2010 Prospectus

Mosaic Arts International 2010
SAMA’s Annual International Juried Exhibition
Smith Museum of Stained Glass Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois
March 1 – April 30, 2010

Introduction

The Society of American Mosaic Artists (SAMA) invites artists working in mosaic media to submit applications to Mosaic Arts International 2010. Held in conjunction with SAMA's annual conference, the juried exhibit presents the best in contemporary mosaics from SAMA's diverse international membership. Mosaic Arts International 2010 will be held March 1- April 30, at the Smith Museum of Stained Glass, within the world famous Navy Pier in Chicago, IL. As SAMA celebrates its 10th Anniversary year, we will be exposing SAMA member artists and their work to the largest live audience in our history. This will be an exceptional opportunity for any artist as this exhibition is expected to be viewed in person by over 80,000 visitors during its two month run. The exhibition unites compelling materials, innovative design and masterful technique currently explored by a selection of the best international artists working in the medium. The Society of American Mosaic Artists is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating, inspiring, and promoting excellence in mosaic fine art.

PROSPECTUS
Calendar
September 1, 2009             Digital Submission period opens on http://www.juriedartservices.com/
November 2, 2009             Digital Submission Deadline
December 4, 2009             Notification of acceptance e-mailed
February 8-12, 2010          Accepted works must be received at The Chicago Mosaic School, including hand-delivered and shipped
March1 – April 30, 2010   Exhibition (works must remain in exhibits for the entire length of the show)
March 19, 2010                Artist Reception at The Navy Pier
May 5, 2010                     All work at The Navy Pier shipped back by this date

Jurors (alphabetically)
Oliver Budd, Kent, United Kingdom; Juan Chavez, Chicago, IL; Janet Kozachek, Orangeburg, South Carolina

Note about Jurors: the selections of the accepted entries are solely decided by the jurors, not SAMA Board Members and/or Staff.

Awards - Totaling $5000
Best in Show $1400
Best 2-D $800
Best 3-D $800
Best Architectural $800
Juror’s Awards (3 given) $300 each Members’ Choice $300

Eligibility
Open to all current SAMA members, age 18 and over. (2009 dues may be paid in the SAMA Shop at www.americanmosaics.org if you are not already a 2009 member). Only one accepted work per artist will be exhibited. In the instance that a mosaic submitted is collaboration, ALL collaborators must be current members for the work to qualify. Mosaics may be 2-D, 3-D or an architectural installation. No decorative mirrors or vases will be eligible.

Entries must be submitting artist’s original design, completed within the past two years (2008 and 2009) and not previously exhibited in a SAMA exhibition. Reproductions of ancient mosaics will be permitted, but must be identified as such. No Reproductions of "copy-free" or copyrighted material (even with permission) allowed unless it is copyrighted by the submitting artist. No work executed during an educational experience such as a workshop, master course or directed study may be submitted. If an entry was created in a recognizable style or influence of another mosaic master artist, at the time of submitting your entry, please identify this fact in your 100-word statement that your influence was from anther particular artist who is known, unknown, contemporary, or deceased.

Size limit for 2-D and 3-D entries: 48” wide (except entries for the architectural category). Weight limits: 50 lbs for wall piece or any piece that has to be suspended or placed on podium, 70 lbs for any piece that is free standing on the ground. Entries for works larger than the above limits will be considered for the architectural category and shown by photograph. Please see Image Guidelines, below for more info.

Artwork should be ready for hanging or installation at the time of delivery. No sawtooth hangers. The jury process will take place by digital image review. Slides will not be accepted. The decision of the jurors is final. Images of accepted works will be retained for publicity and catalog purposes for the 2010 Exhibition as well as future SAMA website, newsletter, marketing and publicity uses. Work need not be for sale, but all items sold will be subject to a 30% commission. Shipping of sold work will be the responsibility of the buyer.

Entry Requirements
Each artist may enter up to three (3) original works: only one detail image may be provided with each work for a maximum of 6 images total. Entries may be all 2-d, all 3-d, all architectural or a mix thereof for a total of three submissions only. Images should be accurate representations of the work. Accepted work received that differs significantly from the images may be excluded. No substitutions of accepted work will be allowed. Artists who decline to exhibit accepted work will be ineligible to enter SAMA shows for three years. Please enter all information including title, size, weight, and year completed, price or if NSF, insurance value and materials in the appropriate text box. This year, we are asking that you include the installation location (city, state, country) for all architectural category submissions.

One 100 word Artists Statement must also be entered at time of submission. 100 word statements are REQUIRED for inclusion in the Exhibition Catalog. The Artist Statement should be a general statement, not specific to each entry as you will only enter one statement per application. For more information on appropriate content for your artist statement please do your own research. There is plenty of excellent information available on the internet. One such article that addresses a way to approach your statement can be found here http://www.artbusiness.com/artstate.html. Artist statements will not be made available to the jurors and may be edited for publication consistency in the exhibition catalog.

Digital Submission
All submissions to the Juried Member’s Exhibition will be required to be via digital submission through Juried Art Services, http://www.juriedartservices.com/. If you are not already registered with Juried Arts Services (JAS), you will need to register prior to submitting your application. Once registered, you will be able to access other exhibition opportunities available to you through the JAS site. Members without internet access are encouraged to visit their neighborhood library or other institutions that provide free use of computers with internet access. Those with extreme circumstances regarding no internet access, may contact the SAMA office for an alternate method of submission, however, keep in mind, only digital images (no slides) will be accepted. BEFORE calling the SAMA office with questions, please review the HELP section of the JAS website for directions, guidelines and helpful hints in preparing your application information and images for submission. Incomplete applications submitted to the JAS Website will be deemed ineligible.

Due to improvements with Juried Art Services’ system, you no longer need to create a separate application for each work entered. Your application fee of $45 entitles you to enter up to 3 SEPARATE artwork ENTRIES. ENTRIES CONSIST OF 1 PRIMARY IMAGE AND 1 DETAIL IMAGE FOR EACH ENTRY. Please provide the same details for the detail image as you do for the primary. You will only enter one artist statement for inclusion in the catalog so it should be generalized, not specific to each entry.

Please prepare all text in advance of working on your application at www.JuriedArtServices.com so you can have it readily accessible to enter into the system.

When you complete your digital application at http://www.juriedartservices.com/, please pay on the Juried Art Services website. The Non-refundable entry fee of $45 must be paid with debit or credit card.

Image Guidelines
Images must be sized at 2000 pixels at the longest or widest dimension, 300 DPI (dots per inch) resolution for submission. Digitally enhanced or modified images will not be reviewed by the jury. Images submitted that do not meet the resolution requirement, will not be in the exhibition catalog if work is accepted due to probable inadequate quality for printing.
There will be an additional fee of $50.00 for creation of a poster printed image for the Architectural category display. (Architectural entrants will have no shipping charges to the event.)

Images of selected works will be retained for the SAMA Library. Submission indicates granting of rights to SAMA to reproduce work in a print catalog, publicity poster, on the web site and in additional publications for publicity purposes. The printed catalog will be sold for SAMA fundraising purposes as well as used for marketing of SAMA. Artists retain all copyrights to their individual works. Images WILL NOT be reviewed if all guidelines are not followed.

Insurance & Liability
Indicate the fair-market insurance value on all works, even those not for sale. Clearly write NSF beside value, if not for sale. Insurance will be provided on all works while exhibited. No responsibility is assumed for works while in transit to or from the exhibitions. Artwork must be in good condition and able to withstand the ordinary strains of transportation. Artists are encouraged to secure their own insurance for transit. Artists will be notified of any work that arrives in damaged condition to determine insurance claim needs and whether the extent of the damage is suitable for repair by SAMA volunteers. SAMA reserves the right not to exhibit the work if it arrives damaged is beyond repair and if the artist cannot arrange to have it repaired in time for the hanging of the exhibition.

Sales
Set your price to include a commission of 30%. Work will be sold at the price entered on online submission form. All work must have a sale price that includes the 30% commission or, if not for sale, an insurance value must be indicated. Money received from any sales will be issued to the artist within 30 days of the sale of the work. Insurance price will not include commission, so if NFS (Not for Sale), please price accordingly.

Shipping
Shipping instructions and identification sheet to be included with packing will be included with notification of acceptance. Artists are responsible for paying shipping costs via traceable mail (UPS, Fed Ex, DHL, etc.) to the Chicago Mosaic School and for checking with the chosen carrier regarding insurance and correct packing procedures and customs documentation for international shipments. Work must be shipped in a substantial, reusable-shipping container that meets shipping standards. ABSOLTUELY NO PACKAGING FOAM POPCORN! The work MUST be received at the venue by the dates specified. Artists will be notified of work that arrives in a damaged condition. SAMA, the Chicago Mosaic School & the Navy Pier will not be responsible for breakage due to incorrect packing or insufficient container when returning artwork as it was originally shipped.

Work will be returned at the artist’s expense. The artist MUST provide a return ‘Call Tag’ or ‘PRP’ or ‘Shipping Label’ sticker that is prepaid for the return destination. Printed ‘Request for Order Forms’ with bar codes are not acceptable. Please state on identification sheet included with your work if the work will be returned air or ground. If the return destination changes during the running time of the exhibition, then it is the artist’s responsibility to send the corrected prepaid labeling via snail mail to SAMA by April 15, 2010. Work to only be returned to a street address. NO POST OFFICE BOX NUMBERS will be accepted for shipping.

Digital Application Checklist
Please have the following ready before going to http://www.juriedartservices.com/. The process is estimated to take 30 min.

• Digital images of a maximum of 3 works, one full view and one detail for each.
  100 word artist statement
• For each work, you will need: Height, Width, Weight, Year Created, Price or indicate Not For Sale, Insurance Value, category designation( 2D, 3D, or Architectural) and a brief listing of materials.
• For Architectural works, please include installation location (city, state, country).
• When you complete your digital application at http://www.juriedartservices.com/, please pay for your application. Non-refundable entry fee of $45 with debit or credit card is to be paid on JAS Website.
• Become a current member of SAMA. Join / Renew your SAMA Membership in the SAMA Shop section of the SAMA Website.  Note that artists whose work is accepted to MAI 2010 must maintain their membership status through 2010. Applications will not be accepted by SAMA until membership status is verified.

Entry into the exhibition confirms acceptance of all conditions above. Please read all conditions in detail. No entries with incomplete information will be juried. Low quality images will not be juried. No exceptions. Entry fee is not refundable. All decisions of the jurors are final. If it is proven that eligibility requirements and submission guidelines have not been adhered to after a work has been accepted by the jury, the work will be omitted from the exhibition and the member will not be eligible to enter work for consideration in future MAI exhibitions for 3 years.