[eddym]

Also if I understand eddym’s point, if the juror doesn’t want landscapes in his/her exhibition (which I agree is the right (and job) of the juror), then if he/she thinks the photograph is a landscape, it can be skipped. If this is the case, perhaps the gallery or art center putting on the Photography Exhibition, should be more forthcoming about the genre that will be selected. Anything less, sorry eddym, is dishonest and unethical. Plain and simple, if you’re only going to accept contemporary portraiture, say so in the Prospectus; don’t take artist’s money when you know their art won’t be selected.

But I don’t want to digress from the core point: eddym, they didn’t review my art work and I am sure you’ll agree that was not right.

Derek, I'm not sure I understand why you are so sure that the organizers of the show knew that the juror would not accept anything but portraiture. Maybe they did, and maybe the show was misrepresented, as you allege. This could be the case, or it could just be that they did not know their juror well enough to realize that his prejudices were such that he would accept nothing that was not portraiture. If they did know that, then you are correct, they should have advertised the show as a portraiture show.

The point of my posting was just to present the issue from a different perspective, from the other side of the coin, so to speak. Sometimes what you expect from a juror is not what you get. It has happened to us. One reason I was very glad to retire from being president of our guild was that I would no longer have to listen to complaints about jurors and their decisions. Last year several of our members were rejected because the panel of three jurors did not believe that their works were "fine art," but came too close to being "crafts." These same members had been accepted into previous shows, and had won awards for their work. Had we known that these three jurors were going to reject the works that they did, of course we would have stated in the prospectus that they should not be entered into the show. But we didn't know. Artists were disappointed, but they came back to enter this year's show, and they were accepted. If we knew exactly what the jurors were going to choose, we wouldn't need them. We would just do it ourselves.

Your "core point" was that the juror did not review your work, and if that is true, then I do agree that it was "not right," in the sense that the show was not as advertised and promoted, not an "open category" show. But I am not so sure that it is true.

What do you expect to gain from your letter of complaint? The show is over, so you can't be accepted now. You will be able to vent your anger and disappointment, and if that makes you feel better, then go ahead. Me, I'm ready to write a flaming letter to Sears because the washing machine repairman didn't show up Thursday as he was scheduled. I just can't find the right address!

So write your letter if it makes you feel better. But don't expect it to change anything.