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sending substitute pots to juried shows

updated tue 18 apr 00

 

Jean Lehman on mon 17 apr 00

A major problem exists every year with all shows that are juried by slides.
There are always one or two (or more) people who do not send the EXACT
piece that has been juried into the show. Sometimes people call us and
sometimes they don't. It is up to the juror to decide if a substitute piece
will still be shown.

This year a sad thing happened at the Strictly Functional Pottery National.
The juror was ready to give one of the highest awards to a piece, but it
was not the same piece as entered. It ended up NOT getting any award! We
felt badly, but the piece was just not as spectacular as the entered piece.
It was not pulled from the exhibition, it was still placed in a premier
spot in the show, and it got a lot of good publicity, BUT it didn't get an
award.

Several years ago, the juror was very upset by two pieces that had been
subsituted. The juror had us place the slide that WAS accepted next to the
piece with a note that said "This piece is NOT the piece that was accepted
into the show." That year one potter came to the opening and was very upset
by that note next to her piece. When I asked her why she hadn't sent the
exact piece, she said it had broken in the firing. When I asked her why she
had photographed a slide of a broken pot, she said "Because it was such a
nice piece that I just turned the broken side around to the back." She lost
our sympathy!!

One year I called a person who had substituted a different pot, and he said
he was a production potter and had sold the piece. Hey... it's fine to be a
production potter, but if you enter a show, PLEASE hold that piece for the
show!!

The application states: "Work must be available for the entire exhibit.
Work which differs from the submitted slides will be disqualified." So,
people so far have been lucky to not have the pieces pulled from the show.
I don't know how to make this any clearer!!

Comments?

-------------------->
Jean Lehman,
Spending the year at the Nottingham Center for the Arts in San Marcos,
California, but still helping the Strictly Functional Pottery National in
Lancaster, PA from a distance: Check out the current exhibit at:
http://www.art-craftpa.com