The Jury Process

ACGA Juries for new Exhibiting Members are held twice a year in San Francisco at the Firehouse Building in the Fort Mason Center. Typically 20 to 25 applicants are "juried" at the same time. The Jury usually consists of 6 current Exhibiting Members (jurors) with either clay or glass experience.

Categories of Exhibiting Membership

There are two categories:

1. An Exhibiting Member is an individual whose work has been accepted by an ACGA jury as upholding and enriching the professional and artistic quality of the Association.
2. A Collaborative Exhibiting Member is a team of two artists that produce one line of work that meets the same criteria as an Exhibiting Member. The team juries, exhibits and sells work together.

Criteria of Selection

The jurors use three distinct criteria as the basis for evaluation. An accepted applicant must be very strong in every category:

1. Aesthetics, the Concept of Beauty – Consideration is given to both the form and surface treatment. Is the work integrated? Does it have emotional impact and vitality?
2. Craftsmanship – Consideration of the technical mastery and general control of the materials is examined.
3. Personal Identity – Is the artist’s personality and integrity communicated? Has the applicant explored the medium enough to have developed a personal means of expression, or is the work derivative? How interesting or strong is the overall quality?

Details for Application

To be eligible to participate in a Jury, prospective applicants must reside in California and first join the Association as Associate Members. (A membership application can be downloaded by going to the Membership Information page at this website.) By joining, applicants will receive the ACGA Newsletter and learn more about the organization.

To register to be juried after becoming an Associate Member, send a Jurying Registration Form with your name, address, telephone number, email address, and indicate “clay” or “glass” with a check for $40 to the address below. The jury fee check holds a space in the next available jury date. Note juries can fill quickly.

Applicants will be assigned and notified of the next available Jury date. Approximately two months prior to assigned date, applicants will receive an information packet that includes directions to the Fort Mason site, jury requirements, and a final application form to bring with them to the jury.

The Jury Event

Applicant artists setup their work between 5pm and 7pm the evening of the Jury. They may use one of the 6-foot by 30-inch tables provided to display their work. Typically 8 to 12 pieces can be displayed, depending on the scale of the work. Setup must be complete by 7pm. The Jury will view and discuss the exhibits from 7 to 9:30pm. The applicants must collect their work at 9:30pm.

Typically within two weeks, applicants are notified about the results. There is no minimum or maximum number of selected new members. Over the last 5 years, roughly 25% of the applicants have been accepted as Exhibiting Members. The decisions of the Jury are final. Applicants not accepted may reapply for a future jury the next year.

Next Jury dates

Monday, April 7, 2008

September 29, 2008