Performers Form Testing
Enter the Festival of the Arts Regional Arts Competition/Exhibition
Festival of the Arts continues the valued tradition of offering a juried exhibition for the community comprised of entries from: Allegan, Barry, Ionia, Kent, Montcalm, Muskegon, Newaygo, and Ottawa counties.
In honor of this being the 50th Festival, there will be three opportunities for Artists to enter works in Festival 2019 Competitions. You may enter one, two, or all three Competitions. Separate entry forms are linked or you may bring your works to the former GR Water Office Building during the hours and dates of drop off and volunteers will get you registered then.
The Regional Arts Competition and Exhibition will be structured as it has been before.
Each artist can enter up to three works. Application fee remains the same as last year – $25.00 for one entry, $40.00 for two, and $50.00 for three. Application registration remains open through the drop off date of May 4th so that our team can register walk-in entries. Jurors for each category, (2D, 3D, and mixed media, and photography) evaluate each entry to select the exhibition of work. After the selections have been made, the artists can then pick up non-selected entries on the specified dates.
In honor of the 50th Anniversary, Festival of the Arts will be hosting additional hospitality events with collectors and the community.
We highly encourage the artist to price their work for sale so that the attending public can purchase their work. 75% of the sale goes to the artists and 25% to Festival of the Arts.
Again for 2019, the exhibition will be held in The Fed Galleries at Kendall College of Art and Design (KCAD) of Ferris State University from Sunday, June 2, 2019, until Saturday, June 22, 2019. The work will remain hanging for the duration of the event with purchased stickers applied. Those who purchased pieces can arrange for pick up on the final weekend.
The second opportunity for artists to enter an arts competition will be Comic/Anime/Graphic Novel Illustration Art which will be juried separately from the Regional and will be displayed at a second location. Artists will be able to enter two works in theComic/Anime/Graphic Novel Illustration Art competition.
Photographers will have another opportunity to enter works in the “Bronzes of West Michigan” Photography Competition. Photographers may enter up to two pieces in this competition. Photos can be of any bronze out-door sculpture in the eight-county festival area. The contest was conceived to highlight the new bronze sculptures of the Grand Rapids Community Legends but is not meant to exclude other sculptures both ancient (i.e. John Ball) or recent (i.e. Rosa Parks). Non-figurative works in bronze can also be included. The selected works will be displayed in another location on the festival footprint.
2019 Regional Arts Competition Jurors
Mary Reusch
Juror for Painting, Drawing, and Prints
Mary’s art career began 40 years ago when she graduated from Grand Valley State University with a degree in commercial art. After working for various corporations and ad agencies, Mary returned to school at Aquinas College in 1996 to obtain a fine arts degree. In 1997 Mary was recommended for an internship at the Grand Rapids Art Museum, where she worked with the Curatorial Department. After graduating with her BFA, she was asked to join the group as the assistant registrar. For a few years, Mary worked at the art museum and painted in her studio. In 2001 she chose to work primarily as a studio artist, showing her work in various galleries in Grand Rapids, Ann Arbor, and Glen Arbor as well as South Bend, Indiana, and Chicago, Illinois. Mary has placed work in juried art competitions and participated in an artist-in-residency program.
In 2013 Mary returned to the Grand Rapids Art Museum, where she worked as the Interim Registrar for nearly a year and a half, interacting with the staff, and overseeing the collection, and gaining insight into the public art arena. Mary then continued to paint for exhibitions in the Grand Rapids area, as well as participate in ArtPrize. To expand her understanding and love of art, Mary has traveled to Paris, London, Amsterdam, Ghent, Bruges, Edinburgh, Dublin, Vienna, Reykjavik, Rio de Janeiro, Kyoto, and Seoul, visiting cultural centers and art museums. Mary’s work is included in private and public collections, including Spectrum Health, Lacks Cancer Center, St. Joseph Mercy Care Center, Grand Valley State University, Kent County Public Art, Aquinas College, The Grand Rapids Art Museum, and Michigan State University’s Public Art on Campus.
Kevin Buist
Juror for 3-Dimensional and Multi-Media works
Kevin Buist is a writer, curator, critic and Artistic Director of ArtPrize, where he oversees artists, operations, and design. He holds an MA in Visual and Critical Studies from Kendall College of Art and Design. He writes and speaks on behalf of ArtPrize to arts-focused audiences around the country, and co-hosts ArtPrize panel programming for live audiences, web video, and live TV. His independent writing has been featured in numerous print and online publications including the Art:21 Blog, where he was a Blogger in Residence, as well as MNartists.org, Michigan Quarterly Review, and kevinbuist.com/blog.
Matt Schenk
Juror for Comic/Graphic Novel/Anime
Matthew Schenk is an educator, illustrator and fine artist. He is the chair of Illustration and Medical Illustration at Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He has been working professionally since 1992, with a broad history of experience including: coloring books, album covers, medical illustrations and odds in ends. He has worked for diverse clients such as First Second Books, Chiropractic Monthly, Sony Columbia Tri-Star Children’s Entertainment and Sony Animation in Los Angeles, California. His time in animation was spent on many productions including the animated versions of Jackie Chan Adventures, Eight Crazy Nights, Men in Black, Jumanji and others in many different roles.
In addition to his illustration work, Matthew works as a fine artist and regularly exhibits his own work.
Randy Nyhof Juror for Photography
I have been involved in photography for over 50 years. I am self-taught as regards to the mechanics of photography. The ascetic values I learned from my art experience and looking at what was considered good photography. My approach to fine art photography to a great extent has been influenced by my education in college, majoring in studio art. I have been influenced by many artists and photographers too numerous to mention. At first, I used 35mm & medium format film cameras, but now all my images are captured with various digital cameras. I owned and operated a photography business for over 40 years engaging in wedding photography, senior portraits, family portraits, underclass school day portraits, and commercial product photography. Lately, I have become more involved in producing photographic fine art images. In addition to participating in local art shows and competitions within the last 20 years, I have had images published in Popular Photography Magazine, Canada’s PhotoLife Magazine, B&W Magazine, Focus Magazine, Austria’s Trierenberg Super Circuit Publications, Photographer’s Forum Best of Photography Annuals, Black River Calendar Publishing and local publications. I have also licensed a few photographs for several book covers and even a background screen for a British Rock Group. Recently I have licensed a number of my images to be sold on products at the Hobby Lobby Stores. Now in my retirement I keep busy with steady fine art photography online sales in several shop sites and am involved in local art & photography organizations, most notably with Grand Valley Artists.