ALBANY – This year marks a milestone year for the Albany Area Arts Council as it gets ready to host its 25th annual Southwest Georgia Regional Fine Art Exhibition and Sale.
The exhibition is an opportunity for any local or regional artists to showcase their work and potentially make sales and win prize money. It’s the largest platform in the region for artists.
“It’s a great opportunity, not just for our more experienced artists to participate in and be a part of our creative community, but also for our less experienced artists to have an opportunity to exhibit their work in a space when they may not have the body of work to have their own kind of a show,” Nicole Williams, the AAAC’s executive director, said.
The exhibition is open to all artists 18 and older, with a maximum of two pieces per artist and an entry fee of $35. The submission deadline is May 12. Artwork must be hand-delivered to the AAAC by May 19. The exhibit launches June 5. Williams said typically 50 artists and about 100 pieces are entered in the show.
There is no theme for the exhibition, but art must fall into three broad categories: photography and digital art, painting and mixed media, and sculpture and ceramics. It’s up to the artists’ discretion how they would like to categorize their art. There are prizes available in each category.
Williams said the exhibition attracts unique art from all across the Southeast. Last year’s best in show winner was a blacksmith who entered in the sculpture category.
“That was the first time in my tenure that we’d ever had a blacksmith enter the exhibition,” she said. “It was really interesting to see that different type of artwork. It was a surprising and kind of unusual idea of how what you’re doing is art.”
Williams said this year feels monumental, marking a quarter of a century of the annual exhibition.
“It feels really good to have been able to carry on this tradition that began long before I was at the Arts Council,” she said.
Williams said the exhibition has evolved in many ways. Over the years, art was showcased at locations around the community, like the Thronateeska Heritage Center, downtown Conference buildings and the Flint RiverQuarium. About 10 years ago, the AAAC brought the exhibition back home to the Arts Council’s Carnegie Library building.
“While it’s evolved slightly, the truth of the matter is that it’s one of those programs that, at its core, is creating an opportunity for local creative people to exhibit their work and share, not only space at the exhibition but also the togetherness of the experience,” Williams said.
She said the event is a “wonderfully celebratory community event.”
“It’s the reason that it has continued for this long,” Williams said. “Obviously, we’re really dedicated to continuing to make this happen, but the artists themselves are dedicated to participating, and I think that it is the spirit of the thing that makes it so viable over time.”
Williams encouraged artists to apply in the last two weeks until the deadline, especially those artists who might be new to exhibitions.
“Part of being an artist is being willing to let people see what you’re doing,” she said. “It’s having something to say and wanting to put that thing into the world, and it is an incredibly brave act.”
Williams said it’s exciting each year to see the show come together.
“There is something about having this show come together with all of these artists and their brave souls putting what they’re making out into the world that is absolutely beautiful,” she said. “We want to encourage everyone to be a part of that conversation and that community and this exhibition.”
The link to register is https://albanyartscouncil.org/jas-register/.