Juried Exhibition Announced

Applications Due June 24, 2024

The Appalachian Roots Juried Exhibition, on display August 22 - September 21, 2024

This a collaborative effort between the North Appalachian Folk Festival (NAFF) and the Fox Clark Gallery that seeks to celebrate the rich artistic traditions and cultural heritage of the Appalachian region. This juried exhibition provides artists with the opportunity to showcase their work, exploring themes of Appalachian spirit and fun-ness while honoring the region's diverse artistic expressions.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a comprehensive catalog, including artworks on display, artist biographies, essays on folk art, and writings from the jurors. Prizes will be awarded across three categories: Appalachian Spirit, Fun-ness, and Juror’s Award. Winners will receive cash prizes, and there will be a People’s Choice Award also allowing for visitor voting. The cash prizes are in excess of $1500. The awarding jurors will award cash prizes based on the following themes:

- Appalachian Spirit: Recognizing artworks that embody the essence of the Appalachian region.

- Fun-ness: Celebrating works that exude vibrancy, whimsy, and joy.

- Juror’s Award: Bestowed upon pieces deemed exceptional by the esteemed panel of awarding jurors.

- People’s Choice Award: Determined through visitor voting, acknowledging the artwork that resonates most with the audience.

Artists are invited to submit their work reflecting Appalachian themes and traditions. Submissions should be submitted electronically at www.thefoxclarkgallery.com/roots. The submission fees are $15. To submit, pay the fee online at www.thefoxclarkgallery.com/roots and fill out the form. The form will include the artist's name, contact information, artwork titles, medium, and brief artist statement. Artists are allowed to submit 5 pieces via link for consideration. If you are struggling with the application, please email us at thefoxclarkgallery@gmail.com.

Important Dates

Submission Deadline: June 24, 2024
Notification of Acceptance: July 23, 2024
Delivery of Artworks: August 19, 2024
Exhibition Duration: August 22 - September 21, 2024

Selection Juror

George Graf will be the selection juror for the 2024 Juried Exhibition. Graf’s career began with handbuilding ceramic forms, which led him to becoming a production potter. He earned a B.F.A. with an emphasis in ceramics in 1986 and then an M.F.A. in design from the University of Kansas in 1989. Graf continued working as a production potter until the mid-90’s, gradually transitioning into more conceptual work. His recent works are found object assemblages that playfully deconstruct the cult of materialism and consumerism, and point out its absurdity. As part of Graf’s critique, he has focused on constructing musical instruments from trash, even designing and engineering new types. Graf shows his work regionally, nationally, and internationally. He is a retired professor from Kutztown University.

Awarding Jurors

These jurors will make the selections for the cash prizes. This cross disciplinary panel will evaluate artworks for each category. The first Awarding Jurors was announced on May 15th:

April Friges was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and received her MFA in studio art from The University of California, Irvine in 2010. Her work has been shown in galleries and museums such as LAXART, The Spencer Museum of Art, The Printed Matter, MOCAD, ForYourArt and will be exhibited via Stephen Bulger Gallery in New York City at AIPAD’s upcoming, The Photography Show.

April was recently awarded the Creative Development Grant through The Heinz Endowments/The Pittsburgh Foundation and completed her residency at Mass MoCA in 2016. She currently resides in Pittsburgh where she is the BFA Program Director and Assistant Professor of Photography at Point Park University. April Friges’ artwork uses basic photography principles to explore the boundaries and essence of photographic materials. Her most recent abstract color prints and sculptures, CMY RGB and Untitled Color, explore the ways that photography is designed to function and materiality of the photograph itself. At its core Friges’ work is about photographic paper. This amazing material is usually made invisible by photography; we see image on the paper, but never the fiber, plastic, silver, dye and gelatin that make the paper itself.

Contact Information

For inquiries, please contact the Fox Clark Gallery at thefoxclarkgallery@gmail.com. This program is supported by the North Appalachian Folk Festival and Dr. Jim Dougherty.