Brand 50

Sep 14, 2022
3 min read

Updated: Dec 19, 2022

September 24th - December 30th

Juried by Shannon Currie Holmes

WELCOME TO BRAND 50

This year we celebrate not only the creativity of our 85 exhibiting artists, but also that of the hundreds, if not thousands, of artists who have been included in our juried exhibitions over the past 50 years. The archive of these five decades demonstrates that presenting the highest quality contemporary art—whether ceramics, multi-media or works on paper—has been a goal that was always achieved.

Fifty years of Associates’ yearly exhibitions could be realized only through the efforts of dedicated Boards of Directors, Brand Library & Art Center and City of Glendale LIbrary, Arts & Culture staff, jurors, and engaged members of the Associates and the larger Glendale community. Add to this the energies and creativity of every artist who has been or sought to be exhibited and the reason to celebrate this anniversary becomes clear.

Our annual juried exhibition has developed a nation reputation that this year drew more than 1,200 entries. From that number, Juror Shannon Currie Holmes selected the 89 artworks on display. We think you will agree that Brand 50 upholds the tradition of artistic excellence that has come to be the standard for our annual exhibitions.

Thank you for supporting our artists, Brand Library & Art Center, and the Associates of Brand.

Debra Thompson

President, Associates fo Brand Library & Art Center

JUROR’S STATEMENT

In my role as Exhibitions Supervisor at Brand Library & Art Center, I have had the privilege of working alongside the Brand Associates for many years in the production of their Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper. How strange it was to find myself in the venerated position of juror for this most important 50th Anniversary show. My hearty congratulations to the Brand Associates for their longevity and their unwavering support of the arts in the City of Glendale.

Working closely with past jurors, I heard them lament about having to select only a small percentage of artworks submitted - a testament to the quality of the artworks and to the popularity of the exhibition. As juror, I experienced the challenge firsthand. When faced with a tsunami of artworks with only the medium of paper as the common tie, I needed to create a new set of criteria for selection. The work of a juror is so unlike the slow enterprise of a curator. Curation is an additive process, while selection for a juried show is most decidedly subtractive. All of the 1,233 submissions had merit and any other juror could have easily chosen 89 alternative artworks for an equally gratifying exhibition.

The selected artworks demonstrate technical proficiency and an understanding of the elements of art, which was the first criteria in my selection. The second criteria was admittedly much more subjective. Artworks were selected after a considered evaluation of my own aesthetic preferences and feelings. The third criteria challenged me to see the exhibition as a whole. I felt a responsibility to represent a diverse range of styles, techniques, narratives, and media that display the breadth of what can be accomplished with paper. The resulting exhibition is a wonderfully complex artistic playground - a cornucopia of creativity.

Thank you to all the artists who submitted their art; it was a privilege to evaluate your work. Congratulations to all who were selected, thank you for sharing a part of yourself with all of us.

Shannon Currie Holmes

Exhibitions Supervisor, Brand Library & Art Center

EXHIBITION CATALOG

INDIVIDUAL ARTWORKS

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