September 25, 2019

Annual juried art exhibition at SIU is open for student and community entries

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Artists from across the region are invited to submit entries to the 13th annual C4 Juried Art Exhibition at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, hosted by the Critical Forum registered student organization.

The event features a variety of art styles and techniques, and is open to the public for both entries and viewing. The competition is also open to regional entries up to 100 miles from Carbondale.

The art exhibition is Oct. 29 – Nov. 1. Pieces will be on display in the Surplus Gallery at the Glove Factory. The closing reception and awards ceremony will be Nov. 1 from 5-8 p.m., with awards announced at 6:45 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public.

Juried competition offers cash prizes

This year’s juror for the competition is Rusty Freeman, director of visual art at Cedarhurst Center for the Arts in Mount Vernon, Illinois. Freeman came to Cedarhurst in August 2009 from Plains Art Museum in Fargo, North Dakota, where he curated more than 112 exhibitions.

Winning entries will be decided by Freeman, and $500 in total cash prizes and awards will be given to graduate, undergraduate and regional categories.

At Cedarhurst, Freeman oversees the operations of Collections, Exhibitions, and the Sculpture Park. While at Cedarhurst, Freeman has curated exhibitions with a variety of artists including:

  • Mary Sprague.
  • Arny Nadler.
  • Jamie Adams
  • Joanne Kluba.
  • Buzz Spector.
  • Jane Birdsall-Lander from St. Louis.
  • William Conger and Mary Ann Papanek-Miller from Chicago.
  • Local artists from the region.

Freeman is organizing two joint exhibitions: “A Forest of Signs: Josephine Stealey, Sun Smith-Foret, and Ann Coddington” in conjunction with “The Craft and Art of the Cedarhurst Basketeers,” opening Oct. 19.

Freeman began his curatorial career at the Cheekwood Museum of Art in Nashville, Tennessee, where he organized the first traveling solo exhibition for William Edmondson, the first African American to have a one-man exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Freeman has published and lectured on American and contemporary art throughout the United States. 

Freeman received his master’s degree in History of Art specializing in modern and contemporary art from the Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia.  

Online entries are now being accepted

Entries this year will be accepted online. The application deadline is Oct. 18.

All students and community members are welcomed to enter pieces into the competition. An entry fee of $20 covers three pieces, with additional entries accepted at $5 per submission (up to six entries total). All accepted artwork must be dropped off in person at the Glove Factory lobby, 432 S. Washington St, Carbondale.

Accepted artwork may be dropped off at the specified times:

  • 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 25.
  • 10 a.m. to – 2 p.m. on Oct. 26.

Critical Forum (C4) is the creative arts registered student organization (RSO) committed to the advancement of sculpture and all artistic endeavors, as well as the promotion of interdisciplinary communication throughout the School of Art and Design and SIU Carbondale.

For more information, contact William Sieber with the School of Art and Design at william.sieber@siu.edu.