Growth – Stories in Bloom

Every work in Stories in Bloom reveals a chapter of growth—personal, creative, or collective. This juried exhibition invites women artists to explore Growth in all its forms: cycles of nature, personal transformation, spiritual evolution, healing, identity, community, and renewal.

Josephy Center for Arts & Culture
403 N Main St
Joseph, OR

First Place – $200

Second Place – $125

Third Place – $100

Best Painting – $50

Best Multimedia – $50

Best Photography – $50

Honorable Mention – $50

Best Young Artist – $25

People’s Choice Award – $50

Artists may deliver work in person or ship to the Josephy Center:

If shipping:

Shipped artworks will be returned within one week. Artwork without prepaid return shipping will be invoiced with a handling fee for return. After 30 days, unclaimed artwork incurs a $50/month storage fee. Artwork unclaimed after 180 days will be considered legally abandoned.

All submitted artwork must be for sale. Artists receive 60% commission on sales; JCAC retains 40% to support programming. Artists will be notified promptly when artwork sells. Sold works remain until the close of the exhibition.

Artists may edit their entries up until the submission deadline. No price changes after deadline. Submissions not adhering to requirements may be excluded. Acceptance notifications will be emailed directly to the artists via ShowSubmit. The JCAC curatorial team’s decisions on placement and installation are final.

The Josephy Center for Arts & Culture will take great care with all artwork; however, JCAC is not responsible for damage, loss, fire, theft, or shipping-related issues. Submission implies agreement to all conditions. Images of accepted artwork may be used for promotional purposes.

Carol McLaughlin Kortnik
aspengrovegallery.com

Carol McLaughlin Kortnik is primarily a self-taught artist but had a semester of drawing at Walla Walla Community College in the early 1980’s. She is adept at working in watercolor, pastel, bronze sculpture, fiber arts, and mixed media collage.

In 1988 she and her husband Mark opened one of the first main street galleries in Joseph, Oregon. Now after 38 years they own and operate Aspen Grove Gallery where she displays her original paintings, fiber art, bronze sculpture, and mixed media collages. She likes trying new media and she displays all her creations in the gallery and also in her Creative Cottage annex building.

Carol has won many first place and People’s Choice awards at art shows she has attended in the Northwest. She was honored to be included in the most celebrated bird art show in the country, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Bird Art Show in Wisconsin. Her work has been featured in several art magazines. She was chosen to be an artist on the OPB Oregon Art Beat television program because of her wide variety of creative skills and mastery of many diverse mediums.

Carol has also created a series of mixed media collages that honor America’s most influential women in history.

Carol’s latest art work is called “painting with fabric”. Starting with a watercolor, she adds texture and depth to it by adding fabric and fibers to give the piece a three dimensionality. Carol has had great success and recognition with this new addition to her creative body of work.

Carol is now creating art pieces with peyote beading and her own designs influenced by the Native Americans. Carol also has past art work that shows similar influences in her ledger styled art.

Carol is constantly looking for new ways to express her creativity and spends her days in that exciting venture as one of Joseph’s most established professional main street artists.

Carol invites visitors to their Aspen Grove Gallery on main street in Joseph, Oregon.

Contact us at:

[email protected]
541-432-0505
josephy.org

Additional Notification Information

Notifications will be emailed and posted in your ShowSubmit account by the end of the day on January 16, 2026.

You may view the notification in your ShowSubmit account by logging in and clicking tapping the Notifications at the top right of the screen, or in your Entry History.

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 (January 12, 2026.)
• 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

For questions about JCAC or this Prospectus, please contact ([email protected]).

For technical support or entry questions, first check our Help Center or Entry Guide. If you still need help, email ShowSubmit Support ([email protected]). We’ll respond between 9am and 6pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.