Prospectus
Presents
The Twenty-Seventh Annual National Juried
Exhibition Of Traditional Oils
Oil Painters of America’s Twenty-Seventh National Exhibition and Convention will be hosted by the Steamboat Art Museum (SAM), located in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, from June 1 through September 3, 2018. Convention activities begin May 29 with the ever popular Wet Paint Competition. Cash and merchandise awards for the Wet Paint competition will be a minimum of $10,000. The opening reception will be held at SAM for artists, collectors, the public and the press on Friday, June 1, from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The awards presentation will take place nearby at 8:15 p.m. at The Chief Theater. An extensive assortment of informative and educational seminars will be offered to OPA members and guests during the convention.
Located on the Yampa River, Steamboat Springs is known for its wide variety of activities for visitors of all ages. Fish Creek Falls offers a beautiful site for painting the 280’ waterfall as well as being an enjoyable hiking area. Take a scenic gondola ride, tour the Yampa River Botanic Park or the Tread of Pioneers Museum. There are helicopter rides over the Yampa Valley as well as kayaking and floating down the river through the middle of town. Other activities include swimming in Old Town Hot Springs, golfing, horseback riding, hot air ballooning and fishing. Steamboat Springs offers something for everyone.
Our goal is to assemble the finest display of representational oil paintings. The focus in the jurying process will be to select paintings that show the highest quality in draftsmanship, color, and composition, emphasizing a diversity in representational style and subject matter.
The total awards will be approximately $100,000, including a $25,000 Best In Show.
The awarding juror will be OPA Master Signature member Craig Tennant.
Artists eligible to compete are citizens – both natural born or otherwise - of the United States, Canada, or Mexico who are 2018 OPA members. Nonresident aliens who currently live in the United States, Canada, or Mexico are eligible to participate provided that they have been physically present at the address provided to OPA for eight of the last twelve months and that the residency is considered to be their permanent domicile and that they are 2018 OPA members. Nonresident aliens whose North American residency is in question will be asked to provide proof of residency including, but not limited to, employment history, references, and utility bills in the individual’s name. The decision of the Board is final.
Liabilities and Responsibilities
Oil Painters of America and the Steamboat Art Museum will not be responsible for loss or damage of any artwork, no matter what the cause. By submitting artwork to this exhibition, each artist will be deemed to have concurred with this agreement. Artists pay for shipping both ways. We suggest that you provide insurance to cover the full value of the artwork while in transit.
James Bruce, Signature Member and OPA Board Member, will serve as chairman of a Jurying Committee consisting of five Master Signature and/or Signature members of OPA. The results of the jurying will be final. No refunds will be made on unaccepted entries.
General Information
FINAL ACCEPTANCE: Online submissions: Friday, January 26, 2018
· Canvas size: maximum size not to exceed 1200 square inches (unframed). Example: 30” (height) x 40” (width) = 1200 square inches.
· Maximum entries two (2). However, only one (1) painting may be accepted.
· Paintings entered must have been painted in the last 3 years and should not have been accepted into a previous OPA National Exhibition.
· Submission must be originally conceived, artist’s own reference, own drawing, own concept and must have been self-painted.
· Paintings created in an instructional setting, including, but not limited to workshops and art classes are not considered original artwork. Paintings created from a group photo shoot set-up by another artist are not considered original artwork.
· No direct copies of stock images, historic photos, or of any reference to which you do not hold total copyright are allowed.
· NO digital, mechanical, photo, or other transferring to the substrate of any kind is acceptable. The artist must draw and/or paint the image on the substrate him/herself.
· Painting must be framed and wired for hanging. When framing deep-edged paintings (museum wrap canvas or deep board) the frame must be of adequate depth so that the substrate does not extend more than 1/2” beyond the back of the frame.
· Flat substrates, including canvas board, Gesso board, Gesso Masonite board, acrylic Gessoed Dibond aluminum, aluminum composite panel and wood are acceptable. Paintings on decorative copper and tooled aluminum, oil paper, natural stone or on three-dimensional objects are not acceptable.
· Oil paints, alkyd resin, water soluble oils and oil sticks/bars are acceptable. Metal leaf (i.e: gold, silver, etc.) is acceptable if it does not comprise more than twenty percent (20%) of the visible surface.
· The artist retains copyright to his/her image(s). However, accepted images do become part of OPA archives and may be used for future OPA event promotion.
· All work must be for sale and reflect the artist’s current pricing structure. No NFS.
· An artist who withdraws an entry after acceptance into the exhibition shall not be eligible to enter any OPA exhibition for the two succeeding years.
For a complete list of acceptable and unacceptable painting criteria please visit the OPA website.
Entry Information
Online Submissions — Deadline: Friday, January 26, 2018
Electronic applications will be accepted beginning Monday, November 13, 2017. Images should be between 1400 and 4000 pixels at the largest dimension. Specific details on how to prepare your image properly can be found at https://www.juriedartservices.com. Click on the “Help” tab.
To submit your electronic application and images, please go directly to:
https://www.juriedartservices.com and look for OPA’s 2018 National Exhibition.
Jurying Fees
The jurying fee for electronic entries is as follows: one painting is $30.00 or $45.00 for two paintings. Only one painting can be accepted. Electronic payment may be made by credit card or through PayPal. No e-checks will be accepted. Jurying fees for online submissions may also be paid by check mailed to OPA if received by Friday, January 26, 2018.
Membership
You must be a paid member through December 31, 2018 at a cost of $70.00. If you are currently not a member or have not paid your 2018 membership dues, OPA will accept your entry provided that 1) an electronic membership fee is paid by Friday, January 26 or 2) a mailed membership application and your annual dues are postmarked no later than Friday, January 12, 2018. More membership information may be found on the OPA website, under the Member Services tab.
Sales Commission
Sales commission of 40% is required by SAM for all paintings sold. Please take this into consideration when setting your price. All work that is submitted must be for sale. No NFS. Paintings must be priced in accordance with the artist’s current pricing structure.
Delivery and Return of Accepted Work
Delivery for Local Artists: Deliver uncrated paintings to the Steamboat Art Museum, 807 Lincoln Avenue, Steamboat Springs, CO between April 9 and April 20, 2018. Hand delivered work must be picked up between September 4 and September 7, 2018.
Out of Town Artists: ship to the Steamboat Art Museum, 807 Lincoln Ave., Steamboat Springs, CO 80487 to be received between April 9 and April 20, 2018.
Handling Fee: Out of Town Artists must pay a $25.00 fee online prior to their painting being hung. This fee covers the expense of uncrating, storage of crates, re-crating and contacting your shipper for return. Artist may elect to include a return shipping label with their painting OR may email the label directly to the Steamboat Art Museum. OPA will waive the uncrating fee for artists who use a commercially manufactured artist’s/strong box such as a StrongBox™ by Airfloat Systems, or similar brand, like Masterpak or Uline. FedEx Art boxes are NOT included in the list of boxes for which the fee will be waived. Artists who do not use one of these special boxes are required to remit the $25 prior to hanging of the painting. Strong boxes will be returned to the artists at the conclusion of the show at the artist’s expense.
Shipments from OUTSIDE the US must be shipped “FREE DOMICILE” or will not be accepted.
Good Luck and Good Painting
Calendar Checklist
January 26
Deadline for submissions
February 23
Acceptance notification posted on the OPA website
April 9 through April 20
Both shipped and hand delivered artwork to arrive at Steamboat Art Museum
May 29
Opening Day
June 1
Opening Reception: for collectors, press, exhibiting artists and the public from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Awards Presentation: announcement of recipients of National awards, Wet Paint winners and introduction of newest Signature and Master Signature conferees at 8:15 p.m. at The Chief Theater
June 1 through September 3
Length of time show will be open for viewing. See below for museum hours
September 4 through September 7
Local Artists: removal of paintings during this period. If not removed a storage fee will be charged. SAM thanks you for your cooperation.
Museum Hours
Sun. + Mon.
Closed
Tues.– Fri.
11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.