Niggling questions about the PSOA competition

Thomasin Dewhurst · 02-12-2007, 08:34 PM

A couple of questions:

I am not sure which format would be more appealing to send entries in for the upcoming PSOA competition. CD or slide. How do people here prefer to send their images and, if you were judging the show, which format would you take more warmly to?

Secondly, many shows ask that entries have not received awards in other competitions. What happens if you send the same image to different shows simultaneously and then you receive an award in one of them. Would that disqualify your entry into the other shows?

Kevin Roeckl · 02-13-2007, 05:41 PM

I too would be interested in the answer to Thomasin's first question, whether digital or slide is taken more seriously in competitions at this level. I also have other questions about this competition (with the entry deadline looming in 3 weeks).

My PSOA question is this: I was fortunate enough to have received an Honorable Mention in the 2006 PSOA Members-Only competition. When I was notified of that honor last month, I contacted the Executive Director of PSOA, Christine Egnoski, and asked if it was "legal" for me to refer to my portrait as an "Award-winning portrait" followed by the name of the competition, on my website. She told me that only the First, Second, and Third place winners are considered awards, so it was not really appropriate for me to refer to an Honorable Mention that way.

I had been intending to enter that portrait in this years "Art of the Portrait" competition. As I'm sure most of you know, the rules state that only entries that have "never won an award in any previous art competition" are eligible. Since Ms. Egnoski told me that my Honorable Mention is not considered an award, can I enter it in the PSOA competition?

What if I entered it and the panel selecting the finalists felt that it was an illegal entry - would that reflect badly on my other two entries?

That brings me to another question: When entering the maximum number of portraits (3), are all 3 entries viewed by the jurors knowing they are all by the same artist, and if so, are the jurors influenced by the overall quality of that artist's work when considering one of their entries for a finalist?

Alexandra Tyng · 02-26-2007, 10:27 PM

Kevin, to answer your first question, it sounds as though you could enter your portrait in the competition, since Chrustine has specifically told you that the work did not officially win an award.

I don't feel qualified to answer your second question--only the PSoA board can do that--but I think as a general rule the odds are better if you enter three rather than one, so I would just not worry and pick your three best portraits.

Kevin Roeckl · 02-27-2007, 02:10 AM

Thanks Alexandra. A couple weeks had passed since I asked the question here on the Forum, so I thought I'd better check with PSOA before submitting my entry. If chosen as a finalist I did not want there to be any question about it's eligibility.
The official word is that, as stated before, First, Second, and Third places are awards, Finalists and Honorable Mentions are not. So, not having won an award, an Honorable Mention is completely eligible for entry.

Artists whom I asked about this unanimously agreed that an Honorable Mention is an "award". Of course we would, because all of us who have received an Honorable Mention or any other type or recognition, want to believe that is an important honor bestowed upon our work. In this case, the official definition worked in my favor, as it allowed me to enter a good piece of work in another competition.

This brings another question to my mind. Many art competitions, not necessarily in the field of portraiture, have rules that the entry "not have won an award in any previous art competition". So could one safely proceed with entering any work that did not win, specifically, a First, Second, or Third place? (And obviously a Best in Show). What about a People's Choice award, or any other non-regular award? I assumed any piece which had hung in a competition with a ribbon on it - even if only an Honorable Mention - had "won an award".

Marcus Lim · 03-08-2007, 09:25 PM

Hi,
Call me a competition newbie, but i seem to notice that PSOA entry forms never mention about how you can pay for your entry. I've jz submitted mine last week, and i can't think of any other way than to send cash via postage together with the form.
Can any experienced participants share your views on this?

Tom Edgerton · 03-09-2007, 10:31 AM

Kevin and all--

The PSOA competition judging is a blind judging--works are considered on their own merit by number, without the judges knowing who has entered which pieces. Winners' names are only identified after the judging is complete.

--Tom

Julie Deane · 03-10-2007, 01:56 PM

Marcus -

Does Singapore have the equivalent of a money order? Or can you send them something in writing authorizing the charge from a credit card?

Marcus Lim · 03-10-2007, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julie Deane

Marcus -

Does Singapore have the equivalent of a money order? Or can you send them something in writing authorizing the charge from a credit card?

Good question Julie. Though we have different modes of payment available here, the question remains what PSOA is willing to do for participants.

Most other competitions have specific instructions about payment modes, and PSOA doesn't - just $30 will do. That left me hanging quite a bit. I then decided to just play it safe and send money straight out.