The 31st Whitewater Valley Annual Art Competition will be held Saturday, October 3, at Indiana University East.

This year’s competition is juried by Corin Hewitt who holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and an M.F.A. from The Milton-Avery School of the Arts at Bard College. He also attended the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Kunste Karlsruhe in Germany and Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in Maine.

Hewitt’s work has displayed in exhibitions in the United States and Europe, including the Seattle Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, and the Astrup Fearnley Museum for Moderne Kunst in Oslo, Norway.

Hewitt has been an artist-in-residence, an adjunct instructor, and a visiting lecturer and critic across the United States.

A presentation by Hewitt on his ’08-’09 Whitney Museum exhibition, “Seed Stage,” will take place at 12:30 p.m. in Middlefork Hall, room 124.

Following the presentation, open judging of the art competition begins at 2 p.m. in Whitewater Hall. From the hundreds of anticipated entries, 55 will be selected for the exhibit which will be on display from October 19 through December 14, 2009.

Entries will be accepted now through Friday, September 25, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in The Gallery, located in Whitewater Hall. Artists within a 300-mile radius of the IU East campus are allowed to enter as many as three pieces. Last year, a total of $7,800 was distributed to artists. 

The Whitewater Valley Annual Art Competition goes back 30 years. Now, after more than a quarter of a century, entries number between 200 to 250 and come from as many as 40 universities, art organizations, art centers, and independent artists.

Juroring began with John Canaday, “hanging judge” of The New York Times for 20 years. The competition took a unique twist from other competitions in that Canaday openly critiqued in front of the entrants, making it an interactive learning experience.

Today individuals from major art publications and high profile curators who juror the Whitewater Valley Annual Art Competition continue putting education out front through public critiquing.

Through the Whitewater Valley Annual Art Competition, artists have encountered opportunities to enhance their careers through networking; leading to exhibitions, commissions and sale of their works of art.
More about the Whitewater Competition and entry forms are available on the gallery link of the IU East Web site at www.iue.edu/gallery or call (765) 973-8605 for hard copies.