Fine craft artists from across the state are invited to participate in the twelfth annual South Carolina Palmetto Hands Juried Fine Craft Competition and Exhibition. As the state’s only fine craft competition and exhibition, objects juried into the show may compete for cash prizes totaling up to $6500. The exhibition is presented as a component of the annual North Charleston Arts Festival, to be held May 3-11, 2013. Applications may be downloaded from the Applications page at NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com. Deadline for submissions is Friday, March 15, 2013.
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 the past annual exhibitions. Following the close of the show, up to thirty works will be selected to tour the state through the South Carolina State Museum’s 2013/2014 Traveling Exhibitions Program. Sites across South Carolina may request the exhibit to tour in their facilities, thus providing additional exposure for the selected artists.
Karen Derksen, Director of Winthrop University Galleries and lecturer for the Department of Fine Arts and the Department of Design at Winthrop, will jury this year’s competition. Derksen holds an MA in Arts Administration and a BA in Art History (Curatorial Studies). She has coordinated collaborative community projects including the public art installation of Carla Stetson’s The Red Line in Rock Hill, MUSE Fest, Pecha Kucha Charlotte, and the Artist & Civic Engagement Projects at Winthrop. Karen has juried a number of exhibitions, acted as small festival representative for the Edmonton Arts Council Festival Granting Jury and served as review panel member for the Center for Craft, Creativity and Design 2011 Craft Research Fund Grants. She is also one of the founding members of Media, Art, Design, Exposed in Edmonton.
The South Carolina Palmetto Hands Juried Fine Craft Competition & Exhibition will be on display May 3-11, 2013, at the Charleston Area Convention Center, located at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. An opening reception and announcement of awards will be held at the Convention Center on Friday, May 3, 2013. For more information about the North Charleston Arts Festival, 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.
