Arts Alliance seeking artwork for annual juried art show
By Angela Greiner Contributing Writer

PHOTO/PETER WORREST (l to r) Executive Director Jan Patterson, Publicist/Community Outreach Director Susan Alatalo and Program Director Barbara Worrest are currently working on the Arts Alliance fall schedule.

Region - The Arts Alliance is currently excepting registration forms for its annual juried art show. The art exhibit will be held at Citizens Bank in Hudson, where chosen pieces will be on display from Tuesday Oct. 2 through Friday Nov. 2 during regular banking hours for both banking customers and the public to view.

The show will feature artwork from artists age 18 and over in four categories: painting, photography, drawing and prints, and three-dimensional mixed media. Some of the artwork submitted will be chosen for display, and firstplace gift certificates will be awarded to pieces in all four categories.

Visual artists interested in entering the show can submit up to two works that have been completed in the past two years and that have not been previously shown in other Arts Alliance exhibits. Artists are required to register by Thursday Sept. 27. There is a submission fee per entry of $8 for Arts Alliance members and $12 for nonmembers.

Susan Alatalo from the Arts Alliance said that the art exhibit has been an annual event for more than 10 years. The annual exhibit has been held at the same location despite three bank name changes. Alatalo remem- bered attending the event in the early 1990s when what is now Citizens Bank was Hudson Community Bank. She thought it was a good location because it provided a nice space for the exhibit as well as being accessible to the town center.

"We try to make the general customers welcome," Alatalo said. "You do not have to be a banking customer to view the art."

Each year the Arts Alliance uses a different panel of experts to judge the competition. The judges for this year's competition have not yet been disclosed, but they will select which pieces to display and will choose the winners.

Because judges have different tastes, Alatalo said, by rotating judges each year, they keep the exhibit fresh.

The ready-to-hang artwork should be delivered to the bank Saturday Sept. 29 between 9 and 11 a.m. From there the art will be judged and selections made for hanging.

Awards will be given out at an artist reception at the bank Thursday Oct. 11 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. That reception is open to the public.

Some of the artwork in the exhibit will be for sale.

"There are several sales of the art at every show," Alatalo said. "Exhibits like these enable the community to enjoy the enormous talent of local artists, while giving gifted individuals a local venue in which to display their creative works."

Submitted work must not exceed 32 inches by 40 inches and must be ready to hang, with a name tag on the back of the piece. Three-dimensional works must not exceed 20 by 40 by 14 inches and must be accompanied by a pedestal or stand for display.

For more information about the show or any other programs, contact the Arts Alliance at www.upwitharts. org.