by Carolyn Edlund
You submitted excellent work to a juried exhibition and felt confident about your chances. Then the rejection arrived. What happened?
As someone who has evaluated and scored artists for decades, I can tell you that very good artists can get rejected. Sometimes, artists I would have chosen for awards haven’t made it into a show at all.
Understanding how jurying works can help you put those decisions in perspective. I have juried by myself and as part of a group, reviewing applications for exhibitions, art fairs and featured artist opportunities here on Artsy Shark. Each process has its own requirements. Some involve reviewing a handful of artwork images. Others allow a broader look at an artist’s portfolio and supporting materials.
When several jurors participate, the final selections reflect their combined scores. Your application can receive very different responses from the people evaluating it.
How group scoring works
In many group jury situations, each juror scores independently, without seeing anyone else’s scores. Sometimes, I don’t even know who the other jurors are.
For an art fair, applications are often divided into categories such as jewelry, wood, photography, glass and painting. Jurors evaluate artists within each category, comparing work in similar mediums.
The scoring system can vary. One system I have used assigns scores of 1 through 7 for each piece of artwork or each artist, with 1 being the lowest. A score of 4 is not allowed. Eliminating that middle number prevents a neutral response and requires the juror to score either up or down.
After everyone completes their evaluations, the scores are averaged. The organizer then selects the highest-scoring applicants for the available spaces, often within each category. That last detail matters, because an artist may submit excellent work and still fall below the cutoff in a crowded category.
What one low score can do
Consider an application that receives scores of 7, 7 and 2. Its average is 5.33. Another artist receives three scores of 6, averaging 6. The second artist ranks higher, even though two jurors gave the first artist their highest possible score. If the acceptance cutoff is 6, the first artist will be left out. In this situation, one juror hasn’t directly vetoed the application. But their low score has pulled the average below the level needed for acceptance.
I’ve seen this happen to artists whose work I thought was outstanding. It can be frustrating as a juror, too. My own enthusiasm cannot determine the outcome when the decision rests on combined scores.
Strong scores throughout the panel improve an artist’s chances. An enthusiastic response from one juror may not be enough.
Why jurors disagree
Jurors bring experience and judgment to the task, along with personal preferences. We strive to evaluate fairly, but we won’t all respond to the same work in the same way.
Photographs can also affect the result. A piece may have qualities that are difficult to appreciate in the submitted image. Poor lighting, glare or an unclear view of the surface can leave a juror unconvinced. In an image-based jury, we must evaluate what we can see. We cannot assume that the actual piece is better than its photograph.
Despite these differences, group jurying usually produces a strong exhibition or art fair. The combined decisions bring together work that has earned support from several people. That doesn’t mean every excellent submission will be included.
What to do with a rejection
A rejection tells you that your submission wasn’t selected by this jury, from this applicant pool, for the spaces available. It does not establish that your work is inferior.
Review what you can control. Did your images accurately represent the work? Did your selections belong together? Were the submission requirements followed? Was this an appropriate opportunity?
If scores or feedback are available, use them to assess your presentation. Without that information, avoid inventing an explanation for the result. You can take the application seriously without treating the decision as a final judgment on your art. Make any needed improvements, then submit again where your work belongs.
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