It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!

It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!

It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!

It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!

It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!

It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!

It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!

It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!

It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!

It will be soon announced that yours truly will be the judge for this year’s "Paint the Town" Labor Day Show sponsored by the Montgomery Art Association

The Paint the Town Labor Day Show is one of the region’s largest and longest-running art shows composed of all local artists. The show will be open to the public Saturday-Monday, September 3-5, and I will do both the closed-door judging and then and on Saturday, September 3, I will also judge the plein air competition and then present the awards. 

The answer used to come in the mail - now it usually comes out via email. An accepted notice brings joy, while a rejected note needs little explanation. It is the agony and the satisfaction of the juried art show.

Entering juried art shows is perhaps the most common way for emerging artists to build a resume, to expose one's works to a wider audience and above all, to compete with our peers. It is the raison d'etre for Art Calendar and other magazines and web sites.

As a young emerging artist, I have entered countless of these shows over the early years of my career. As a regularly published writer in the Washington, D.C. area, I often review the shows once they are hung. Later in my career, as a seasoned juror for many of these competitions around the capital region, I have had plenty of first hand exposure to the inner guts of this art phenomenon. As the poet Marti wrote "I have been inside the monster, and I know its innards well."

Provided that they are fair and staged by a reputable art space, there are no tricks that will guarantee acceptance into the juried competition. However, there are steps which artists can take to increase their chances for being accepted. The following checklist will help you increase those chances and assumes that you, the artist, is looking for a competition outside of your city, but can also work in your own backyard. An earlier version of this post was published as an article in Art Calendar magazine several decades ago.

The Gallery - The reputation and location of the gallery or art space holding the juried art show is perhaps the most important item in the list of various things to investigate before one decides to enter a show. The internet is a great resource: does the gallery have a webpage? If so, visit it and get a general flavor for what kind of shows they have been hanging lately. A reputable gallery sometimes gets reviewed in the local press. Since newspapers have online versions, do a search, write or email the newspaper's art critic with a simple question about the gallery. Even if not reviewed, reputable galleries are often listed in the Weekend or Leisure section of most major metropolitan newspapers. Find some artists' websites in the same city and ask them about the gallery. As a last resort, the artist can always call the gallery and ask them questions. Furthermore, the actual exhibition space itself is important. How many pieces does the gallery intend to select? (As a question to the gallery (provided that the competition has been held in previous years) is: "How many pieces were accepted last year? Followed quickly by: "How many pieces were entered?"). Good shows attract larger numbers of entries, so be wary of a low number of submissions, but if 3,000 entries are expected and ten will be hung, well - you get my drift. Finally, find out what does the galleries do to advertise the show. For example, is there an opening for the artists and the show? A good entry form should answer these questions, if not, call the gallery and ask them. Needless to say, avoid vanity galleries at all costs and be suspicious of art galleries which seem to be always staging a juried competition. 

The Juror - The entry form should list some of the qualifications of the juror. Researching his or her background is perhaps the single most influential action in increasing one's chances of being accepted. As jurors, we all bring our prejudices to the process, even if we deny it in public. If the juror is an artist, chances art that he or she will tend to favor the type of art that he produces. This sounds very subjective, but generally, even while we speak of the brotherhood of the arts, we essentially tend to be very clannish about what we like as art. An artist/juror who paints solidly abstract works is more likely to identify with abstraction than with photorealism - don't let anyone fool you into believing anything else. Some art galleries seem to have an unhealthy love affair with academic jurors, and these are perhaps the hardest to "judge." If the jurors are art professors, chances are that they will also be artists, so look at their art for hints. If curators, museum directors, art critics or any other form of arts intelligentsia, look at their products for a hint. An art critic who raves about the work of Cy Twombly is probably not going to pick Norman Rockwell for an exhibition. Conversely, a museum curator whose last three exhibitions have dealt with rediscovering Victorian art is not likely to select a Rothko-look-alike for a juried show.

The Awards - A competition without awards is not necessarily bad; however, the opportunity to win some money at an art event (and thus a return in your entry fee investment) is a powerful enticement to enter a show. Be careful of purchase awards, which means that the gallery will deliver cash awards, but they will keep your piece. This is also OK, as long as you are aware of it. 

Entry Fees - A $20 - $45 dollar fee for three entries is generally the average normal range for most competitions. Other than funds to ship and insure the return of an accepted entry, any additional handling fees, hanging fees, etc. is (in my opinion) a scam and artists should stay away from competitions which require further cash resources past the entry fees and return cost of accepted pieces.  

Size - Here's a dirty secret from juried competitions: At practically every competition which I have juried, the gallery owner or museum director has always said: "I won't tell you what to pick, but please try to select as many artists as possible." This often means that great art that will consume significant wall acreage may not be selected in favor of several smaller pieces. Most competitions limit the size of the entries, yet I am astounded at the number of entries which routinely exceed the specified size and are rejected for that reason (although they keep your entry fee). Submit manageable pieces which can be easily shipped, hung and (if not sold) returned. 

Time - Here's another secret: Most competitions start preparing entries for jurying as it arrives. That means that the juror usually views the very first entries first. Although most jurors view (or should view) the entries more than once, it is probably safer to be somewhere in the middle of the viewing process, after the jurors have stretched their mental engines, than at the very beginning. Time the arrival of your entries to land at the gallery about a week before the deadline. If the entries are arranged alphabetically, then ignore this section.

The Images - I know you have all heard this time and time again, but the quality of your images is second only to the quality of the work itself! I was astounded a while back to jury a competition for a local gallery in DC, and discover an entry which had two of three images completely out of focus, and several whose works had been shot though framed glass and the reflections from the flash made the work impossible to see. These artists had not even looked at their entries before submitting them. The best thing to do is to actually project the digital images and see what they look like on the wall - you'd be surprised at what can be seen.

With the exception of competitions where the show is picked from the original work, the gallery or art space hosting the competition usually arranges for the image viewing with the juror(s). In competitions where there is more than one juror, interesting debates about the merit of art takes place, and more often than not, compromises. However, in the final decision, it is the work itself that delivers the final verdict.

Where to find competitions - Artwork Archive (a great resource) has the following recommendations:

Artwork Archive | Call for Entry

Free to peruse, we feature everything from dream residencies and life-changing grants, to fun festivals, art business workshops, and competitions for some extra cash. We make it easy to search, too! Filter by opportunity type, location, event dates, eligibility, and more to find exactly what your art practice needs to flourish.

CaFÉ

While you may know this site for its wide array of calls for shows, exhibitions, and residencies, this site also boasts a collection of grants and awards. Search through the listings at no cost which covers all the need-to-know details for applying, including entry deadline, fees, location eligibility, and more.

The Art Guide

Not sure if you want to apply through a third party, Art Guide is the free artist opportunity site for you. This call for entries website allows you to apply directly to the organization offering the grant. The list is updated daily so there'll always be a great new opportunity to pursue.

ArtOpportunities.org

Formerly Artist Opportunity Monthly, all you need to do is sign up with your email and they send you thoroughly screened opportunities every month, including grants. AOM prides itself on ensuring each opportunity is worthwhile. A more comprehensive monthly list is offered at $5 a year.

ArtDeadline.com

Another site you may have heard of is ArtDeadline.com. According to their website, it is “the largest and most respected source for artists seeking income and exhibition opportunities.” The site may cost you a subscription fee of $20 a year to view the majority of its opportunities, but you can still browse many grants listed for free on their homepage and the @ArtDeadline Twitter account.

Curator Space

CuratorSpace is a project management toolkit for curators, organizers, galleries, and artists. It is designed to take the hassle out of managing exhibitions, competitions, fairs, and a whole lot more. Plus, they are a great site for finding art opportunities worldwide!

Re-title.com

Re-title is a service for professional contemporary artists searching for opportunities, such as competitions, exhibitions, residencies, etc. A site for international contemporary art, this is another great site to find opportunities around the world! There’s even a map you can click on to search opportunities regionally and world clocks at the top of their site so you can submit applications on time!

Resartis.org

Res Artist is a Worldwide Network of Arts Residencies from around the globe. The network comprises more than 700 vetted members in over 85 countries. They aim to support and connect residencies, engage and advocate the importance of residencies in today’s society by providing artists with resources and upcoming residency information. 

Art Rabbit 

Art Rabbit compiles a selection of international open calls and opportunities for contemporary art-related competitions, prizes, exhibitions, awards, proposals, and grants for artists, writers, and curators. They publish a selection of open calls from a pool of submissions and editorial research. Only open calls believed to offer meaningful benefits to applicants at different stages of their careers are published.

Creative Capital 

Creative Capital is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is to fund artists in the creation of groundbreaking new work in the visual arts, performing arts, literature, film, technology, and multidisciplinary practices, including socially-engaged work in all forms. Our pioneering model of grantmaking also provides thousands of artists with scaffolding and infrastructure support via professional development programs, networking opportunities, and educational resources.

Art Show 

Artshow.com attracts thousands of artists and art enthusiasts each day. They advertise worldwide juried shows, exhibitions, and competitions across any and all mediums. Artshow.com has been recognized in "Must-See Web Sites for Artists" by The Artist's Magazine and has received favorable mention in several other art publications, including American Artist, Southwest Art, Watercolor Magic, and The Pastel Journal, as well as The Wall Street Journal.

With a bit of preparation, and a small amount of research, you as the artist may find that "accepted" box marked more often in the future. Good luck!

 Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant

Created in 1993 to further FCA's mission to encourage, sponsor, and promote work of a contemporary, experimental nature, Emergency Grants provide urgent funding for visual and performing artists who:

•  Have sudden, unanticipated opportunities to present their work to the public when there is insufficient time to seek other sources of funding
•  Incur unexpected or unbudgeted expenses for projects close to completion with committed exhibition or performance dates

Emergency Grants is the only active, multi-disciplinary program that offers immediate assistance of this kind to artists living and working anywhere in the United States, for projects occurring in the U.S. and abroad. Each month FCA receives an average of 95 Emergency Grant applications and makes approximately 12-15 grants. Grants range in amount from $500 to $3,000, and the average grant is now $1,700.

DEADLINE:  Ongoing Deadline 

WHO: Residing in U.S. or U.S. territories. Visual and performing artists.

AMOUNT: Up to $3,000

FEE: FREE

The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) in Maryland just announced a $6,747,706 annual budget appropriation which includes $6,339,106 for AHCMC grants and administration and an additional $408,000 for the Public Arts Trust. The $6.7M appropriation was unanimously approved by the Montgomery County Council and represents a significant increase over the FY22 budget and flat funding for public art.  

“We are especially grateful to receive a record increase in funding for FY23 from the County Executive and Montgomery County Council,” says Dana Pauley, Board Chair for the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “Recovery remains slow for our creative economy and many other local industries; receiving this support demonstrates the county's commitment to invest in the full recovery and stability of our arts and humanities sector.”  

“The decision to include the creative sector in the county’s strong economic rebound strategies substantiates the essential role of our cultural community in Montgomery County,” states Suzan Jenkins, CEO of the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County. “The arts and humanities buoyed our local communities in our darkest hours and continue to do so today. AHCMC is exceedingly thankful and proud to continue supporting financial recovery for the artists, scholars and arts managers that make up our incredible creative industry.”  

The Arts and Humanities Council will award $5,646,737 of the FY23 appropriation in grants that support the arts and humanities sector. Grant funding is available for general operating support, creative project support, and capacity building projects. All funding will be distributed through AHCMC’s existing grant channels, which support cultural institutions and individual artists and scholars across the entire county. The FY23 budget will go into effect on July 1.  

 Six years ago my courageous mother died... this is my eulogy from that day:

When my father died last year, I began his eulogy by noting that another oak had fallen.

This morning, around 1:25AM, Ana Olivia Cruzata Marrero de Campello, his wife of over 60 years, and my beloved mother, passed on on the day of her 97th birthday.

If my father was an oak, then my mother was an equally strong, but also very pliable, and elegant tree.  When hurricanes attack the main lands of the world, the strong tall trees often fall, but the pliable ones, like plantain trees, always give with the wind, and survive the storms, and thrive in the drenching rains.

My mother was like a an aged plantain tree, not only immensely strong and pliable, but also giving and nurturing.

Like many Cuban women of her generation and her social-economic background, she had never worked for a living in Cuba, and yet within a few days of our arrival in New York in the 1960s, she was working long hours in a sewing factory, putting her formidable seamstress skills, honed in the social sewing and embroidery gathering of young Cuban girls, to use in the "piece work" process of the New York sewing factories.

As soon as we saved the money, one of the first things that my mother bought was an electric sewing machine - a novelty to her, as she had always used one of the those ancient Singer machines with a foot pedal.

I remember as a child in Brooklyn, that women used to bring her fabric and a page from a magazine with a woman wearing a dress. Without the benefit of a sewing pattern, my mother would whip up a copy of the dress that was more often than not probably better made than the original. As the word of her skills spread, so did her customers and soon she was making more money working at home than at the factory - but she kept both jobs.

I once noted to her that I admired the courage that it must have taken  her to leave her family and immigrate to the United States. "We didn't come here as immigrants," she corrected me. "We came as political refugees, and I initially thought that we'd be back in Cuba within a few years at the most."

When the brutal Castro dictatorship refused to loosen its stranglehold on her birth place, she became an immigrant, and from there on an American citizen from her white-streaked hair down to her heel bone (that's a Cuban saying). Like my father, she loved her adopted country with a ferocity, that I sometimes feel that only people who have been bloodied by Communism can feel for a new, free homeland.

As as I've noted before, Cubans are archaic immigrants... we love this great nation because we recognize its singular and unique greatness; perhaps it is because our forebears had the same chance at greatness and blew it.

I remember as a teenager, once I started going out to parties and things at night on my own (around age 16 or so), that my mother would wait up for me, sitting by the third floor window of our Brooklyn apartment, where she could survey the whole neighborhood and see as far as the elevated LL subway station a few blocks away, to watch me descend the station stairs and trace my way home.

My mother was always fit and, as once described by my father, "flaca como un fusil" (as slim as a rifle). She was strong and fast. She was also quiet, but never silenced, and when needed, could and would command attention.

My mother was always well dressed and superbly coiffed. When we'd go to parties and events, women would always ask her where she'd gotten that dress! The answer was always the same: she'd made it!

At least once a week, to my father's dismay, and in spite of his demands that my mother stop it, she'd get her hair done at the nearby peluqueria (hair dresser).

My dad knew, and respected his limits with my mother. 

I remember one time that my father and I were returning from shopping at the supermarket, dragging one of those wheeled folding carts that could carry four full paper grocery bags. It had been snowing, so the Brooklyn streets were wet and muddy.

When we got to our apartment my father opened the door. He then stood there.

"Go in!" I demanded.

"We'll have to wait," he said gloomily, "Your mother mopped the floor and it's still wet." This giant, tough, street-brawling Galician then looked at me sheepishly, "I'd rather walk through a mine field than step on your mother's wet floor."

I learned a lesson there.

She used to delight in telling stories how, as a child, she would often win the horse races that kids staged around the small country towns where she was raised in Oriente province, where her father was a Mayoral.

"I almost always won," she'd say, and then would add: "Even though I was a skinny girl."

Once, in her seventies, back in the days where you could actually accompany people to the departing gates at airports, we were escorting my oldest daughter Vanessa, who had come to visit, and we were running late. As we got to the airport, we ran to the gate, and to everyone's surprise, Abuela got there first. I still remember how delighted my daughter was that her grandmother could still run like a gazelle.

When I joined the Navy at age 17, my first duty station was USS SARATOGA, which at the time was stationed in Mayport in Florida, and thus my parents decided to migrate south to Florida and moved to Miami... just to be close to me.

They spent the next 40 years in the same apartment while I was stationed all over the world.

The mostly Cuban-American families that lived over the years in that apartment loved my mother, and would always tell me stories about my mother, ever the nurturer, bringing them food when she knew that they were going over tough times, or riding the buses with them, just to show them the routes.

This week, when I arrived in Miami, already somewhat knowing that this was approaching the end, I saw her with tubes coming out of her mouth and her eyes closed. When I spoke to her she opened her eyes, and in spite of the visuals that my eyes were seeing she somehow still managed to look strong. 

I showed her photos and movies of her grand children, and talked to her for a long time.

I thanked her for having the courage to leave her motherland and afford me the opportunity to grow as an American.

When she was being extubated, a young woman came into the room with a guitar and played and sang the haunting free prose of Guajira Guantanamera (The peasant girl from Guantanamo); a most fitting song, since my mother was from Guantanamo, and she came from strong Cuban peasant stock.

"Guajira pero fina (A peasant, but a very refined woman)", noted a neighbor and my mother's loving caretaker. 

The song, which can start with just about any prose, started with the Jose Marti poem:

 Yo quiero, cuando me muera, sin patria, pero sin amo, tener en mi tumba un ramo de flores y una bandera

I want to, when I die, without my motherland, but without a master, to have on my tomb a bunch of flowers and a flag.

She died without a master, a strong and pliable woman who not only gave me the gift of life, but also the gift of freedom.

And as my mother died in her sleep in the early hours of the morning, in the capital city of the bitter Cuban Diaspora, all that I could gather to say to her was mostly the same that I said to my father when he passed last year: "Thank you for your courage... from me, and from my children... and soon from their children. You opened a whole new world for them."

I love you Mami... Un Abrazo Fuerte! Thank you for your gifts to me and my children, and happy birthday in Heaven!