Regional Artists:
An Open, Juried Show 2010

The 2010 Barn Gallery exhibition presented a challenge to me as a juror. In past years there was a theme around which the juror could frame the exhibition, but this year the lack of an overriding focus allowed me to have a less restrictive look at the diverse submissions from the various artists.

When I was teaching art history, one of my favorite exercises was to take the class with their eyes closed into a completely dark room. After asking the students to open their eyes and peer into the darkness I would briefly turn on the lights and then shut them off again. While again in the darkness, I would ask them to describe what they had very briefly seen. Although there were 15 or so people in the dark room, each student usually described a different vision or focus. To be the juror at this year?s show was something akin to that exercise. Each artist submitted one or two of their best works for the show, and I struggled to determine which work was to be selected from the submissions. What I observed as the juror was a brief flash look into an artist?s work.

The rich variety of this years submissions attest to the vibrancy and diversity of southern Maine?s creative community. I hope that the selections I have made reflect that diversity. The exhibition area precluded exhibiting all the art submitted, whether it is an intimate work or a large sculpture, but I have tried to select the finest examples from the artists.

John M. Day
Director of the Palmina F. and Stephen S. Pace Galleries of Art at Fryeburg Academy

28 June 2010

138 works of art were entered for the exhibition. The juror selected 89 pieces - 39 by 27 artists of the Ogunquit Art Association and 50 by 33 regional artists.