Pastel Society of Maine
Pastel Society of Maine

Pastels Only

24th Annual Open Juried Exhibition April 27 – May 31, 2024 | Online
Deadline was April 8th. Open to Members and Non-Members.
Summer Field by Sharon Culf-Gorman
Summer Field by Sharon Culf-Gorman

Deadline for entry has passed.
View open calls for entry

Deadline for entry was April 8, 2024
Virtual Exhibit Only

Awards

1st, $1000, 2nd, $750, 3rd, $500., and other awards

Juror of Selection and Awards

Lyn Diefenbach – ldief.com
Lyn was accepted into the International Guild of Realism in 2008, and holds Master Pastellist status with the Pastel Society of Australia. Lyn was awarded Eminent Pastellist status in the International Association of Pastel Societies in 2019, having achieved master Circle status with that group in 2014. Lyn was accepted into the Pastel Society of America as a Signature Member in 2016. She has been featured numerous times in the International Artist, Pastel Journal,Pratique des Arts and Australian Artist magazines.

Eligible Works

  • Open to all soft pastel artists.
  • All subjects and styles are acceptable, except for erotic and overtly political works.
  • Paintings must be artist’s original design and composition, not copied from any other artist’s work, not painted in a class or workshop under instructor supervision, and using only artist’s photographs and sketches.
  • There is no size limit.
  • Submitted images that are not in focus or cropped to show only the painting image will be disqualified. The committee reserves the right to refuse paintings for any reason.
  • Work must be completed in the past 2 years and the surface must be comprised of 80% soft pastels. No oil pastel.
  • NFS is allowed. (see other info in “Sales” below)
  • If an accepted work is discovered to be in another concurrent exhibit, it becomes disqualified from the competition and artist is banned from PSME juried exhibitions for two years.
  • Paintings that have won top awards (1st, 2nd, or 3rd) in any National or International juried pastel competition may NOT be submitted.
  • Paintings previously shown in Pastel Society of Maine juried competitions may NOT be submitted. Do NOT submit a painting which is simultaneously being shown in another national or international juried art competition.
  • Upon submitting, the artist grants permission for PSME to use the image for promotion.
  • Submitting artists must have access to a US mailing address or international PayPal account.

For additional criteria, please download the prospectus.

Entry Fee

PSME Members
3 works: $35
PSME membership dues must be current.

Non-members
3 works: $45

Each artist may submit up to 3 entries. A maximum of 2 pieces per artist may be juried into the show.

Notifications of acceptance and decline will be emailed by April 20, 2024.
Entry fees are not refundable and must be paid by the entry deadline.

Incomplete entries will be disqualified.

Sales

  • Painting price may not be changed after submission.
  • PSME Show Chair will notify artist of any interest in the purchase of a painting.
  • It is the artist’s responsibility to handle payment and delivery of artwork.
  • All entries must either have a sale price or be marked not for sale (NFS). No works marked POR will be accepted.

Payment of Awards

Award recipients will be paid by check (US artists only) or by PayPal transfer (non-US artists).

Disqualifications may occur if:

  • You fail to provide accurate information about yourself or your paintings.
  • You fail to follow the prospectus guidelines.
  • Disqualification means you will be dropped from the 24th Pastel Society of Maine Open Juried Exhibition and will be ineligible to submit until the 2026 PSME exhibition.

Questions

If you have questions or need help with the online entry system, contact Austin at [email protected].

For any other questions, please send email to:
Exhibition Committee Lead Terrilynn Dubreuil [email protected]

Awards

  • 1st, $1000
  • 2nd, $750
  • 3rd, $500
  • President’s Award, $200
  • Memorial Award, $150
  • PSA reciprocal, $100
  • CPPS, $100
  • PSNH, $100
  • CMPS, $100
  • CPS, $100
Total, $3100

Note: The President’s Award and Memorials are funds donated by PSME Members.

Additional Notification Information

Notifications will be emailed by the end of the day on April 19, 2024. We cannot respond to inquiries regarding the status of notifications before that time.

Please add [email protected] to your email safe senders list.

After notifications are sent, you may view the status of your entry in your ShowSubmit artist account’s Entry History. Accepted works will be notated by a green check.

If you do not receive your email, you may also view your notification letter using the View Notification link in your Entry History.

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

Image and Filename Specifications

  • Submit your original JPEG image files.
  • Crop out all parts of the photo that are not the actual work; do not show mat, frame, etc, only the work itself.
  • Image must be displayed right side up.
  • You do not need to resize your image files.
  • You do not need to rename your image files.

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 (April 8, 2024.)
  • 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 the entry process or this website please contact ShowSubmit Support at [email protected]. We will get back to you between 9am and 6pm Eastern Time, Monday to Friday. You can also view the Support Center, Entry Guide, or our FAQ.