Florence Museum calls for art submission in 21st Annual Miniature Art Competition

By: From local reports | SCNOW
Published: October 06, 2009

The Florence Museum of Art, Science and History invites artists to submit work for the 21st Annual Miniature Art Competition presented by The Friends of the Florence Museum. This exhibit offers artists an opportunity to compete in a national show for a growing niche in the contemporary art market.

Each work cannot exceed 4" x 5" and artists are allowed to submit two works for a single $15 registration fee. First-place award will be $300 with the other awards given on a descending scale to four honorable mentions at $65 each. One artist will receive the Ann Finch Award, given specifically to a work executed in the watercolor medium.

"Since the price is the same for two entries as it is for one, this is a great incentive. From personal experience I can say that artists are an 'economical' species," says museum curator, Stephen Motte, who graduated from Francis Marion University in 2002 with a degree in visual arts. "We're hoping in this way we'll see an increase in the number of overall entries, which will increase the quality and diversity of the exhibit on the whole."

The juror for this year's competition is Alex Powers. Powers has been a painter and self-employed art teacher since 1970. He exhibits in galleries in six states, and among his many national juried exhibition awards is the Gold Medal at the 1997 American Watercolor Society Annual Exhibition. He travels the United States and Canada, teaching six to eight workshops per year and has juried dozens of national exhibitions. He is the author of Painting People in Watercolor, A Design Approach, which is a Watson-Guptill publication.

Also this year, concurrent with the exhibit, the Friends will be hosting the second annual Holiday Art House. This event will be a temporary retail space in the museum where regional artists and authors will have items for sale for the Christmas holidays. All items will be priced at $50 and under. Since 1989, The Friends of the Florence Museum have organized and sponsored the Miniature Art Competition which has served a dual role as a distinguished exhibition and as an important annual fundraiser for the museum.

A prospectus for interested artists is available for download at www.florencemusuem.org. For more information about the competition or about becoming a member of The Friends, please call the Florence Museum at (843) 662-3351.

The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, 2 to 5 p.m.