The Argus FINALLY printed this letter. Unfortunately they did not print the toon I did to go along with it. Oh well. You can see that below:

It seems the Washington Pavilion Arts Night Committee is taking a page from SculptureWalk when it comes to selecting art. Arts Night’s secret jurors used vague criteria to pick who could donate to Arts Night this year.

When Arts Night started just six years ago, the Pavilion had no problem with begging local artists to donate. Last year though they started to jury the event because of it’s popularity. That’s right, the same organization that asks for money from the city every year to subsidize it’s programs rejects donations from local artists. Thirty-four artists were rejected this year which approximately could have brought in over $25,000 in additional funds to the Visual Arts Center. Funds that help keep the VAC free throughout the year.

I was one of the artists who was rejected. As an artist who has submitted art to many juried shows, I know rejection is common place, I do not take issue with rejection. What makes this show different then other juried shows is that the jury is kept secret and criteria for rejection is kept vague. Each rejected artist received a form letter as to why they were rejected. What also makes this odd is the rejection of a donation. Especially from artists who have been giving to the event for several years.

The Pavilion has oodles of excuses as to why they limit their submissions, and some of them are acceptable: quality, saleability etc. What is unacceptable is keeping jurors secret and criteria vague – especially in a publicly funded facility.

I questioned David Merhib, the Visual Arts Center Director, for specifics on why I was rejected and who the jurors were. He denied me the information. It is important that jurors are made known for several reasons, and retaliation is not one of them, that assertion is ridiculous. Commonly it is out of respect for the artist. Being judged by unknowns is unusual in juried shows.

Rejecting art on it’s own merits is fair. Rejecting art because you disagree with an artist’s personal beliefs is shallow. When will the art organizations in Sioux Falls learn that secrecy only creates suspicion?