Residents of Union County who are 60 years of age or older are invited to participate and exhibit an original work of art – completed within the last three years – in the annual Union County Senior Citizens Art Exhibit. Sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, the exhibit is open to entrants who are either amateur/non-professional or professional in status.
“While the exhibit itself is still months ahead, this invitation to participate gives artists ample time to prepare their artwork to be included in the exhibit,” said Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski, liaison to the Cultural and Heritage Programs Advisory Board. “The artwork will be displayed in the Atrium of the Elizabethtown Gas Company, Liberty Hall Center, 1085 Morris Avenue, Union, from June 1 to July 15, with a reception scheduled for Wednesday, June 13.”
Any person who meets at least two of the following criteria is considered professional: a) sold the type of art entered in the exhibition through commercial channels; b) exhibited in a professional gallery; c) held professional membership in a guild or association.
Following are the 11 categories of eligible work: oil, acrylic, watercolor (includes gouache), pastel (including chalk, charcoal and oil pastel), print (such as etching, engraving, lithograph, woodcut, monoprint, monotype, silkscreen), drawing (including pencil, pen, ink, graphite, and markers), mixed media (combines two or more media, not one of which clearly predominates; includes collage and assemblage), sculpture (designed in three dimensions, carved or constructed in any medium, abstract or figurative, painted or unpainted), craft (one-of-a-kind creations only, no craft kits or molds), computer imagery (artwork created by computer only, using a pixel-based painting or graphics program, such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator or Corel Painter), andphotography. Please note: photos taken with a digital camera, digitally-altered photos, and images made using a scanner must be entered in the Photography category.
Three professional artists will judge the entries. Awards will go to first, second, third place and honorable mention winners in each category. First place winners in all categories go on to compete in September at the New Jersey State Senior Citizens Art Show which will take place at the Meadow Lakes retirement community (www.meadowlakesonline.org) in East Windsor.
Guidelines require that hanging artwork, crafts and photos must be no more than 36 inches and no less than 11 inches in height and width, including matting, from outer edges of the frame. Standing sculptures or 3-D crafts may not exceed 18 inches in height, width or depth, including the base.
All works must be properly labeled and delivered “show-ready” with screw eyes and wiring ready for hanging. Where necessary, pictures must be protected with glass, Plexiglas, Mylar or other clear material. Plexiglas is strongly recommended on pieces over 24 inches.
To obtain an application, call Teya David, Senior Art Coordinator, at the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, 908-558-2550, or email culturalinfo@ucnj.org. Relay users dial 711. Submit applications via the email address; by U.S. Mail to the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, 633 Pearl Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202; or fax your application to 908-352-3513 before Wednesday, May 23, to be eligible for the exhibit.
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