art Quilts XIV: Significant Stitching will create a retrospective of today’s art-quilting world with all of its diversity. This year’s theme encourages you to explore what makes your work significant. Is it the statement your piece makes? Is it quilting lines made meaningful by placement? Surface design which speaks to the soul? Amazing quilting or appliqué? Submit your most significant work to this annual exhibition of contemporary artworks, once again expected to offer one of the finest collections of art quilts on display in the Southwest.

Art Quilts has grown from a local and regional quilt show to a respected vehicle for contemporary works. The exhibition draws entries from around the world and allows thousands of visitors each year to experience quilting as an art form.

The exhibition is produced and juried by Diane Howell and is presented by the Chandler Center for the Arts. It is overseen and installed by the City of Chandler's visual arts staff, housed at Vision Gallery in downtown Chandler.

ELIGIBILITY
Quilt artists who want to share their art with a broad-based arts audience are invited to enter. Two or more people may have worked on the pieces. The works must not have been previously displayed at the Chandler Center for the Arts or other downtown Chandler venue. Works should have been completed within the last three years. Wearable art and works less than 10" wide will not be accepted.

JURY FEE
There is a non-refundable fee of $25 to enter up to 3 works. No entries will be considered without payment of this fee. Make checks payable to Diane Howell or remit through PayPal to sdihowell@cox.net. Accepted images will be retained for the archives and possible catalog production; slides and CDs will be returned if accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope with correct postage.

SHIPPING/DELIVERY
All delivery and shipping costs are the responsibility of the artist. To ensure your shipping and insurance needs are met when we ship your quilt(s) back to you, we ask you to include a FILLED OUT return-shipping form with pieces sent to Arizona for installation. This does not mean you must pay for shipping in advance. We are requesting you include a form with your shipping account number on it (this is NOT your credit card) so we can efficiently process shipping at the end of the show. A filled-out label saves us LOTS of time.

If you are new to shipping, the easiest way to do this is to go online and open a free account with FedEx. Postage stamps will NOT be accepted as payment for shipping. More detailed shipping info will be included in communication to accepted artists. Please remember we cannot predict what shipping –company franchisees across the country will state as “rules” for return shipping, but we are always able to find a solution to return shipping. In the Phoenix area alone, I have had different franchisees a mere six miles apart quote me different “rules.” I also cannot predict what price I will be charged to ship to you; often the return price is different from the send price, even from the U.S. Post Office.

The bottom line is: Do not prepay outrageously high fees to get a return label. That is not the goal here. If someone tries to charge you several times what you are paying to ship to me, that’s not right and we’ll find another way to get your quilt back to you.

INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING
The above rules are for U.S. artists. While shipping costs remain the responsibility of the artist, accepted international entries are handled on an individual basis to assure an efficient and cost-effective delivery system.

INSURANCE
Works are insured while on display at the Chandler Center for the Arts, but not before or after.

ENTRY RULES
For each $25 fee, you may submit up to 3 works on slides, a CD or via email. There is NO form, but entries MUST be accompanied by the following information:

1. Your name, email address (typed along with your other contact info), physical mailing address and day and evening phone numbers.

2. For each submitted work, include a full and detail view. You may submit images on 35mm slides or as digital jpeg images. Digital images should have a minimum 300 dpi resolution for an approximate picture size of 3 x 4 inches. The digital images can be either on a CD or submitted via email to sdihowell@cox.net. With each image, the name of the artist(s) and title of the quilt must be included. Please title digital files so that this guideline is followed, even if in an abbreviated manner. Example: leaf1dethowell.jpg would indicate “Leaf 1” detail view by Diane Howell. In the case of slides, write artist name and title, and indicate TOP on the slide frame.

3. A separate list or document file describing the images needs to provided, to include: artist(s) name(s), quilt title(s), dimensions (width x height), types of fabrics/materials used and a short statement about the piece(s).

4. Statement declaring whether or not photos may be taken to promote current and future shows, including on the Web and in a possible catalog. One image will be chosen for use on a promotional postcard. In addition, this year a CD catalog MAY be produced. If accepted, and you give permission to use your images, you also give full permission to use image(s) of your work(s) and your artist’s statement(s) in this publication without payment or royalties. During the exhibition, the Chandler Center for the Arts limits photography to the show organizer, media and artists taking photos of their own work(s).

5. Statement declaring insurance value(s) and, if you want to sell your work(s), sale price(s). A 40 percent gallery commission will be charged on all sales, so remember to state sale prices that include that percentage.

DEADLINES
Entries (not the quilts) are due by midnight, Friday, Sept. 25, 2009, either by email at sdihowell@cox.net or by delivery to Diane Howell (address provided upon request). A list of accepted artists will be posted on sweeteasyfeeling.blogspot.com by Monday, Oct. 5, 2009. Email correspondence to accepted artists will follow.

Completed quilts accepted into the exhibition must be delivered by Friday, Nov. 6, 2009. The delivery address will be given to accepted artists. For ease of installation, quilts must have top and bottom sleeves appropriate to their sizes. These sleeves should be at least large enough for 2-inch slats. If your piece has a hanging system other than a sleeve, please contact Diane Howell prior to entering to ensure it will be compatible with the gallery’s hanging requirements.
Quilts from local artists MUST be picked up at the Chandler Center for the Arts, 250 N. Arizona Ave., Chandler, AZ, on the day the show is taken down. Accepted artists will be notified of take-down date. Nonlocal works will be shipped; see Shipping/Delivery subhead for details.

GALLERY HOURS
Gallery hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday and Saturday, noon-4 p.m. In addition, Chandler Center for the Arts patrons enjoy the works before shows and during intermissions. Call 480.917.6859 for holiday hours.

QUESTIONS?
Contact Diane Howell at sdihowell@cox.net

Sunday, December 14, 2008





This weekend judge Jerry Jacobson and I viewed Art Quilts XIII: Lucky Break so he could select the winners in the judged portion of the show. Jerry is an abstract artist who has long been a fan of the AQ exhibitions, and who enjoys viewing the best the show has to offer. His definition of the best? When the quilting techniques add to wonderful composition and skill.

It is only logical then that he bestowed first place on Sedona III by Marilyn Gillis of Vermont. This marvelous piece displays an expert's control of dyeing techniques in a wholecloth work heightened by quilting and beadwork. It is neither overworked or understated. It is by any definition, just right.

Second place was captured by Linda Colsh of Belgium for Drawing on the Mist (also selected for the promotional postcard).

Third place was awarded to Terri Nichols of Wisconson for Mask of Self, her first entry into a national show.

Congratulations all around!

Thursday, November 20, 2008





Here are the first four photographs from opening night at the Art Quilts XIII: Lucky Break exhibition in Chandler, Arizona. We created lots of physical "breaks" with the movable wall units this year, giving the viewers a variety of groupings to explore and inviting them to find what lies around the corner. The quilts installed on the flip side of these walls and on the perimeter walls will be available for viewing later.
I've lost track of how to insert captions! The lovely lady by the blue quilt is Benedicte Caneill who came all the way from Larchmont, N.Y. to be with us for opening night.

Friday, November 7, 2008

The Colsh Connection


Art Quilts XIII: Lucky Break chose this great work by Linda Colsh for its promotional postcard.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

A new day!

Two years ago (possibly four years ago!), I spoke with a young man working in the arts about how valuable a blog can be. I, former newspaper reporter and ex-president of the Arizona Press Club, could not imagine ever needing a blog. What the world needs to retain, I thought, are focused news sources. How could so many opinions floating around the universe by untrained writers be helpful? Who has the time to write all these thoughts or to read them?

Last week, aol took down our Art Quilts website. I failed to recognize whatever email warned of this impending doom. Suddenly, I found myself in need of a communication update. So, now that Art Quilts XIII: Lucky Break is installed, the name tags are made and a vague awareness is in place that unused white gloves are in my house, I am giving blogging a whirl. People need to see pictures of the opening tomorrow night, and google has made it possible for even a technophobe like me to create this tool.

I still have my doubts if anyone reads these things, gets business from these things or actually needs these things, despite all evidence to the contrary. But newspapers are disappearing right and left, if not in actuality in presence. The comfort I found in laying out pages, editing copy and working with the professionals in composing and the press room has almost vanished.

Here's to hope for a new day -- and readers!