Arts Festival Accepting Entries for Images Exhibition, Banner Competition

The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts has issued the call for entries for its popular juried fine art exhibition, Images 2021, and for its annual banner competition, one of the signature events of the Festival

Images 2021 will be an online exhibition due to uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. The banner competition will take place regardless of whether the festival is in-person or virtual.

The 55^th Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will be from July 7 through July 11. Information about whether the festival will be an in-person or virtual event will be announced at a later date.

Work eligible for the Images 2021 exhibition includes drawings, paintings, mixed media, photography, hand-pulled prints, watercolors, fiber, paper, and digital art.

The juror for Images 2021 is Betsey Batchelor, an artist and teacher who lives and works in Philadelphia and is also associate professor at Arcadia University heading the area of painting and drawing. She received her MFA in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design and her BFA in painting at The University of the Arts (Philadelphia College of Art).

Her work has been shown at the Woodmere Art Museum in Philadelphia, Dartmouth College, Swarthmore College, Arcadia University, and the Jessica Berwind Gallery, Jeffrey Fuller Fine Art, and the Matthews Hamilton Gallery in Philadelphia. She is the recipient of grants from both the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and Rhode Island State Council on the Arts.  Batchelor is a MacDowell Colony Fellow.

Images 2021 is open to artists whose primary residence is in Pennsylvania. Digital images of original work produced within the last three years may be submitted. Both adults and enrolled students from ages 16 through 26 are encouraged to apply to the online exhibition. 

Artists will be eligible for at least $1,800 in prizes awarded by the juror. There will be merit awards, a best of show, and awards for best pastel, best drawing, best photograph and best student submission.

The application can be found at http://arts-festival.com/images-juried-exhibition.  The entry deadline is June 4.

For the banner competition, both individuals and groups may submit entries, which typically hang between 15 and 20 feet over the street. The design must be visible from both sides of the banner (identical or different). All components of the banner design and construction must be securely attached, or the banner will not be displayed. Banners with religious, partisan, or commercial messages will not be accepted.  The festival encourages local non-profit organizations to create banners celebrating their organization.

The members of the banner jury will be announced at a later date. The jurors will award prizes in three categories: professional, general and youth.

Banners entered in the competition must be delivered by 5 p.m. on June 18 to the office of the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, 403 South Allen Street, Suite 205A.

More information may be found online at https://arts-festival.com/banners.