Walnut Gallery is seeking entries for its Mug Extravaganza – an exhibition celebrating contemporary interpretations of the mug: everyone’s favorite behandled drinking vessel! Mugs can be interpreted in various ways; utilitarian, sculpturally, or conceptually.
Five cash awards will be given out for outstanding mugs worthy of recognition for their innovative interpretation on form and design, execution, and use of the ceramic processes; clay, glaze, and firing. Steve Loucks, Professor of Art at Jacksonville State University, is the juror assessing the works on the following criteria: the object as a mug, craftsmanship, and the interpretive concept.
Rules and Criteria
In order to be considered for inclusion, your mug must meet the following criteria:
- Must be made dominantly out of clay and glaze materials
- Must be made within the last two years
- Must be a drinking vessel with a handle of some kind
- Works must not exceed 18″ (eighteen inches) in any dimension, nor weigh over 25 pounds
The exhibition is open to all ceramic artists.
The entry fee is $25.00 for up to three mugs. Walnut Gallery encourages sales and will retain a 30% commission on all sales.
Mug Extravaganza Entry Fee
The entry fee may be paid by using the Paypal button above or by check or money order.
Checks must be made out to Walnut Gallery and must be mailed to: Walnut Gallery, 534a Walnut Street, Gadsden, AL, 35901.
How to Enter
Email your entries to: mario@walnutgallery.org
Your email must include the following information. Please note, Walnut Gallery will ONLY use this contact information for the purposes of your entry to our Mug Extravaganza – your information will not be shared or used for any other purposes
Your name:
Mailing address:
Email address:
Telephone number:
A photo of each piece you wish to enter (up to 3 per $25 entry fee – see above for details on paying the entry fee). Photos must be no larger than 1 MB in size and 1024 pixels in either direction.
For each piece, we need to know:
Title:
Dimensions (Height, Width, Depth):
Technical information (materials, process, etc):
Retail price / insurance value / or not for sale (NFS):
Note: Images of accepted mugs may be published on Walnut Gallery’s website for promotional purposes.
Acceptance and the Mug Extravaganza
Notification of acceptance will be sent via email. Work that differs from the images submitted may be rejected and not displayed in the exhibition.
The artist is responsible for shipping the mugs to and from Walnut Gallery. Include a check made out to Walnut Gallery for return shipping via United States Postal Service ground. For mugs that have sold, the check for return shipping will be returned along with the payment for the mug.
Accepted mugs should be shipped to arrive between September 1 and 15, to the following address: Walnut Gallery, 534a Walnut Street, Gadsden, AL, 35901.
Walnut Gallery will insure the mugs while on exhibit up to $250.00 per mug.
The exhibition opens Friday evening, October 5 and closes Friday, November 16, 2012.
Unsold mugs will be returned within two weeks of the closing of the exhibition.
There will be an opening reception October 5, 7:00 – 9:00pm where the award winners will be announced. Light refreshments will be served. Steve Loucks, juror, will share some comments on the work and the exhibition.
(Exact opening and exhibition dates are subject to change)
About the Juror:
Steve Loucks
Steve Loucks received his MFA in 1985 from the New York College of Ceramics at Alfred University, Alfred, NY and his BFA in 1983 from the Universityof Illinois at Champaign/Urbana. Steve is a studio potter and a Full Professor of Art at Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, Alabama. Steve exhibits his work nationally in invitational and juried exhibitions and has received many exhibition awards for his work. He has conducted numerous workshops which include the Odyssey Center of the Arts, Penland School of Crafts, and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Steve was awarded Alabama State Council on the Arts Fellowship in Crafts grants in 2000 and 2008 and a Southern Arts Federation / National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Crafts in 1995. Steve, with the help of his wife, Lynnette Hesser, has hosted the Alabama Clay Conference three times. He has been a Topical Group Discussion Leader several times for the National Council on the Education for the Ceramic Arts (NCECA) and was also a “Glaze Doctor”.