Nancy Princenthal

Indiana University East is accepting art entries Tuesday, September 27, through Friday, September 30, for the 38th annual Whitewater Valley Art Competition (WVAC).

The competition will begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 8, in the Meijer Artway located in Whitewater Hall. Prior to the judging, there will be a juror presentation at 11 a.m. in Whitewater Hall Room 132.

The top ten entries will receive monetary awards. IU East will award $5,000 in merit awards including $1,000 for Best of Show. Artists with accepted entries will be notified by Wednesday, October 12.

This year’s competition will be juried by Nancy Princenthal is a New York-based critic and former senior editor of Art in America, for which she continues to write regularly; other publications to which she has contributed include Artforum, Parkett, the Village Voice, and the New York Times. Her monograph on Hannah Wilke was published by Prestel in 2010; her essays have also appeared in monographs on Shirin Neshat, Doris Salcedo, Robert Mangold and Alfredo Jaar, among many others. She is a co-author of two books on leading women artists, including The Reckoning: Women Artists of the New Millennium and most recently, a biography on Agnes Martin titled, Agnes Martin: Her Life and Art. Having taught at the Center for Curatorial Studies, Bard College; Princeton University; Yale University, RISD, Montclair State University and elsewhere, she is currently on the faculty of the School of Visual Arts.

The WVAC receives 300 to 400 pieces of art for the competition each year. Previous entries have included works from high schools and universities, art organizations and centers and independent artists. The competition is open to all artists, age 17 and older, who live within a 300-mile radius of Richmond, Ind.

Entries must be hand-delivered to the Tom Thomas Gallery located in Whitewater Hall, between noon and 5 p.m. Entries will not be accepted after September 30. Entries for the competition may include drawings, paintings, mixed media, photography, printmaking, computer graphics, relief sculpture and sculpture. Works are not judged by category.

Each artist may submit up to three entries. Fees are $25 for one entry, $40 for two entries, and $50 for three entries.

Accepted entries will be on exhibit in the Tom Thomas Gallery and Meijer Artway from Thursday, October 27, to Friday, December 9. The artist opening reception and awards presentation will be held at 6 p.m. on Thursday, November 10, in the Whitewater Hall Community Room.

Entry forms, information on eligibility and a calendar are available at iue.edu/gallery or by calling Ed Thornburg, art director, at IU East at (765) 973-8605 or email edthornb@iue.edu.