‘Toledo Area’ Artists Exhibit announces participants

For the 95th year in a row this coming November, The Toledo Museum of Art will present the Toledo Area Artists Exhibit. Except the words "Toledo Area" need to be taken with a grain of salt. Of the 28 announced artists, only nine hail from the greater Toledo area. “This is the second year we opened the exhibition to artists within a 150-mile radius of Toledo. We keep tabs on who visits the museum and that’s the primary geographic area of our visitors,” said Teri Sharp, public relations manager for the museum.

With reactions ranging from angry to excited, let's first clarify the Exhibition's specific adjustments before we check your pulse for a reaction:

• TAA entry qualifications were expanded drastically to a 150-mile radius (hello Cleveland, Akron, and Detroit).
• Prize money was boosted way, way up. The $10,000 worth of prizes will be judged by the Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic of the Los Angeles Times, Christopher Knight.

There's one more twist to the plot. “The exhibition has been changed this year. We did not invite artists to submit specific works of art; we invited them to submit portfolios. The curator is now working with the artists to choose the works of art to be in the show,” Sharp said.

Invitations were sent to Chet Geiselman of Muncie, IA; K.A. Letts and Katherine St. Clair of Ann Arbor; Jason Carter of Berkley, MI; Kenneth Thompson of Blissfield; Heather Macali and Margi Weir of Detroit; Joshua Newth of Farmington Hills; Chris La Ponte of Grand Rapids, MI; Andrew Borowiec of Akron; Dennis Wojtkiewicz of Bowling Green; Charles Mintz and Corrie Slawson of Cleveland; Laura Alexander, Molly Burke, Leah Frankel, Nathan Gorgen and Andrea Myers of Columbus; Jefferson Nelson of Liberty Center; Julie Friedman of Medina; Sandra Jane Heard of Perrysburg, and finally Michael Arrigo,  David Eichenberg, Timothy Gaewsky, Ben Grazzini, Natalie Lanese, Zak Lyons and Michael Sheets of Toledo.                            –Zak Lyons, Goodbye blue skies. Intaglio, 2013

The structural changes have sparked a lot of controversial implications. Penny Gentieu, of the Artists of Toledo, officially began the debate back in early September.

This is such a large debate because it touches on so many issues. What constitutes  the “Toledo area?” What obligation does an Art Museum have to its community? Is this exhibition representative of the Museum as an educational/historical institution or should the Exhibition's loyalty be tied to their supportive community? If it is the latter, does the supportive community be determined purely geographically or should all of the vast, varied visitors of the Museum be included—even if they live 150 miles away? If a curator has a vision are they obligated to disclose this vision to the potential artists?

Art and emotion are very much tied, but what part of the Institution does emotion belong in?
Is the title of the contest now misleading, or is TMA just finding the best artists for this historic exhibit? Let us know.    

For the 95th year in a row this coming November, The Toledo Museum of Art will present the Toledo Area Artists Exhibit. Except the words "Toledo Area" need to be taken with a grain of salt. Of the 28 announced artists, only nine hail from the greater Toledo area. “This is the second year we opened the exhibition to artists within a 150-mile radius of Toledo. We keep tabs on who visits the museum and that’s the primary geographic area of our visitors,” said Teri Sharp, public relations manager for the museum.

With reactions ranging from angry to excited, let's first clarify the Exhibition's specific adjustments before we check your pulse for a reaction:

• TAA entry qualifications were expanded drastically to a 150-mile radius (hello Cleveland, Akron, and Detroit).
• Prize money was boosted way, way up. The $10,000 worth of prizes will be judged by the Pulitzer Prize-winning art critic of the Los Angeles Times, Christopher Knight.

There's one more twist to the plot. “The exhibition has been changed this year. We did not invite artists to submit specific works of art; we invited them to submit portfolios. The curator is now working with the artists to choose the works of art to be in the show,” Sharp said.

Invitations were sent to Chet Geiselman of Muncie, IA; K.A. Letts and Katherine St. Clair of Ann Arbor; Jason Carter of Berkley, MI; Kenneth Thompson of Blissfield; Heather Macali and Margi Weir of Detroit; Joshua Newth of Farmington Hills; Chris La Ponte of Grand Rapids, MI; Andrew Borowiec of Akron; Dennis Wojtkiewicz of Bowling Green; Charles Mintz and Corrie Slawson of Cleveland; Laura Alexander, Molly Burke, Leah Frankel, Nathan Gorgen and Andrea Myers of Columbus; Jefferson Nelson of Liberty Center; Julie Friedman of Medina; Sandra Jane Heard of Perrysburg, and finally Michael Arrigo,  David Eichenberg, Timothy Gaewsky, Ben Grazzini, Natalie Lanese, Zak Lyons and Michael Sheets of Toledo.                            –Zak Lyons, Goodbye blue skies. Intaglio, 2013

The structural changes have sparked a lot of controversial implications. Penny Gentieu, of the Artists of Toledo, officially began the debate back in early September.

This is such a large debate because it touches on so many issues. What constitutes  the “Toledo area?” What obligation does an Art Museum have to its community? Is this exhibition representative of the Museum as an educational/historical institution or should the Exhibition's loyalty be tied to their supportive community? If it is the latter, does the supportive community be determined purely geographically or should all of the vast, varied visitors of the Museum be included—even if they live 150 miles away? If a curator has a vision are they obligated to disclose this vision to the potential artists?

Art and emotion are very much tied, but what part of the Institution does emotion belong in?
Is the title of the contest now misleading, or is TMA just finding the best artists for this historic exhibit? Let us know.