ARTS COUNCIL TO PRESENT 4 JURIED SHOWS DURING' 93

The Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts is sponsoring four juried shows to help aspiring and professional artists get their big break over the next few months.

"We're trying to give artists more exposure and more opportunities to show their work," said Laura Brothers, administrative assistant for the Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts. "At the shows the artists receive critical appraisal on their work."

Juried shows help to fill the gap by providing artists with art professionals to review or jury their work. Acceptance into juried shows and awards received from the shows are considered professional accreditation by gallery owners and museum directors.

The shows also help build an artist's resume, Brothers said. The artists can show the awards they have won at the various shows, and these awards may better their chances of getting a representative to sell their work, she said.

Brothers said the shows also give the local people a chance to see artwork from all over the country, as well as local and regional art work.

"The shows allow local people the opportunity to gain insight into what artists around the country are thinking about," Brothers said.

The "Midwest Minis" will be the first juried show to be held. It is a national miniatures exhibit for two-and three-dimensional original artwork no larger than 14 inches in any direction.

Steven D. Gregg of S. Gregg Gallery in Cape Girardeau will make jury selections from the actual artworks, not from slides.

Midwest Minis' entry deadline is Jan. 22, and the exhibit will be held Feb. 7-26. Brothers said the first Midwest Minis show was held in 1991.

"The Southeast Missouri Juried Art Show" is the next show to be held, but it is limited to Missouri artists living within a 75-mile radius of Cape Girardeau and exhibiting two-dimensional original artwork.

Photography exhibits will not be included in this show. This is the regional show's first year.

James V. Parker, appraiser, retired museum curator and practicing artist, will jury from the works. Artists will be notified of the juror's decision, and accepted works will be exhibited April 4-23. Deadline for entry is March 25.

"Photo '93" is a national juried exhibition of original work in any photographic process. The first photo show took place in 1990.

Charles A. Swedlund, professor of photography at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, will jury 35 mm slides of the work. The entry deadline is March 1. The selected works will be exhibited May 2-28.

The final juried show will be "Art Experience '93," a national juried two-dimensional show for original and unpublished artwork completed in the last three years. Again, no photographs will be included in this show.

The show dates back to 1979.

The artwork will be juried by slides by Dan Carver of Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, Ky. The entry deadline for Art Experience is March 26. Carver will select the works to be exhibited June 6-30.

The Southeast Missouri Council on the Arts is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of participation in the arts.

The shows are sponsored with financial assistance from the Missouri Arts Council.

The shows are open to any professional or amateur artist who is 18 years or older. The entry fee is $20 for up to three works submitted per show.

All exhibits will be displayed at Gallery 100 in Girardeau.

For prospectuses, send a stamped, self-addressed, long envelope to SEMO Council on the Arts, P.O. Box 901, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63702-0901.