Juror of Awards Kathie Beltz 
Quilts Unlimited 2021 finishes up at the View Centre of the Arts & Culture at Old Forge, New York on 11 December 2021. For those of use who cannot make the exhibition in person, View has posted a selection of online resources including:
- video of award winning quilts
- online gallery of 70 selected works comprised of images as submitted by the artists. Many entrants were poorly served by their images and it was a revelation to see installation images from the gallery.
- video by me as as Juror of Selection
- video by Juror of Awards Kathie Beltz
Despite being subject to stay at home orders and a long, long way from New York, technology enabled me to carry out my role as Juror of Selection. I selected 72 works for exhibition from over 150 entries. I talk about my approach to selection in the video.
View is a premier multi-arts facility located in the Central Adirondacks of New York State and Quilts Unlimited is an annual exhibition. Look out for the call for entries next year. Here are my tips for entrants that apply to any exhibition:
- Read the prospectus and make sure your work fits the exhibition and the relevant category.
- Submit a photograph that honours your work and shows how it would look installed in the gallery. It should be photographed front-on, well lit, in-focus, against a neutral background with no distractions.
- Show the edges of your work. Edge treatments are important. They are an intrinsic part of the design. They also signal that the work is completed and give me an idea as to how the work hangs.
- Give your work a meaningful title – it’s a bridge between your art and the viewer and often aids understanding.
- Acknowledge and credit your design source especially if you are working from photos. This is not just a copyright matter but goes to originality. For example, a reproduction of the Mona Lisa in fabric, no matter how brilliantly it is constructed, does not belong in an Art Quilt category that requires originality.
Thanks to View for the opportunity to select works for Quilts Unlimited 2021 and also for the opportunity to display my invitational artwork Integrifolia #3: Stops and Starts in a quality, gallery setting.
