2024 Marks of Distinction National Exhibition

Fivesparks, Harvard, MA

Paintings will be judged for awards in person by Matthias Waschek, PhD

Jean and Myles McDonough Director,

Worcester Art Museum

SHOW DATES: 9/10-10/4

Judge of Awards: Matthias Waschek, PhD, Worcester Art Museum

Jurors of Selection: Mitchell Albala and Kim Lordier 

1^st Place: $1200

2^nd Place: $750

3^rd Place: $500

$4500 in cash will be awarded, plus materials. All awards include cash.

Calendar

Judge of Awards

Matthias Waschek, PhD,Jean and Myles McDonough Director, Worcester Art Museum. Matthias has been Director of the Worcester Art Museum since 2011. Originally from Germany, he has a PhD in Art History from Bonn University. Throughout his 30-year international career in the museum world, Waschek has worked to connect the broader public with new thinking about art history and archaeology—as Head of Academic Programs at the Louvre Museum in Paris (1992–2003), as Executive Director of the Pulitzer Arts Foundation St. Louis, Missouri (2003–2011), and now at the Worcester Art Museum. In addition, he has published extensively on French art of the 19th century, as well as on 20th-century and contemporary art. He is very fond of pastel.

Selection Jurors 

Both jurors will offer an artist talk or demo in association with the show.

Mitchell Albala. Mitchell Albala is an award-winning landscape painter, workshop instructor, and author, and a Signature Member of Pastel Society of America. His light-filled and and atmospheric landscapes have been exhibited nationally and are represented in corporate and private collections. He is the author of two best-selling books on landscape painting: Landscape Painting: Essential Concepts and Techniques for Plein Air and Studio Practice, and The Landscape Painter's Workbook: Essential Studies in Shape, Composition, and Color. 

Kim Lordier.  Award-winning painter and workshop instructor Kim Lordier is Signature Member of Pastel Society of America, the California Art Club, and Laguna Plein Air Painters Association, and is a Distinguished Pastelist of the Pastel Society of the West Coast. Her richly colored landscape and equestrian work examines the natural world and our relationship to it,  and how light transforms the mood of an environment. Lordier’s paintings are in private and public collections throughout the country, and have been exhibited at leading museums and galleries. Her work has been showcased on the cover of Art of the West, PleinAir Magazine, Southwest Art, and The Pastel Journal, and has been featured in Western Art and Architecture and Fine Art Connoisseur. 

Who Can Submit

Open to all artists over the age of 18 working in soft pastel. 

Submission Process and Fee

·      Submissions must be made online at OnlineJuriedShows. Log in on this page and click Enter This Show to begin your submissions.

·      You do not need to resize your images as long as each is a minimum of 800 pixels on the longest side, and does not exceed 4 MB. All files must be jpg/jpeg format.

·      The submission fee for members is $35 for 1-3 pieces, plus $10 for each additional piece up to 5.  Membership must be fully paid before entering the show. The submission fee for nonmembers is $45 for 1-3 pieces, plus $10 for each additional up to 5. 

·      1 or a maximum of 2 pieces per artist may be accepted to the show.

Submission Requirements 

·      Work must be at least 80% soft pastel, with soft pastel as the final layer. 

·      Work must be less than 3 years old.

·      Work cannot exceed 48” in any direction, including frame. There is no minimum size.

·      Work must be based exclusively on the artist’s own photo reference, life set-up or plein air experience, concept, and composition.

·      Work must be directly and individually drawn or painted by the artist, not traced or otherwise created over a base photo.

·      Work must be exclusively the product of the artist. Work done in a class or workshop, online venue, or otherwise under the guidance or advice of an instructor, is not permitted.

·      Work that has previously been in a CMPS national show, or that has received a top award (Best, 1,2,3) in any national/international show by the submission deadline, is not permitted. 

·      Work that duplicates or is a near-copy of work that has been awarded in or sold from any national/international show is not permitted.

Delivery and Shipping of Accepted Work

Artists accepted into the exhibition will receive detailed instructions with their acceptance notification for either hand-delivering or shipping work to the venue according to the dates in the above calendar.  CMPS will send an email list to accepted artists for coordinating hand delivery as desired. The address for both hand delivery and shipping is:  Fivesparks, 7 Fairbank St, Harvard, MA 01451. 

There will be no handling fee for work shipped in an Airfloat Strong Box, Masterpak Titan Strongbox, or Uline Deluxe Art Shipper box. Work shipped in other packaging will carry a $50 handling fee payable at the time of shipping; no crates or packages with loose packing material will be accepted. Work must be shipped by commercial carrier (UPS, FedEx, DHL). Shipped work will be returned promptly after show close.

All work must be clean, securely framed, and wired for hanging in a non-metal frame. We recommend the use of a framer’s grade plexiglass for shipping large paintings to minimize shipping cost and risk.

Pricing and Sales

·      All work must be for sale exclusively through CMPS for the duration of the show. Prices should reflect market value for similar work by the artist. Work must remain hung until the show closes.

·      CMPS and Fivesparks will process sales at the show venue during gallery hours, and CMPS will process sales through the show store on its website. CMPS will receive a 35% commission on all sold work, which will be split 25% to CMPS and 10% to the venue. Artist proceeds will be remitted within 30 days of show close.

·      Unless a buyer is authorized to pick up purchased work on show closing, artists are responsible for delivery or shipping sold work to buyers.

Notices

·      CMPS and Fivesparks will use all reasonable care in receiving, hanging, showing, and returning work. Neither CMPS nor Fivesparks is responsible for any damage or loss to work incurred during shipping, hanging, or showing the work. It is recommended that artists insure their own work. 

·      CMPS reserves the right not to hang work that arrives damaged; is not properly wired for hanging; that is not equivalent to the image submitted for selection; or that otherwise does not conform to Submission Requirements. Damaged work will be reported to the artist and, if needed, returned at the artist’s expense.

·      Work shipped in an Airfloat Strongbox, Masterpak Titan Strongbox, or Uline Deluxe Art Shipper will notbe charged a handling fee. There will be a $50 fee for shipping with other containers and materials. Crates will not be accepted; Styrofoam peanuts and similar loose packing materials are not allowed.  Boxes that arrive unusable for return shipping must be replaced by the artist.

·      Submission fees are nonrefundable.

·      Failure to deliver an accepted painting will result in disqualification for entering any CMPS show for two years. 

·      All hand-delivered work must be picked up on 10/5 by either artist or buyer with receipt. Art cannot be stored and hand-delivered work cannot be return-shipped.

·      By entering the show, artists grant CMPS and Fivesparks the limited right to use images of the artist’s work, labeled with artist name and painting title, for promotional and news purposes related to the show.

For questions about this prospectus: president@cmpastels.org

For help with your submissions: onlinejuriedshows@gmail.com or 888-666-1351

Show Staff

Co-chairs: Jane Robbins, Shuk Susan Lee

MOD on the Web:  Alexia Rosoff Wilber