Rejected! Or art that didn’t make the State Fair

Of the thousands of artworks submitted to the State Fair’s juried Fine Arts Competition, only 300 or so are picked to go on view. 

Enter the Burl Community Art Gallery (formerly the Argyle Zebra Gallery) of Lowertown, St. Paul. For the past few years, the gallery has hosted “Rejected,” a show in the spirit of the famed “Salon des Refusés” of 1863 in Paris, which showed the artworks that were rejected by the government-sponsored exhibition “Paris Salon,” one of the largest art shows in the world at the time.

“If you think about it,” says gallery runner Beth Stoneberg, the fair’s Fine Art Competition is “similar to the Salon … The chances of getting in are really narrow.”

This year, “Rejected!” features the artworks of about 70 Minnesota artists. Gallery owner Beth Stoneberg says the only participation requirement is that the artists submit the rejection letter they received from the State Fair.

“Really it’s our goal to accept everybody so they don’t have to go through a second rejection,” says Stoneberg, who is also an artist. She submitted art to the fair once and was rejected.

“Our hope is really that it will provide some inspiration and motivation to keep creating,” Stoneberg says. “For whatever reason, the State Fair holds a lot of weight for artists, and the rejection hits a little bit harder. From what I’ve seen and how I interact with the artists, it really takes them a while to sort of get over it.”

The exhibition opens Saturday, Aug. 24, and runs through Sept. 22. Generally, the volunteer-run gallery is only open Saturdays and Sundays, but there will be an artist reception 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12. At the reception, the gallery will host a vote for a People’s Choice award.

“I think it really speaks to the talent in Minnesota,” Stoneberg says.

Gallery: More rejected art

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