Prospectus
Show Description:
The Academy Art Museum Craft Show is an annual, indoor juried craft show featuring approximately 65 artists from across the United States.
Founded in 1958 by a group of Maryland’s Eastern Shore residents, The Academy Art Museum has become the cultural hub of Talbot County for art, music, and educational programming. The Museum is accredited by the American Association of Museums, a distinction bestowed on fewer than 5% of U.S. museums for their commitment to excellence, accountability, and high professional standards. The Museum is a certified 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation. The Annual Craft Show is the second largest fund-raising event in support of the mission of the Museum. Funds raised from the show support the ongoing programming of the Museum as well as the financing of short-term exhibitions as well as acquisitions to the Museum’s permanent collection.
For 2014, approximately 30 of the 65 exhibitors were new to the show. The Show’s theme “Get Back to Your Roots” focused on the pride of American-made crafts. Approximately 2,000 people attended the show over the two-day exhibition plus the opening night Preview Party. Also for 2014, the Show spotlighted the works of three groups of “featured” artists with a museum-quality exhibition in the foyer gallery.
New for 2015:
The theme for the 2015 show is “Blown Away” and will feature an exhibition of blown glass sculpture along with a weekend-long live demonstration of glass blowing from the world-renowned Chrysler Museum of Art Glass Studio in Norfolk, Virginia. Several of the juried exhibitors will also focus on glass-related artworks.
The 2015 Show will also feature a series of “Artists Talks” lectures where chosen artists can provide interesting lectures on the history of their crafts along with descriptive aspects of their artistry. Artists interested in participating in the Talk series should contact the Show committee at the time of contract submission.
Why is this Show Unique?
The Academy Art Museum Craft Show prides itself on the hospitality shown to our new and returning exhibitors. To support that pride, we offer the following benefits:
- No commission on sales
- Over $1,000 in artists’ prizes
- Complimentary housing (on a request basis and subject to availability)
- Complimentary porter services at both set-up and break-down
- Complimentary weekend parking
- Complimentary Artist’s Dinner on Friday night
- Complimentary booth sitters allowing artists to continue sales while taking breaks
- Complimentary booth signage featured the name and hailing location of the artist
- Complimentary listing in the Show Catalog and on the Show website
- Complimentary Academy Art Museum Craft Show handled paper bags
- Complimentary featured social media spotlight at least once prior to the Show dates
Exhibition Locations:
There are two locations for exhibition space:
The Academy Art Museum The Waterfowl Festival Building
106 South Street 40 South Harrison Street
Easton, Maryland 21601 Easton, Maryland 21601
1st & 2nd Floors 1st Floor
These two buildings are separated by a small street. The street is closed to vehicular traffic during the Preview Party and throughout the Craft Show public hours.
Some Exhibition space in the Academy Art Museum is located on the second floor. This space is accessible by either stairs or an elevator. The elevator measures 5 foot by 4 foot with a 3 foot wide door opening.
The Exhibition space in the Waterfowl Festival Building is elevated and accessible by either a 12-step outside staircase or via a ground-level freight elevator that measures 5 foot by 7 foot.
How to Apply to Become an Exhibitor:
The Academy Art Museum Craft Show utilizes the online services of Juried Art Services. All prospective artists must complete an online, electronic application along with the required artist’s statement and visual images or jpegs from their current portfolio. Only applications submitted through www.juriedartservices.com will be considered for submission with the exception of special circumstances at the committee’s discretion.
Application Period – open applications may be made between January 1, and March 31, 2015. No submissions after March 31, 2015 will be considered for the October 2015 show without the Show committee’s prior approval.
All applicants must pay a non-refundable application fee of $35.00 payable, online via PayPal or by check made payable to the Academy Art Museum Craft Show and mailed to 106 South Street, Easton, Maryland 21601. Payments are due at the time of submission.
Along with the Exhibitor Application, a total of five (5) photographic images or jpegs must be submitted, electronically, per terms of the Juried Art Services website. These photographs must include four (4) pictures from the Applicant’s current portfolio as well as one (1) photo of a recent booth. Photographs from Applicant’s portfolio must include the retail price of each piece of work shown. All photographs become the property of the Academy Art Museum which reserves the right to reproduce accepted entry photos for use in the Show Catalog and for publicity purposes.
Acceptance To the Show:
All artists will be notified by email of their acceptance into the show by May 15, 2015. Artists will be juried into the Show based on the combined votes of the Academy Art Museum Craft Show jury committee. The Academy Art Museum reserves the right to balance the number of artists, per Media Category, in order to create the most effective and marketable Show. The Show committee may also deem several artists as “stand-by” should any juried artists cancel prior to the show. “Stand-by” artists will also be notified of their status by the May 15, 2015 date and appraised of their status on an ongoing basis as deemed appropriate by the Show committee. Artists receiving Academy Art Museum Craft Show prizes in 2014 will be automatically juried into the 2015 Show, if they so choose.
Upon acceptance, the artist must complete a Show Contract that can be accessed via the Show’s website at www.academycraftshow.org. The contract, including the payment of the applicable booth fee, must be remitted to the Show Committee by the specified date in order to be included.
Eligibility:
Artists are eligible for consideration if they live and work within the boundaries of the United States and its territories. All exhibited work must be original – either one-of-a-kind or in limited edition from an original form – and made by hand using appropriate tools. Works manufactured commercially or through commercial kits will not be allowed. In addition, imported works, kits, items from kits, items made using commercial patterns, items assembled from pre-manufactured components, items made with endangered species, embellished items, tee shirts, sweats or arts and crafts supplies will not be allowed.
All items exhibited must be for sale (except those chosen as “Featured Artists” in the Exhibition Foyer Gallery).
Only items typified by photographic images submitted as part of the Exhibitor Application may be shown.
Each artist is restricted to exhibiting art forms within a specified Media Category. Media Categories must be chosen at the time of Application submission and may not change once the artist has been juried into the Show. Artists may not exhibit from more than one category within each booth space. If more than one type of media is requested, the artist must submit applications for separate booths, by media type. Acceptable Media Categories include:
- Basketry
- Clay
- Fiber – Decorative
- Fiber – Wearable
- Furniture
- Glass
- Jewelry
- Leather
- Metal
- Mixed Media
- Musical Instruments
- Paper
- Sculpture
- Toys
- Wood
Academy Art Museum Craft Show Prizes:
Each year, the Show will award the following prizes based upon the results of the voting by the Show jury committee:
Best Overall Body of Work – First Place
Best Overall Body of Work – Second Place
Best Single Piece of Work
Visionary Award – (discretionary) given to that artist who has risen to the top of their craft in design and innovation
All awards will be presented during the Show Preview Party.
Academy Art Museum Craft Show
Event Prospectus – Key Information
Key Dates:
Application Dates: January 1, 2015 – April 20, 2015
Application Fee: $35.00 with 4-5 portfolio images and descriptions for jury
Notification Date: May 15, 2015
Contracts Due: June 12, 2015 (including the entire booth fee)
Cancellation Date: August 1, 2015 (50% of booth fee refunded)
Show Set Up October 15 (1pm to 5pm)
October 16 (beginning 9am to 3pm) – All set ups must be completed by 3pm
Jurying for Awards October 16 (4pm to 5:30pm)
Artist Dinner October 16 (4pm to 5:30pm)
Patron Preview Party October 16 (6pm to 9pm)
Show Dates October 17 (10am to 6pm), 18 (10am to 4pm)
Break Down October 17 beginning at 4pm – note all booths must be set up and in working condition until the close of the Show at 4pm on October 17. All items must be completely removed from booths by 8pm on October 17.
Booth Information:
Booth Size: 10 foot by 10 foot (generally)
Booth Description: Open on one side. Pipes, drapes, and electricity is included
Booth Cost: $475.00
Other Booth Availability: 10 foot by 10 foot booths with two (2) open sides have limited availability and are allocated on a first-come, first-request basis. The cost of a booth with two open sides is $550.00.