83rd Annual Spring Show
April 22-June 11, 2006

Statistics
613 entries from 312 artists
77 accepted works from 67 artists

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The 2006 Spring Show features a wide array of works by 67 regional artists living within a 250-mile radius of Erie. As juror Joyce Scott notes, the works in this show do not form a cohesive theme. Rather these works range the spectrum from political to humorous art to strangely moving pieces such as Josean Rivera's intaglio, Baptism of Ted. E. Bear, which received a Juror's Mention. This show incorporates all varieties of media, including ceramics, wood sculpture, fabric, photography, as well as several oil and watercolor paintings. The strong representation of three-dimensional work includes two glazed earthenware pieces by Mathew McConnell, one of which was a dark sienna industrial-machine-style design entitled EASX05OK2805B15, which also won a Juror's Award. The level of artistic talent exhibited in this show is demonstrated in Ron Bayuzick's extraordinarily crafted humorous sculpture, When All the Cliches Add Up, Fleeing by Motor Home is Not an Option, which was chosen as the winner of both a Juror's Award and the Northwestern Pennsylvania Artists Association Award. The 83rd Annual Spring Show features vibrant, distinct, highly-executed works from immensely talented artists--indeed, some of the best the region has to offer.

Joyce Scott is known for catching her audience off-guard. Using crafts, sculpture and performance art, Scott produces work that seems clever and playful on the surface but is quickly understood to have edgy commentary on race, gender and other stereotypes. Scott studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she received a BFA in education. She went on to receive an MFA in crafts from Guanajuato, Mexico's Instituto Allende. Famous for her beadwork, Scott has had solo exhibits all over the country, including the retrospective "Kickin' it with the Old Masters" at her hometown's Baltimore Museum of Art. Scott's work has also been featured in Japan's Hokkaido Museum of Modern Art and The Kruithuis Museum in the Netherlands.

Juror Statement
"I'm honored to be asked to do this. It's always inspiring to look at the work of artists in a different region and in a variety of media. I saw a wide range of artists, from those who were not well-schooled (in the academic sense) to those who obviously are well-trained. I saw whimsy and humor in the work, as well as artists who were tackling political and social issues. It's also wonderful to see that fine arts and crafts have the same importance and are exhibited together, though I didn't see enough metalwork, glasswork, jewelry, clay (whether functional or sculptural) or the textile arts. The region often affects the pieces submitted to a show depending on whether there is the presence of art schools or universities with large or comprehensive art departments. In regions where that's true, such as in Erie, you see a lot more artwork and a wider range of art being produced.

It's important to me that the work be professionally presented. It would be a disservice to an artist to accept something that is poorly mounted and have it exhibited with artworks by artists who have taken a lot of time to present their work professionally.

When I jury an exhibition, I'm looking for invention. I'm looking for people who are running after their personal muse in their artwork, so I don't have to see the same paintings or sculptures over and over again. You hear from people: 'Come on, I've seen that vase a thousand times before, or that wood piece has been turned a thousand times before, that choice is classic.' Yeah you see it, but the choice of wood, or the scale…sometimes there's content in intent that is different than what we've seen before, and that sways me. It is also important to mention that there were so many entrants in contrast to so little space that sometimes the work had to be gleaned not because I didn't want it in but because of the number of entries we could actually exhibit.

I've had one singular vision throughout my entire life in art, and that is to try to be as true to myself in the making, understanding and the sharing of my art as possible. I honestly mean that I've directed myself to stay as involved and as deeply in love with the living and the making of art as I can. And in doing that I feel that I am trusted because of it. What that does to how I look at other people's art is that I wish the same for them…I try to be cautious and understanding because of youth or other factors. I feel that I've been through a lot of truth searching and I see that people can be in the throes of becoming what they want to be, so that allows me to give them some inches too, and not be so brutal because of where they are in their creative process.

In these works I found a real arch, stretching from some youthful efforts to top-notch work. What you get regionally when you open up to a geographic area is a real cross-section of work, not only in style but also in maturity. I don't know that there is a theme for the show. There was everything: political work, functional work, humorist work, and very beautiful work."