Filberg: The Jury Process By Sylvia Allan

n 1983, the Filberg Festival was created to raise much needed funds
[« repair the buildings on the festival site, a nine-acre heritage site.

‘The organizing group decided that it would be a juried show and
anyone who wished to participate would be required to send in actual
samples of their work for evaluation. This practice is still in place, and
is rare given most shows switched to jurying from slides. For many
years there were four or five people on the jury: experts in fine arts,
textiles, wood, ceramics, and sometimes a generalist.

Ceramics has always been one of the most competitive categories, and
those using this media questioned how their work could be effectively
evaluated if only one of the jurors was completely acquainted with clay
and its many manifestations. Responding to that, in the mid-nineties,
I implemented a change to our process and now there are three ceramic
specialists who focus just on work in clay: functional, sculptural, raku,
porcelain, earthenware, stoneware or any combination thereof.

There are usually 10 to 15 ceramists participating in the Filberg
Festival, and the jurors recommend those making the best work from
the applicants — the “must haves”. They are asked to choose a variety
of media and styles which will be of interest to our more than 20,000
visitors, and to also provide their choices for up to 10 back-ups in case
one of the people originally invited has to withdraw.

Being a juror in this context is difficult. The festival is not a static
gallery show, nor does an artist arrive with just one or two pieces.
‘The jurors’ challenge and my challenge as show producer is to provide
the visitors with an interesting selection of work to choose from.
Ultimately, the composition of those artisans attending is determined
by several elements as well as the quality of their work: who else applies
that year, what pieces are sent in for us to handle, and what they chose
to photograph. The jurors often comment on the discrepancy between
the photographed items and the actual items. Sometimes the items in
the photographs look less well-made and interesting than those sent
in, and sometimes the reverse is the feeling.

It is important for makers to send in the work they find the most
exciting, and which demonstrates their technical mastery of the media.
It may be hard to believe, but I personally have seen and handled the
following surprises: a teapot spout glazed shut, sharp stilt marks on
the bottom of a piece, crackled glazes on the inside of a mug or bowl!

Two of last year's jurors hard at work.

As the work sent in is meant to be a person's best work, it is a shame
when poor attention to detail gets in the way of a good evaluation.
Hmmmm, how to correct this? Possibly an outside opinion might be
of value to you. Get your jury entry together and ask someone else to
take a look at it, and read over your material with fresh eyes...get them
to make sure your teapot pours!

Yes, clay is the second most populated category and the competition
is tough...but please think about participating in the Filberg Festival
because it is an excellent selling opportunity well worth the work of
applying. Over half of the attendees return year after year, looking
for new work as much as they hope to continue buying from return
artists. As we all know, clay breaks, so these steady customers love
to replace a favourite that may have finally worn out. Jury delivery
deadline: February 21.

Questions? Please call or email. 1am happy to respond. Jury applica-
tions are available at www.filbergfestival.com. Sylvia Allan, Filberg
Festival Producer, 250.334.9242, info@filbergfestival.com

Views from the workshop 8) Rosalie Cc. McAllister

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Here’s a quick look at Heather Cairn's workshop hosted by the Whistler Pottery Guild on
Sept. 26, 2009. Heather demonstrated the use of underglazes and coloured slips on greenware.
Clear glazes are applied after the underglazed pieces are bisqued. It was a successful informative
workshop and I am glad to have seen the notice in the special PGBC email broadcast.

Potters Guild of BC Newsletter - December/January * 2009/10 7