Entries Sought for 19th Annual Statewide Fine Craft Competition & Exhibition

“All Quiet in the Holy City” by Saila Milja Smyly

Press Release

Fine craft artists from across the state are invited to participate in the 19th annual South Carolina Palmetto Hands Juried Fine Craft Competition and Exhibition. As the state’s longest-running fine craft competition and exhibition, objects selected for the show may compete for cash prizes totaling up to $6,500. The exhibition is presented as a component of the annual North Charleston Arts Fest, to be held April 28-May 2, 2021.

A $15 entry fee applies. Artists may submit up to four entries. The application is strictly available online and may be accessed via the link at NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com/apply. Deadline for entries is Monday, March 15, 2021. Artists in need of assistance with the application process may contact the Cultural Arts Department to schedule a one-on-one meeting, which can be conducted over the phone or in person.

Organized and presented by the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department, this unique exhibition offers fine craft artists from across South Carolina the opportunity to exhibit their inspiring objects in the media of clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood, and three-dimensional mixed media. Thousands have enjoyed the refined talents of South Carolina fine craft artists during past annual exhibitions.  Following the close of the show, up to twenty works will be selected to tour the state through the South Carolina State Museum’s 2021/2022 Traveling Exhibitions Program. Sites across South Carolina may request the exhibit to tour in their facilities, thus providing additional exposure for the selected artists.

Due to the cancellation of the 2020 competition and exhibition as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Karen Watson has been invited back to serve as the juror for 2021.Watson has been the Executive Director of the Sumter County Gallery of Art in Sumter, SC, since 2005. Before assuming the directorship, her professional background was in biomedical research. Watson’s path from biomedical research to gallery director is not as unlikely as it seems on the surface. She and her former husband were serious collectors of contemporary art. They had the opportunity to meet and befriend many artists and arts professionals within the state and beyond. Watson has a passion for the visual arts and the Sumter County Gallery of Art. She is committed to presenting challenging contemporary and traditional art exhibitions by culturally diverse artists and providing art education opportunities to all the citizens of Sumter County – an extensively rural, economically depressed region of the state isolated from the major art centers of the U.S. Watson served as the juror for the 2009 Waccamaw Arts and Crafts Juried Exhibition at Burroughs-Chapin Art Museum (Myrtle Beach, SC), was a juror for the inaugural CCA 701 Prize in 2012 at 701 Center For Contemporary Art, (Columbia, SC), and has been a judge for several local art competitions throughout the years.

The 19^th Annual South Carolina Palmetto Hands Juried Fine Craft Competition & Exhibition will be on display April 28-May 2, 2021, at the Charleston Area Convention Center, located at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. A free public reception and announcement of awards will be held at the Convention Center on Wednesday, April 28, 2021, from 6:00-8:30pm. For more information about the North Charleston Arts Fest, Palmetto Hands, or other exhibition opportunities, contact the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at (843)740-5854, email culturalarts@northcharleston.org, or visit NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com.

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