On Display August 30 – September 23, 2023

Virtual Awards Ceremony September 10 from 4 – 5 PM via Zoom

Closing Reception September 23 from 4 – 6 PM at Circle Gallery

View Sales Gallery       Join the Virtual Awards Ceremony via Zoom

Introducing American Landscapes: Scenes from the Americas

From the oceans surrounding it to the mountains dividing it, this land is home to some of the world’s most powerful landscapes. Whether urban, rural, or suburban, landscapes are always changing. Show us the landscapes of your life. Open to all media following exhibition guidelines, MFA will showcase any original 2D or 3D work depicting a landscape from the Americas (North America, Hawaii, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America). Works selected by the juror will be exhibited in MFA’s Circle Gallery from August 30 – September 23, 2023.

Click this icon to view and print the downloadable prospectus.

Juror: Nora Sturges, Area Head of Painting and Drawing at Towson University

Nora Sturges is Area Head of Painting and Drawing in the Department of Art + Design, Art History, and Art Education at Towson University in Maryland. She has exhibited her paintings in numerous solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and has been recognized numerous times for her thought provoking work by the Maryland State Arts Council and in the publication New American Paintings. She received her B.A., Magna Cum Laude in Studio Art from Bowdoin College, Maine, and an M.F.A. in painting from Ohio University. See her work at norasturges.com.

Juror’s Statement

Choosing work for this show caused me to reflect on how the idea of landscape is different from the idea of wilderness – landscape suggests the subjectivity of a human viewpoint, a person seeing the landscape. Landscape is all around us, and is infinite in terms of providing imagery for art. What do these artists choose to take from the outside world and present as an artwork for others to contemplate? Some single out moments of natural beauty where we can believe we are alone in the landscape, while others confront the reality of cars and strip malls, and still others address the range of interaction between humans and the natural world. By choosing a particular moment in time to represent, or a particular quality of light, or viewpoint, the artist makes us stop and reflect and see things anew. Art brings reality into focus, providing context and frame. Moreover, as we view these representations and iterations of the outside world, perhaps we also open a window onto our own inner landscapes.

Awards

Juror’s Choice

  • The house of the king…, acrylic and oil on canvas, Mary Beth Muscara
  • Old Supply Trail, oil paint on hardwood panel, David LaPalombara
  • Ghost Forest Series, digital photography, giclee print on hot press rag paper, Sherry J Insley
  • Latent Memory 5, photography, Amy G Evans
  • Amusement Park in Winter, oil on linen Panel, Paul Tambellini

Honorable Mentions

  • McKeldin Planetarium, St. Johns College, Annapolis, MD, oil on canvas, Symmes Gardner
  • Cliffs and Clouds, Epson legacy – 100% alpha cellulose, smooth baryta, Ronald Jeffrey Saunders
  • Potomac River Gorge, oil on canvas, Kenneth L. Bachman
  • Bisected Infinity, photography, Wayne Guenther
  • Titans, photograph, archival inkjet print from scanned 120mm film negative, Mark C Cassino

*Award contributors and recipients will also be listed in the exhibition catalog.

Information for Accepted Artists

Exhibition Schedule

Exhibition Schedule:

  • Apr 19 Online Entry Opens for Submissions
  • Jun 21 Entry Deadline
  • Jul 18 Notification @ 5 PM
  • Aug 23 – 27 Accepted and Shipped Work Must Arrive at MFA Circle Gallery
  • Aug 30 Exhibition Opens
  • Sept 10 Virtual Awards Ceremony from 4 – 5 PM via Zoom
  • Sept 23 Last Day of the Exhibition; Closing Reception at MFA Circle Gallery from 4 – 6 PM
  • Sept 24 –  25 Pick-up Hand-Delivered Work from 11 AM – 4 PM
  • Sept 27 Shipped Work Will Be Sent

NOTE: Should Circle Gallery or any other exhibition space be closed for reasons beyond our control, MFA reserves the right to move a planned physical exhibit to our online gallery.

Delivery and Shipping

Delivery

  • All work delivered to the gallery must have the following information affixed to the non-viewing side of the artwork:
    • Artist Name
    • Address, phone number, and email
    • Title of the work, medium, and price. Be specific with medium descriptions (e.g., oil on hardboard or canvas, not oil; chromogenic print or archival inkjet print, not photography or digital print; oil pastel on paper, not pastel; etc.)
  • Work must arrive on scheduled dates.
  • Paintings must be dry.
  • Measure to ensure work meets size limitations before delivery, include outer edges of frames. Work not in compliance will not be exhibited. No exceptions.
  • All shipped work must include a bar-coded shipping label. Do not send by United States Postal Service (USPS). We prefer UPS but accept FedEx. No shipping peanuts allowed.
  • Please affix packing/repacking instructions to OUTSIDE of the shipping box.
  • Tips on shipping can be viewed on the RedDotBlog

Pickup and Storage

Pickup and Storage

  • When the exhibit ends, unless specified otherwise, you may pick up your work no earlier than 6:00 PM on the closing day of the exhibit.
  • Unless previous arrangements have been made, work placed in storage after announced pickup dates will be subject to a fine of $10 per piece, per week. Work left in storage longer than two (2) weeks shall become MFA property and may be disposed of, or used for fundraising purposes. There are no exceptions.

Liability

Liability

All work will be handled with all possible care, but pieces submitted for the exhibition are at the artist’s risk. In the event of damage or theft, MFA will not be held liable. If insurance is desired, the artist must carry it.

Sales

Sales

  • All work entered into any exhibition must be for sale unless prior agreements are made, and marked either with a price or POR for Price On Request.
  • Artist members will retain 75% from sales.
  • The sale of artwork is taxable and all sales tax processing will be handled by MFA.
  • Sold artwork requiring shipment will be handled by MFA with costs collected from the buyer. Buyers will be asked if the work may be retained until the exhibit ends. If the buyer disagrees, the Gallery will let the work go, and the artist will be informed.
  • MFA asks that artists donate 20% from any sale made through a direct referral from MFA within three months. All donations are used to help defray operating costs of the Maryland Federation of Art and are tax-deductible by the artists to the full extent of the law.

Notification

All entrants will be sent notice by email. If you have unsubscribed from MFA emails, you will not receive notification. The notice to accepted artists will include specific details and could vary from the prospectus. A list of accepted artists and artwork will also be posted on MFA’s website. Please set your email account to recognize this address: notification@mdfedart.org. Contact Circle Gallery if you do not receive notice.