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Central Mass Pastel Society
Central Mass Pastel Society

2022 Marks of Distinction National Exhibition

September 1 – 28, 2022 Fivesparks, Harvard, MA
Deadline was July 4th. Open to Members and Non-Members.

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Deadline for entry was July 4, 2022

Awards

1st Place: $1200
2nd Place: $750
3rd Place: $500

More than $5000 including additional cash, materials, and Honorable Mention awards

Judge of Awards

Katie Hanson, Associate Curator of Painting, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Selection Jurors

Liz Balkwill
Natasha Isenhour

Who Can Submit

Open to all artists over the age of 18 working in soft pastel.

Submission Process and Fee

  • Members: $20 for 1; $35 for 2-3 pieces, plus $10 for each additional piece up to 5
  • Non-Members: $30 for 1; $45 for 2-3 pieces, plus $10 for each additional piece up to 5
  • Only one piece per artist can be juried into the show.
  • Submit your original image file. You do not need to resize it or rename it.

Submission Requirements

  • Work must be at least 80% soft pastel, with soft pastel as the final layer.
  • Work must be less than 3 years old.
  • Work cannot exceed 48” in any direction, including frame. There is no minimum size.
  • Work must be based exclusively on the artist’s own photo reference, life set-up or plein air experience, concept, and composition.
  • Work must be directly and individually drawn or painted by the artist, not traced or otherwise created over a base photo.
  • Work must be exclusively the product of the artist. Work done in a class or workshop, online venue, or otherwise under the guidance or advice of an instructor, is not permitted.
  • Work that has previously been in a CMPS national show, or that has won a top award in any national show (Best, 1,2, 3), is not permitted.
For additional criteria, please download the prospectus.

Delivery and Shipping of Accepted Work

Artists accepted into the exhibition will receive detailed instructions with their acceptance notification for either hand-delivering or shipping work to the venue according to the dates in the above calendar. CMPS will send an email list to accepted artists for coordinating hand delivery as desired. The address for both hand delivery and shipping is: Fivesparks, 7 Fairbank St, Harvard, MA 01451.

There will be no handling fee for work shipped in an Airfloat Strong Box or Uline Deluxe Art Shipper box. Work shipped in other packaging will carry a $50 handling fee payable at the time of shipping; no crates will be accepted. Work must be shipped by commercial carrier (UPS, FedEx, DHL). Shipped work will be returned promptly after show close.

All work must be clean, securely framed, and wired for hanging in a non-metal frame. We recommend the use of a framer’s grade plexiglass for shipping large paintings to minimize shipping cost and risk.

Pricing and Sales

Work must be for sale; NFS is not allowed.

  • All work must be for sale exclusively through CMPS for the duration of the show. Prices should reflect market value for similar work by the artist. Work must remain hung until the show closes.
  • CMPS and Fivesparks will process sales at the show venue during gallery hours, and CMPS will process sales through the online version of the show. CMPS will receive a 35% commission on all sold work.
  • Unless a buyer is authorized to pick up purchased work on show closing, artists are responsible for delivery or shipping sold work to buyers.

Additional Notification Information

Notifications will be emailed and posted in your ShowSubmit account by the end of the day on July 14, 2022.

You may view the notification in your ShowSubmit account by logging in and tapping the Notifications at the top right of the screen, or in your Entry History (Accepted works will be notated by a green check.)

If you do not receive your email, login and view the notification in your account. We cannot respond to inquiries regarding the status of notifications.

Note: Entries made prior to 2023 may not display the View Notification link.

Image and Filename Specifications

  • File Format: Submit original, high-quality JPEG image files. Other formats (e.g., PNG, TIFF) are not accepted.
  • Crop Your Image: Ensure only the artwork itself is visible in the image. Do not show any visible matting, frames, or background distractions.
  • Orientation: Make sure your image is oriented correctly (right side up) so that the artwork appears in its intended viewing direction.
  • Image Size: You do not need to resize your image files before uploading. The system will automatically resize them. Smaller images cannot be enlarged to meet the requirements, so ensure your images are high resolution before uploading.
  • File Names: You do not need to rename your files before uploading them. The system will handle any file naming requirements.
  • File Size: There is a 30mb maximum file size limit. Larger image files will take longer to upload and process.

Additional Entry Information

  • You will pay for your entry by credit or debit card using our secure checkout system.
  • After your entry is submitted and paid for, you may log back in to review your entry, edit artist and image information, and add or substitute images up until the entry deadline (July 4, 2022.)
  • Entry fees are not refundable and must be submitted and paid by the entry deadline.
  • Entries cannot be accepted or changed after the deadline. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.

Support

Need Assistance? For questions about the entry process or using this website, please check our Help Center or Entry Guide first for detailed guides and troubleshooting tips. Most answers can be found there quickly.

If you still need help, feel free to email ShowSubmit Support at [email protected], and we’ll respond between 9am and 6pm Eastern Time, Monday to Friday.