I think the idea of an extended art show is great - if enough volunteers are available then I would like to see a Thursday night opening (grand gala of course!) and Friday, Saturday and Sunday instead of Sat Sun and Mon. Monday is not a good day sales wise - but then I guess Friday is a very busy end of week day too, so.....
I do feel that as it is competitive then we could expect a huge number of entries if the prize money is good. Gold Rush has had around 400 entries in the last two years. We could not cope with this number. Maybe limiting the number of entries per person to one per section with no more than two or three in total? And maybe keeping the prize money low (as well as the entry fee) would hold back those after the BIG money. But even if the prize money is low there could still be a lot of paintings entered. The Gympie Show Society has prize money $12, $8, $6, 1st, 2nd and 3rd with an entry fee of 70 cents and they have a large number of paintings entered. The size of paintings may have to be limited as well so that more can be displayed. I know the show will be Art and Craft combined and I'm a bit concerned about the space available for each. This will need a bit of thought.
My idea of having 3 judges stems from the high cost of getting a judge and the fact that a number of judges' decisions in the past have been controversial - and although this can bring in more viewers to the show to see the results (popular or unpopular) it doesn't please the masses who cannot understand why such and such a painting can be awarded first prize - two good examples of this are the Gold Rush Art 2006 & 2007.
I've been tossing this around for a while now to see if it would be possible to get three well respected and accomplished local, or near local artists with differing preferences in art work - say, one could prefer landscap/seascapes, another could like abstracts, and another, portraits/still life etc etc etc. Sure, it wouldn't be possible to cover everything but so long as there were not three using the same medium and painting the same subject matter only, it wouldn't matter.
They could be given a sheet to mark each painting (as individuals - that is, each would be viewing and marking a different painting at any one time) with factors to mark on a scale of 1 - 5 composition, tonal values, effective use of medium, and the WOW factor. These are a few I've just plucked out of thin air - there are other points that may be more applicable.
What do you think?
Another idea I had is to ask the local school art class (?) to visit just after hanging is completed and get them to choose the paintings in each section they think should win - like a people's choice but the winners of this could be announced at the Opening of the Show rather than at the end of the show (as now happens in some comps). Maybe inviting a group of folk from a retirement home in M'boro or such to do this as well. Maybe, just one painting could be chosen for best in show or one in each section.. Doing something like this can get a whole lot of "free" advertising in newspapers, editorials, TV coverage etc etc because we would be doing something completely different. This is what we need - to get up and be a bit different in how we present the show or in some other way. The big aim is to grab people's attention and get them to come along and see "WHY, HOW, WHAT," ...and go away to tell others "Get over to Tiaro Art Show!"
So, these are my ideas for now. Please toss them around or throw them out but maybe there's an idea there that may spark another good idea somewhere else. I'd love to hear what you all think - yay, or nay, or even a maybe.
Regards to you all,
Glenda
