Art contests, valid or rigged, honest evaluations or peer accolades?

Yes and yes.

I watched with interest several nearby “real world” art contests.  Three were “juried,” two were “open,” and one was held by a gallery.  I also have watched with interest several online contests over the last months, two sponsored by A Singular Creation and some others which will remain unnamed and unlinked.

And the results?

Predictable.

Results of the Real World Contests

Two of the real world juried art contest were too obviously rigged. Respectively, the results were:

• the art chosen for the prizes of first, second, third, and runner up, all by artists who were members of importance within the membership ranks of the sponsoring association,
• the art chosen for prizes were all based upon the popularity of the individual instead of upon the merit of the art

Another real world juried art contest obviously wasn’t rigged, the sponsoring association having no vested interest in art, but rather in community, and the artist’s works placing highest, judged by art experts hired to do so, holding true merit.  Even while I would have, in some cases, chosen differently, I couldn’t argue with the judge’s decisions…which, by the way, they enumerated.

In the two open shows:

• Again, one of them showed obvious predetermined agenda, the agenda being the promotion of one particular company’s product which, upon deep research, proved to be a sustaining sponsor of the organization holding the contest.
• The other demonstrated just and fair adjudication based upon merit of the art.

 Now, the gallery show:

The art which won here was all art by artists who, though prohibited by the rules from being artists affiliated with the gallery, either had been previously affiliated with the gallery prior to the contest or became affiliated with the gallery after the contest.  No artist unaffiliated with the gallery, either before or after, won any prize.

Results of the Online Art Contests

Looking at the results of the online contests, the contests came in two forms:

• those judged by popular vote,
• and those judged by qualified, independent judges.

Predictably, art which was judged by electronic voting by visitors instead of by independent judges wound up being a popularity contest for the most part.  The one exception was A Singular Creation’s contests which, while still suffering the “by popular vote” syndrome of friends gathering to pick friends, were fairer in that votes cast by the same IP were thrown out.  However, by and large, these contests aren’t fair and unbiased venues.

The one art contest I watched with interest was one which didn’t require an entry fee, offered no cash prize, but was judged by a panel of independent artists.  The results were fair and unbiased, except that it was obvious which media was most favored by the panel of judges.

The Bottom Line

Contest results aren’t always about whose art is best, or even an equitable venue for all artists entering them.  Be aware, and only enter those which suit your needs and goals.