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Southwest Indian Art Fair 2013

February 23 & 24 on the Museum's Front Lawn

Juried Competition

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We strongly recommend artists arrive the day before the event and take advantage of the region’s largest cash awards competition. Arizona State Museum's Southwest Indian Art Fair (SWIAF) offers recognition through awards to artists whose work is judged to be of exceptional merit. The goals of the jury process are:

to support southwestern Native artistry,
to recognize excellence in southwestern Native arts, and
to provide peer and professional acknowledgement.

Each year an invited panel of at least three jurors reviews the submitted artwork.

Rules of Participation

Only Native American artists who have submitted full payment for table space, have received notice of acceptance, and whose names are on the registration form are eligible to compete for the awards offered. Art works submitted for judging must meet the same criteria as all works to be displayed and sold at the fair as well as comply with some additional restrictions. Please see the Rules of Participation for details.

If an entrant misrepresents his or her qualifications or entries in any way, he or she will be disqualified from competition and will not be offered a booth for the next fair.

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Selection of Jurors

A panel of judges including Native American jurors and qualified art and craft related professionals will jury for all media award categories. Our distinguished jurors will be announced at the entry table. Jurors are invited by a committee composed of ASM staff and SWIAF volunteers. Recommendations for prospective jurors are accepted year round.

Juror Qualifications
Jurors are invited on the basis of their experience and/or familiarity with Southwest Indian arts, their traditions, and techniques. An effort is made each year to weigh the selection of the jury panel so that the jurors are predominately Native Americans who are excellent artists and/or experts in the field of Native American art. A non-Native expert is also included so as to broaden the perspective of the jury and to expose the competing artists to other professional resources.

Youth Juror
In recognition of the unique challenges youth artists face, SWIAF seeks a juror with broad qualifications. Youth work is conventionally judged by a separate juror whose background affords 1) an understanding of childhood development in the arts, 2) an understanding of Native American culture and indigenous arts, and 3) a commitment to, and background in, working with youth artists.

Acquisition Award Jurors
Artworks that earn acquisition awards (see below) become part of Arizona State Museum's permanent collections. For this reason the museum's collections curators and members of the Friends of the ASM Collections make these selections.

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Types of Awards

Ribbon awards and cash prizes are offered based upon available underwriting. Awards vary from year to year:

Best of Show and the Awards of Excellence
Jurying is done by the full panel on a category-by-category basis. The jury chair oversees the process. Pieces receiving a majority of votes win the award. In the absence of a majority clearly identifying a winner, each juror is asked to justify his or her vote. The jury then votes a second time. This process is repeated until the voting reflects a clear majority. In the case of an unbreakable tie, duplicate awards may be given at the discretion of the SWIAF program chair.

Acquisition Awards
Pieces winning acquisition awards become part of the Arizona State Museum's permanent collections. Selections are made by collections division curators; for the Friends of the ASM Collections Acquisition Award, an additional group of three members of the Friends serve with the curators as jurors. These acquisitions are based on very specific criteria related to the museum's collecting strategies.

Artwork will usually be considered for acquisition awards based on the stated value of each piece.

For example, a piece valued by the artist at $500.00 would most likely be considered for a $500.00 acquisition award.

An artist may be awarded more than the stated value of the winning piece.

For example, a piece valued at $250.00 by the artist may be considered for a $500.00 acquisition award.

Artists, when checking in at the juried competition, may choose to make a piece available for an acquisition award of an amount lower than the stated value of the piece.

For example, in past years, artists have accepted the $3,000.00 acquisition award for pieces valued at $4,500.00. This arrangement is entirely at the discretion of the artist.

Winners of acquisition awards will receive the cash award and ribbon in exchange for the entered piece, which becomes the property of Arizona State Museum.

Youth Awards
Unlike adult awards, youth awards are not divided into media categories. Youth awards are given to the most outstanding pieces overall.

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Submitting Your Entries

All entries must be submitted in person on Friday, February 22, between 9:00 am and 12:30 pm, in the museum library. Late entries cannot be accepted. No mailed entries will be accepted.

You may to submit up to three entries. Please bring your entries as early as possible during these hours to assure timely registration.

You are responsible for packing and unpacking your artwork. Unfortunately, no packing materials can be stored.

To deliver your artwork for the juried competition, drive into the Main Gate at University Blvd. and Park Ave. and come to the museum's front walkway. You will be given instructions and directions from a volunteer who will be there specifically to help you.

Award-winning pieces will be displayed in a special exhibition at a reception on Friday evening. All other entries will be displayed in the library during the same reception.

Entry Forms

Available Friday, February 22, 9:00 am to 12:30 pm, in the museum library
You will complete one form for each entry. Describe your piece so that it has enough detailed information for the judges to recognize it among similar pieces.

Examples:

Materials: cottonwood root –or– polished red clay with white slip markings –or– sterling silver with turquoise inlay, etc.
Technique: hand-carved -or– pit-fired –or– coil-built, etc.
Title: “Desert Wind” –or– Bracelet with Eagle kachina figure, etc.

Please see the information above to determine if you want to identify any of your entries as eligible for an acqusition award.

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Jurying Process

Judging will be conducted Friday, February 22, from 1:00 to 4:00 pm.

Each year's jury is given an orientation before the judging begins. This meeting encourages a healthy exchange of ideas about the nature of jury processes and provides an opportunity for jurors who have specialized knowledge to introduce their own perspectives regarding technical quality and cultural criteria relevant to identifying excellence.

All juried processes are subjective in nature. Jurors are valued for their individual professional perspectives. Judging is therefore designed to minimize undue influences on the jurors. Each juror makes his or her own judgments based upon personal experience, knowledge, and expertise.

For this same reason, no artist, unauthorized museum staff, or members of the public are allowed to observe the jury process.

Judges may elect to withhold one or more awards in any category if, in their opinion, the items are not of award winning quality. Items may be moved to other categories if deemed appropriate.

Comments from the jurors are solicited for all their choices. These are documented and published for the benefit of the competing artists and the public, in an attempt to keep the process as transparent as possible.

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Announcement of Awards

Awards will be announced Friday, Feburary 22, at the awards reception, 6:30–8:00 p.m. All artists are invited and encouraged to attend.

Other special awards that are not a part of the juried competition will be announced on Saturday.

Winning entries are publicized in an online exhibition which includes the jurors' comments. See links at the bottom of this page to view the exhibitions of winners from previous years.

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Return of Entries / Award Ribbons and Payment

With the exception of acquisition awards (see above), all other award winners and entries will be returned to the artists in time for the show and sale. All entries must be picked up by 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Arizona State Museum is not responsible for items left after that time.

Award-winning items are given two ribbons. When an item is sold, the duplicate ribbon is kept by the artist (it must not be placed on any other item). The original ribbon goes to the purchaser.

Award checks are mailed to the winning artists.

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Review

At the close of each year's competition, jurors are asked to review the process and to recommend any needed changes for the next year. Artist surveys are also consulted to evaluate the jury process.

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