"Paintings With Personality"

Competition occurs when people reach for the same goals. There aren’t many things in life that can be achieved without competing for them. People in the workplace compete for promotions; siblings rival one another for their parent’s attention, sports are always competitive, and, etc. How to handle competition and learn and grow from the experience is even taught in our schools.

Visual art competitions have been a part of life for centuries, in fact, they have become pretty commonplace. Not only do art societies have exhibits and competitions, there are many cities, libraries, churches, and clubs who hold art exhibits in order to raise funds.

It is difficult to evaluate art without a competition. There are so many different art movements, mediums, and ways of working and even more diverse opinions about what is good art and what is bad art. One person will like an art work and the other person will dislike the same work. The easiest way to appraise art is through a competition even though the results are the opinion of only a few persons. Another time, at a different competition a painting that didn’t get into one exhibition will be awarded “Best in Show” at another.

There are pros and cons about art competitions. I have listed a few of those below:

Cons:

1. Some painters focus on painting for shows and awards, suspending their creative development. Artists must look within themselves for their creative direction, not to shows or other artists.
2. Realizing they have worked very hard and not gotten the prize can be discouraging to some people. Their goals seem even farther away.
3. There are artists so concentrated on the show and awards, they won’t go to an exhibit unless they win, thus losing the opportunity to grow and learn what they can do to improve.
4. One person has to win the top award and others lesser awards. And even more people nothing at all.
5. Some people stop creating all together because they either didn’t get into a show or didn’t get an award.
6. In a few painters “not winning” results in jealousy. Again, hindering their development.

Pros:

1. Artists can learn and grow from art competitions.
2. Competitions can motivate the painter to work harder as they apply what they learned at an exhibit.
3. Competing makes people think about what their goals and which direction to take next.
4. Winning locally helps the artist’s work become better known in the community.
5. Getting into and/or winning in national and international shows aids the painter in becoming more widely known, in acquiring patrons, and getting into galleries.
6. Those who go to the exhibits grow and come to realize what they really believe about art and how they want to paint.
7. Competitions don’t define us; they demand that we look for ways to grow.
8. Competitions give us the opportunity to meet other artists and make wonderful artist friends.

When you decide to enter an art competition, check it out first. Look for past winners, judges, and awards to get an idea of who else might be submitting, what the competition will be, and who will be making the decisions.

There are triumphs and at other times things not so triumphant in all of life. When we lose, we try again or perhaps go in a different direction. When we win, we might still go in a different direction. Life isn’t static and neither is art. As artists, we study, learn, work and change in our attempts to reach our goal. When we stay the same, we don’t grow.

The pros I was able to come up with outweigh the cons. What pros and cons can you tell us about?