This year three distinguished jurors will judge over 1,300 submissions to the 2011 Sooke Fine Arts Show and Sale. Adjudication takes place June 27 and 28.
“It’s an arduous process, with each juror spending a good portion of a full day judging the art individually and all three judges make final decisions on the second day. This year, the information is being compiled digitally, a process that complements the show’s initiative to be greener and streamline its processes,” said Sally Manning, chair of the 2011 Show.
The three jurors are Carole Sabiston, Richard White, and Nixie Barton. All three jurors fulfill the show’s extensive criteria for show judging. As respected arts professionals, they are, between them, familiar with a large range of working art mediums and styles, as well as understanding the needs of gallery showings and exhibition requirements.
Carole Sabiston has worked for over 40 years in textile, paint and mixed media, as well as theatre sets and costumes. Her large-scale architectural pieces are displayed locally in the Victoria Public Library, Royal Bank and McPherson Theatre. Her works have been commissioned and exhibited across Canada, the UK, the United States and Japan. Some of her many honours include the Saidye Bronfman Award in 1987, the Order of British Columbia, the Queen’s Jubilee Medal, election to the Royal Canadian Academy in 1992 and an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from the University of Victoria in 1995.
Richard White has been involved with the arts in Western Canada for 30-plus years as a collector, artist, curator, public art gallery executive director, freelance writer and editor. He was the Curator and Executive Director of the Muttart Public Art Gallery from 1985 to 1995, at which time it was so successful it had outgrown its space. White is currently Reviews Editor with Galleries West magazine and Managing Director of Riddell Kurczaba Architecture’s 3D visualization studio in Calgary.
Nixie Barton grew up on Canada’s West Coast and gained her formal art training at UVic and Nanaimo’s Malaspina College. Her paintings often reflect the imagery, colours and strong patterns she finds in her extensive home garden on Vancouver Island. Barton describes her own work as having a “wonky sense of composition.”
Artists who are accepted will have the honour of seeing their work hung in the 25th Sooke Fine Arts Show, a landmark year for the largest juried show on Vancouver Island. This year $11,000 in prizes will be awarded. The jurors alone decide on prize awards, with the only exceptions being the Children’s Choice and People’s Choice awards, which are voted on by the public attending the show. The jury will select approximately 375 works of art to appear in this year’s show.
The 2011 Sooke Fine Arts Show opens to the public at the SEAPARC Leisure Complex on Saturday, July 23 and runs for 10 days through Monday, August 1. For further information about special events and directions go to www.sookefinearts.com .
