A Sense of Place

Gertrude Herbert - Opens September 19 

It’s that time of year again for the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art’s A Sense of Place Juried Art show, opening for its 28th year on September 19. This year, the show coincides with Augusta’s Westobou Festival, which should add to the increasing popularity of the annual exhibit. 

A juried show has a judge or “juror” that accepts or declines an artist’s work into an exhibition based on the theme of the show, expectations from the gallery, and sometimes the juror’s personal criteria.  Though there are prizes awarded to the best in show, it is also significant to have made it into the exhibit. 

A Sense of Place has proven to be nothing short of a success for the gallery, and the evidence is in the amount of submissions it receives in preparation for the event. This year over 1000 artists submitted work to be juried. The show’s chosen juror, Amanda Cooper of the Arts Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, found it difficult to whittle down the selection to thirty-eight artists representing twenty-two states to be featured this fall. “When I first heard the theme of this exhibition, I naively assumed I would be looking at numerous interpretations of the landscape,” says Cooper in response to show’s titled theme. “Imagine my surprise and delight when I saw the creative extent to which these many artists went to convey the theme, very few of which consisted of the traditional trees and lake views.” It’s true, at first, one may naively expect to find a literal and redundant collection, but ultimately this theme can be deciphered to include all sorts of context from one’s place in society to a mental state of mind. 

A Sense of Place is not only a pleasure to the artist’s showing, but it’s a great place to view work that may otherwise be unseen in Augusta. 

A Sense of Place 28th Annual Juried Fine Art Competition opens on Friday, September 19 with a reception and awards presentation at 6 pm.  The exhibit is open to the public.