The Juried Shows at the South End Art Hop
The Juried Shows at the South End Art Hop
Showing through the month of September at the former Maynard Auto Supply Building, 696 Pine Street -- please scroll to bottom of page for dates + times
In this 15th anniversary of the South End Art Hop, it is interesting to look back over the years at the origins of this event and some of its well known components. The “Original” Juried Show has been around for 13 of the Art Hop’s 15 years. It is media insensitive. That is, works in any media are accepted as entrants to this show. Also, it is shown inside a “gallery” that over the years has consisted of a variety of improvised sites, from a railroad boxcar parked outside and in front of a landmark post-industrial building to an unused (at the time) 62,000 square foot former factory building. Unlike nearly all juried shows, ours has strong egalitarian tendencies in what is almost by design an otherwise highly selective process. Any work submitted to the “Original” Juried Show will get displayed. Some of the work is selected by our juror and becomes part of the “Juror’s Selections” show, and the rest is shown at the same site in a different part of the building as “Entrants to the Juried Show”. So rest assured, if you submit work, it will be seen and get exposure.
This is the 5th anniversary of our Outdoor Public Art Juried Show. This idea originated with one of our former Executive Directors, Lorna Kay Peal, who wanted to organize some of the works by medium and noticed that there was a virtual vacuum in this category. She and I worked hard that first year to contact sculptors and procure works for display. Since then, it has grown to be an integral part of the event. Since the outdoor works are the first to be installed, their arrival lets the community know that Art Hop season has arrived.
Each year, a different juror is selected for the daunting task of viewing, processing and selecting a show of works from the entrants to the “Original” Juried Art Show, as well as awarding a First, Second and Third Place Award for both juried shows. All six of these awards come with cash prizes. Also, in keeping with SEABA’s egalitarian nature, we allow all visitors to the Art Hop to vote on their favorite work. This ballot doesn’t just consist of the juror’s selections, but rather all of the entrants are eligible to win. We receive about 1,000 ballots on average each year. The winner is designated the Peoples’ Choice Award winner, and this carries with it a cash prize as well.
This year, our juror is Denise Markonish, who just recently became a curator at MASSMoCA, arguably the most important contemporary visual arts institution in North America. Prior to this, she was the Curator at Art Space, a regional not-for-profit arts organization in New Haven, Connecticut, which interestingly runs an event similar to the Art Hop as well. Given her new responsibilities at MASSMoCA, we are grateful to her commitment in participating in this important role with SEABA and the South End Art Hop this year.
Special thanks to the Maynard Family and CarQuest Auto Parts for allowing the Art Hop to use the building in which the Juried Show is housed this year.
The Juried Show will be open to the public on:
- Friday, September 7 from 5-10pm
- Saturday, September 8 from 10am-5pm
- Sunday, September 9 from Noon-3pm
- Friday, September 14 from 5-9pm
- Saturday, September 15 from 10am-3pm
- Sunday, September 16 from Noon-3pm
- Saturday, September 22 from 10am-3pm
- Sunday, September 23 from Noon-3pm
- Saturday, September 29 from 10am-3pm
- Sunday, September 30 from Noon-3pm
