Jury System

[Stewart Crick]

I am considering apply for Juried status as a woodworker from the Association of Virginia Artisans (http://virginiaartisans.org/index.html) . I've reviewed their website and their arguments (and the benefits) for it make sense.

While I understand artistry is subjective and in the eye of the beholder, I’m wondering, is there an objective benchmark, or set of standards, that are consistent among jurying organizations? For example demonstrated mastery of specific skills (i.e.: dovetailing, veneering, inlay etc).

Is there a network of state jurying organizations that belong to a national organization? Or is each organization run independently and thus establishes their own standards?

Stu

[Bill Grumbine]

Hi Stu

I just went through this last night in PA, and I can tell you that the answer is a definite maybe! When I applied to be juried into the PA Guild of Craftsmen, I was given some paperwork to fill out, and along with that a list of criteria that was going to be used. Some things that were very objective are the use of premade, prepackaged parts, assemblies, etc, which are strictly forbidden. Then there are things like fit and finish, proportion, etc that are more subjective. The local level for this guild is different than the statewide level.

When I actually went through the process, there was a committee of about seven people or so, and it is a majority rules kind of thing. We were each given a paper detailing what areas the judges would grade us on. There were comments listed on the sheet we each filled out regarding our work, good and bad. I am happy to report that I got no comments on what to improve, although I could easily make my own list.

My understanding was that I was not so much being judged on my artistic interpretation, but more on how well I executed it. In other words, someone could absolutely hate my work, but understand the level of workmanship involved in turning it out (so to speak).

I hope this helps you out some.

Bill

[Perry Holbrook]

I was fortunate to be juried into the Southern Highland Craft Guild 3 years ago. The SHCG is the second oldest and largest in the country. Some members get juried in on the first attempt others takes years to be accepted.

There are 3 steps in our process. First you submit 5 slides of your best "body of work". The standards committee (made up of several current members) views the slides and votes on whether they appear to meet the standards of the guild. If your slides don't look like they were done professionally, you're pretty much eliminated on the spot, no matter how good your work is. If you don't present a true "body of work" to don't pass to the next step.

If you pass the slide portion you move to step 2 and 3 where you present 5 examples of your best work, again as a "body of work". In step 2 the work is examined by knowledgeable member for it level of craftsmanship. Basically the work should demonstrate you have a command of your craft. Each applicant will receive a grade for their work, in our case the highest grade is 15 points.

Step 3 also has a max of 15 points. In this step your work is examined for its marketability or artistic appeal. This is of course more of an opinion by the committee members on whether they fill the work meets our overall reputation.

If you score over 25 points, you're in. We accept applications twice a year and membership eligability is based on where you live. We cover parts of 7 states , NC, SC, VA, KY, WVA, AL, GA.

I know that other guilds have considerability different procedures, but thought I would share how we do it.

Perry

[Stewart Crick]

Bill & Perry,

Thanks for sharing your experiences with me. Bill, after doing a little research it appears that the PA Guild of Craftsman has local chapters (i.e.: Lehigh Valley, Williamsport/Lewisport etc) spread throughout the state. Do you know if they all use the same juried process and standards? I also gather from your post you didn’t have to submit photographs. So it sounds like the process PA Guild uses is somewhat different from Southern Highland. Seems they are probably two independent organizations with no central entity guiding them.

Stu