02/21/2022
For the first time in its nearly 50-year history, the artists at the Torpedo Factory will be required to re-jury to see if they will still have a place in an art center whose "identity has been re-established for a 21st century audience."
From the FAQ about re-jurying:
"With the Art Center being founded in 1974, many artists have held studios for multiple decades without being reevaluated....Founding Artists (had studios in 1974) and their studio mates will not need to re-jury while the Founding Artist maintains their studio at the Art Center."
All respect is due to the founding artists at the Torpedo Factory. This post is in no way aimed at them. I'm merely pointing out that it is ridiculous to say that one of your reasons for re-jurying is to reevaluate artists who have had studios for multiple decades and then accord a special protected status to certain artists who have had studios for multiple decades. Not only that, but anyone sharing a studio with the founding artists is also exempt from the re-jury process (for now)! What kind of sense does this make??
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More from the FAQ...
"Why are some artists being re-juried in groups rather than individually?
The Art Center juries for studios. Studios with multiple artists may apply together in one application for a shared space. There is no requirement that artists must apply to the re-jury with their current studio mates. Groups of up to four (4) artists may apply together and they are scored as one unit. If one (1) artist is weaker than the other three (3), they may decrease the group’s overall score. For this reason, artists should carefully consider who to apply with."
This is mind-bogglingly stupid. It betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of why artists share studios at the Torpedo Factory. It isn't because they are trying to create a unified "brand". Studio partners are an important part of the sense of community at the art center. A lot of artists really value the partnerships they have formed. They create a mutually beneficial situation for both parties. This requirement needlessly creates divisiveness. What possible purpose can it serve to rejury like this, other than to further disrupt the sense of community at the Torpedo Factory?
