The Jury Process

We welcome your application to sell your work at the Association of Clay & Glass Artists of California’s annual Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival. This event is a great opportunity to develop relationships with customers, send your work to new homes, and strengthen your network of fellow clay and glass artists. Joining ACGA brings you into a strong community of clay and glass artists.

ACGA members who seek festival eligibility are selected semi-annually through digital juries. These will typically occur in March and October. We make a selection from 20-25 applicants at a time, and you only have to be juried in one time. If you’re accepted, you’ll be eligible for annual Clay & Glass Festivals as long as you maintain your membership in good standing. The jury consists of 6 current festival-eligible clay and glass artists.

Artists juried in Spring, 2023, if accepted, will be eligible to participate in the July 2023 Palo Alto Clay and Glass Festival.

If you would like help with your application, there are several ACGA members who are available as mentors. Please email jury coordinator Chris Johnson (chris@chrisjohnsonglass.com) to find out more.

Criteria for Selection

The jurors use three basic criteria to evaluate your work.

Coherence and Personal Identity: Does the work have a distinct personality? Do the pieces submitted represent a body of work that communicates an idea or voice; that unique vision that makes your work identifiable as yours.

Your application for this jury is stronger if you present a collection of pieces that relate to each other, but are not identical. We recommend that you not mix functional and sculptural work in your application unless your artistic vision translates smoothly between these two types of work. However, this does not limit you from showing a diversity of work if you participate in the festival.

Aesthetics: Jurors will consider both form and surface. Is the work visually interesting? Does it have emotional impact and vitality?

Craftsmanship: Jurors will examine the work for technical mastery and general control of materials. While jurors are not looking for perfection, they do want to see that the artist has the experience and ability to make well-formed, consistent work.

Note to jewelry and mosaic artists: As the artist, you must transform the mosaic clay or glass tesserae by fire and create work in which the clay and glass tesserae predominate. You must fire your own tiles and/or produce your own clay or glass jewelry components. The work cannot be assembled from purchased materials.

Note to clay artists: As a clay artist, if you use molds, they should be of your own design. The work must be fired. Clay must be the featured component.

How to Apply

The next jury application deadline is TBD, Spring 2023.

Applicants must be current ACGA members residing in California.

Fee and Materials Required: The jury fee is $50 for General Members and $60 for Collaborating Members. The fee is non-refundable. However, if you are not accepted this time, you will have one free jurying opportunity between now and the following year’s Festival.

You will be required to provide the following:

• Artist Process Statement: Provide a full description of how your work is created. Examples include wheel-thrown, flame-worked, hand-painted, slip-cast, blown, firing temperature, etc. File format for upload must be pdf, doc or docx.
• Images: 10 pieces of your work, 2-3 images per piece (3 for sculptural work).

Image Size: Images should be 72ppi, longest dimension 1800 pixels, .jpg or .jpeg only, file size no larger than 2 MB. There are many online resizing tutorials for both Macs and PCs, including this one: https://www.callforentry.org/artist-help-cafe/helpful-digital-resources/

Image Quality: We do not require that your images be professionally shot. However, they should be well focused, well lit, and photographed without any distracting background.

Image Titles: Your image titles should begin with your last name followed by an underscore and the work’s title. The main image should show the whole piece. The second image can show detail, side view, interior, etc.

Main Image Title: “Lastname_Title1.jpg” (e.g., Jackson_WinterFruit1.jpg)

2nd Image Title: “Lastname_Title2.jpg” (e.g., Jackson_WinterFruit2.jpg)

Optional: Artist bio, CV or resume. File format for upload must be pdf, doc or docx.

CLICK HERE to apply for festival eligibility using JotForm

We look forward to hearing from you. You’ll be notified via email when we receive your application. The jury will review the applications and you’ll be notified as to their decision within three weeks of the deadline.  The jury’s decision is final.

Tips to help you have a successful application:

There seem to be three common themes that jurors note about artists who are not accepted in their first jury attempt:

1. The applicant presents the jury with what seems to be a series of different works in development by the artist, none of which has settled down to a coherent theme or identifiable style. In almost all cases the jury sees interesting and promising pieces but each seems to be exploring a different tack.  Aim to select pieces that show some aesthetic unity. Don’t try to share everything you can do, rather pick one theme or style to represent your skill and artistic vision.
2. The jurors have the impression that the artist has only mastered one object or form, because the work presented is not varied enough. This is the opposite of the issue described in #1. In this case, the work presented is not diverse enough in its scope. It’s a tough call for the judges if the jury can not find a well-rounded command of the craft in what is presented. Aim to show your skill through a range of forms and techniques, within a cohesive aesthetic.
3. There are always a few applicants who simply aren’t ready yet, and it is not unusual for first time applicants to not jury in. This is not a judgment on your potential as an artist! This show is one of the best in the country and is extremely competitive. It takes time to build a cohesive body of work, and we understand that. Upon request, the jury will provide feedback and advice to applicants who are not selected. We want you to succeed. Keep at it, don’t give up, and try again.