Some situations of rejection or exclusion involve factors that could justify the show promoters' decision. Cases which are not necessarily blackballing include rejecting an artisan who has passed off another artist's work as his or her own, or who describes craft work as handmade when it was produced in a factory, or whose work is deemed to be of poor quality, or whose behavior at a show is unbecoming (argumentative, drunk, using foul language), or whose business practices are subject to question (late deliveries, overcharging, double billing).
Promoters who personally select artisans are the most susceptible to charges of personalizing rejections, and theoretically, a craftsperson can only be blackballed where there is no independent jurying. But, the diversity of methods for jurying shows also is part of the problem. With no standard approach among thousands of shows, many artists conclude that the whole process is flawed.

Blind judging least objectionable

The least objected-to method of jurying is blind judging by an independent juror (or panel of jurors) with recognized standing in the crafts industry. The jurors review all slides that come in with applications by a stated deadline. The jurors are not limited in their decisions, other than to select the works that they think best, and jurors do not know the names, sex, ethnicity or race of the artists.
The Brandywine Arts Festival in Delaware uses the blind screening approach. "The jury is not aware of who the craftsperson is," says Phil Haney, executive director of Recreation Promotion Services, which runs the Festival. "The only person who knows the name of the craftsperson is the person clerking, and that person has no vote."

George Koch, national president of National Artists Equity Association, says it is "unfortunate" that blind screenings are not common in crafts and the visual arts. "Every time you're asked to submit slides for a show, you're told to put your name on them," says Koch. "That, at least, raises the possibility that jurors will reject your work because they know you and don't like you, or that they want to get more men in the show so reject you because you are a woman, or that they don't want blacks, Hispanics or Asians."

Jurying process has many other forms

However, the term "jurying" is applied to a wide variety of practices other than the blind screenings used in picking works for competitive shows.

For instance, there is "rolling jurying," in which slides and applications are judged as they come in rather than in one session as part of a large group. Five jewelry artists may be sought for a show and, after they are selected, the work of an arguably better jeweler is rejected because the application came in after the five slots were filled.

Another problem-prone procedure is the "jurying by medium." Craftspeople whose work is multimedia feel this method discriminates against them. Rotating the jury panel from show to show, another standard practice, may result in an artisan being selected one year and rejected the next.

And the increasingly common practice of pre-selecting, or tenuring craftspeople into a juried show because they have a track record, may mean that lesser-known applicants have fewer opportunities to display their work before the public. In a show that has 100 slots for exhibitors, pre-selection may result in only 20 or 30 spaces actually available.

Jurors not always Independent

Another concern in many cases is that jurors may not be truly independent because they are persons affiliated with the sponsoring organization. Show promoters who do not use independent jurors point to the logistical problems of assembling a team of respected judges as well as the expense of feeding and housing them and renting a space where they can meet to look at slides or actual works.

For instance, the jurying for the shows staged by Artrider Productions in Woodstock, N.Y., is done solely by Artrider director, Stacey Jarit, while Charley Dooley, who heads Craftsproducers in Charlotte, Vt., takes part in his company’s selection process along with a few independent jurors.
"I am very sensitive to the powerful-powerless dynamic of shows and craftspeople," states Jarit, noting that she used to do crafts shows herself as a cloisonné enamellist. "It's not only that I try to be fair to people, it's really that it's too difficult to keep track of who's nice to me, who showed up late, and who has a bad reputation. There was one woman who called me up and asked, 'Did you put me on the waiting list because I came a little late the year before?' I told her, 'You give me too much credit. I couldn't possibly remember who did what."'

Both Jarit and Dooley claim that, qualitatively, it is relatively simple to identify the superior and inferior work; it is the work in-between the two that is most troubling to judge.

Artrider's published guidelines state "if there are choices to be made between applicants with the same scores, we will go with the exhibitor who has been with us longest." For his part, Dooley says, "when there is equivalent work, we go with the person who is a better customer. Someone who has applied to seven of our shows is better than someone applying to just one."

Mystic Maritime Gallery in Mystic, Conn., holds an annual juried Mystic International Exhibition of maritime art. Gallery director Russell Jinishian and a few other gallery employees select the works in the show. Outside jurors are brought in solely to decide which of the chosen artworks should receive awards. Usually, the work of between 110 and 120 artists is included in the exhibition. The gallery has a core group of 60 or so artists, and Jinishian says, "the majority of them get into the show. We try to pick good things that have merit."

A show sponsor selecting artists he happens to represent allows him to solidify his market, by not leaving commercial considerations to chance with outside jurying. "When a gallery holds a juried show," Koch states, "artists should have no illusions about fairness."

Promotors set the criteria

The deck may seem stacked against certain artists and craftspeople in other ways as well. Independent jurors ­ that is, judges not associated with the sponsoring individual or organization ­ may be given explicit instructions by the show organizer on how to evaluate works, and certain otherwise important criteria may be excluded.

According to Carol Sedestrom Ross, former director of the American Craft Enterprises and now with George Little Management, an important issue in jurying is what the show promoters want for their market. "Some craftsperson's work may be excellent, if judged solely on aesthetic or technical criteria," says Ross, "but it may be far too expensive for the buyers who would come to the show. Someone else may also create very superior work but just hasn't sold very much. For promoters who make their living from the percentage of sales that take place at their shows, superior work is not as important as work that is very likely to sell well."

Sue Viders, a marketing consultant for Color-Q printing company that frequently juries competitions, agrees, noting that show sponsors frequently emphasize "salability" as a factor to judges. At other times, marketability is pointedly not a factor at all. "A lot of people enter works into shows, assuming that they will be judged on the basis of expression and creativity, and they may try for something new," Viders says. "The show sponsor, however, may be more concerned with selling a certain type of art. I rate the works in the categories the sponsor wants, using a one-to-five scale that the sponsor wants, and whoever gets a certain number of points is in the show. It may not be, to my mind, the best work. People who run these shows should make it clear to the people entering them the criteria on which the works will be judged."

If show organizers do not include criteria for judging works on a prospectus, it is advisable for artists and craftspeople to ask. Ross suggests that craftspeople should "call promoters to ask, 'What is your point of view? What are you looking for?"'

Jurors can sometimes provide insight for artisans as well. In most juried shows, the judging takes place without the artisans present, and jurors aren't on hand when the artisans arrive. Some shows, however, want ­ and will pay for ­ the jurors to come back to see the exhibition. Craftspeople should be encouraged to use this opportunity to discuss with jurors the basis for judging works in or out of the show. It's helpful for artists and adds an element of good will in their relationship with the show organizers.

How to find acceptance

In addition to knowing what the show promoter wants, artisans should know the jurors' identities as a first step in deciding whether or not to take part in the show. That information is usually included in a prospectus.

While some jurors may add prestige to a show, it may not always matter to craftspeople that the jurors are not renowned or experts in the field. "We have so many people trying to get into [the Brandywine Crafts Festival] that we've never thought we needed to go to independent jurors or bring in big name judges," says Haney.

The festival is run by volunteers who jury the slides on a more or less rotating system. "We try to give whichever of the volunteers who want to serve on the jury a chance to do so," Haney adds.

Craftspeople should also consider that, despite the problems discussed here, blackballing is not the most likely reason an artist will be rejected for a show. There are many more reasons that jurors or show sponsors may not want to exhibit an artisan's work ­ wrong size, wrong medium, wrong subject matter, wrong style, too expensive, just don't like it.

When seething about a rejection, craftspeople must first ask themselves, "Am I the one personalizing this?" If they conclude there are valid reasons to question the jurying or that the work was rejected for personal reasons, artisans basically have three options. The first is to resign from organizations whose jurying practices are questionable. The second is to rally a group of craftspeople who will petition the show sponsor or organization to reexamine its approach to jurying. That may or may not prove effective in changing policies, but it lessens the likelihood that an individual craftsperson will be targeted for reprisals.

The third option is to direct one's attention elsewhere. With between 10,000 and 15,000 juried shows taking place throughout the United States, many of which are highly esteemed and attended by affluent collectors, there is no reason to focus too exclusively on any one show.

Daniel Grant is the author of "The Business of Being an Artist" and "The Fine Artist's Career Guide".