One of the primary means emerging artists have to build their exhibition resume and gain the attention of curators is to participate in juried art shows. Not only is substantial time and effort involved in the process of creating art and applying for juried shows, but most require a fee for application. For many artists with extraordinary work, their opportunity for significant exposure is limited by their financial ability to apply for more publicized shows involving known jurors. An application fee can be a significant amount to artists with lower incomes and often many cannot take the chance that a juror may not even select their work for display.

Most juried shows charge these entry fees to support the organizations they are part of and those fees are often integral to their budgets and operations; however these fees are keeping out a subset of the artist population. With generous support from the Connecticut Office of the Arts, Art Access: New Britain is a juried art show focusing on artists living in households with income at or below the approximate state definition of “lower income” ($80,000). This juried show will collect no fee for application, involves a well established juror connected to a prominent museum, offers assistance to those who cannot afford to transport their artwork to the show, and involves juried prize awards.

This exhibition will be held at Gallery 66 in New Britain from August 12 to October 11, featuring an opening event and artist discussion, in addition to regularly held events at Gallery 66 such as monthly artist discussions and regular open mics.

• Artist Requirements:
o This exhibition will consider artists of all disciplines, art education, and experience levels.
o As the exhibit is intended to highlight artists which may not have economic access to apply for other juried shows, we ask that artists with an overall household income above $80,000 refrain from application.
o This exhibition is intended to focus on artists residing in the area surrounding the exhibition. Artists living either (1) in Hartford county or (2) within a fifty (50) mile radius of New Britain are encouraged to apply. Transportation assistance cannot be provided to any artists residing outside this area.
• Artwork Requirements: The only requirement is that to be considered, works must be ready to hang or be installed in a gallery setting. We are requesting that wall hung works do not exceed 48” in width.