Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition Guidelines and Requirements

Welcome and thank you for your interest in the Springfield Museum of Art’s Annual Members’ Exhibition. This show has been a fixture of the Museum’s community programming since its inception in 1946. Participation is open to all members of the Museum and the exhibition celebrates the work of highly accomplished professional artists alongside emerging talents. Through this annual experience, artists are able to inspire and elevate each other’s artistic work. Typically, about 100 artists participate in the show and works are juried by a guest juror. The Annual Members’ Exhibition promotes artistic excellence through inclusion and focus on our community’s creative spirit.

General Guidelines and Requirements

» Artists must be current members of the Springfield Museum of Art.

» Must be a named adult member (with own card); 18 years of age or older.

» Up to two entries per member may be submitted using the guidelines below. The juror will select either one or both works to be accepted. If only one piece is submitted, that work will be guaranteed acceptance.

» Works must have been created in the last three years and not previously exhibited at the Museum.

» All works must be display ready.

» 2-D artworks and wall pieces must not exceed 5 feet in width. Wall pieces must be framed and have a hanging wire securely installed (saw tooth hangers not permitted). Rubber bumpers on the back of framed pieces preferred.

» 3-D artworks must not exceed 100 lbs and must fit on a pedestal with a footprint of 24 x 24″ or less.

» All works must be delivered in person to the Museum during one of the specified accepted artwork drop-off times. SMoA is not responsible for any shipping or handling costs.

» Accepted work must remain on display through the end of the exhibition.

» Artwork can be available for sale, and 30% of the sale price will be retained by the Museum if the work is sold. Artists are welcome to list their work as not for sale (NFS); however, a value must be included for insurance purposes. If you intend to sell your work, you will be required to have a W9 on file with the Springfield Museum of Art which can be completed during drop-off.

» Springfield Museum of Art reserves the right to reject any accepted artwork that does not meet the guidelines for the Juried Members’ Exhibition outlined here and below, is deemed unsafe, differs from the artist’s photo(s) and/or description, or for any other reason.

Size of Artwork and Display

» 3D pieces deemed by staff as fragile may be covered by a vitrine or otherwise protected. This ensures the safety of both the artwork and Museum visitors.

» Pieces requiring innovative display furniture or props may be accepted on the condition that the artist provides an appropriate display mechanism. Please note:

» Heavy, wall-mounted works must include hanging hardware appropriate to the size and weight of the piece.

» Pieces requiring ceiling suspension and/or wall or floor alteration cannot be accepted.

» New media, film, and digital works are encouraged, but the digital device must be provided by the artist.

» Artists may include a brief note with their piece(s) at drop-off requesting nuances for display; however, accommodations cannot be guaranteed, and artists will not be consulted for final display arrangements.

» Final decision about acceptance of pieces requiring alternate display options is at the discretion of curatorial staff and the director of the Museum. If artists are concerned about their piece, they should check with staff prior to submitting their entry.

Artwork and Media

The Springfield Museum of Art is dedicated to supporting creativity and artistic innovation. We encourage artists to experiment and submit works in a wide variety of media, including traditional 2-D and 3-D media, as well as film and emerging media. If a digital display device is required, it must be provided by the artist per the guidelines above. Organic materials are generally not accepted as part of a work of art due to Museum climate control standards and health codes. Please contact Museum staff if you have a question about media in a work of art for the Members’ Exhibition.

Originality

All works of art submitted to the Members’ Exhibition must be original. No works may be direct copies from another artist’s work. Source photography and inspiration from other works of art and artistic styles can be acceptable when a source image is only used in part and/or the original image has been significantly modified. The artist is solely responsible for following all copyright laws related to their artwork.

Individual Work of Art

Member artists are invited to submit either one or two individual works of art for the Annual Juried Members’ Exhibition. For the purposes of this exhibition, an individual work of art is defined as a connected, cohesive 2-D, 3-D, or media arts piece that exists on its own as a complete work of art. An individual work may be a diptych, triptych or quadriptych only when those pieces are mounted together. Combined, mounted pieces must follow preparations for artwork display as outlined in the General Guidelines and Requirements and Size of Artwork and Display sections of this document.

Artistic Attribution

The Museum requires that all works be created by the member artist submitting the work. Found objects may be incorporated into a work of art, but the submitting artist must have significantly acted upon the piece in a physical or conceptual way in order to claim authorship over that work of art.

Collaboration

The Museum supports artistic collaboration and the innovative work that can be generated through collaborative processes. In the case of submission of a collaborative work of art by two or more artists who are equal creators of the work, each artist must be a current member of the Museum in order to submit the work under the names of the artists (or under a cooperative name that refers to those artists). In this case, each member artist who is part of the collaborative submission may also submit one individual piece (not two individual pieces) to the Members’ Exhibition. For an artist in this situation, the collaborative piece and the individual piece will be juried separately. In other words, neither piece shall be declined as a second submission by that individual artist.