For those who follow my work, you already know of my deep love and devotion for exhibiting at any and all County Fairs. Even so, exhibition at the Minnesota State Fair has been a career-defining goal for my photography.
My photograph of my Dinkytown job site from November of 2021 was adjudicated into the Fine Art Exhibit for 2022. A monumental achievement for me. It is one thing to share my work via social media. It is an entirely other effort to have my work in print, framed, and judged.
Ever since I first saw this gallery in 2007, the Fine Art Building has been my favorite spot at the State Fair. Exceptional work. It is the largest juried art show in the state. Roughly 300 works of art, annually. Over 220,000 will visit the Fine Art Building.
I first applied for acceptance in 2013. Ever since then I have entered, hoping that this year would be the year. I was VERY close in 2017 but it would take till 2022 to get it done. Every year I would go and see who made the short list and take notes for how I could improve my composition. Only one image can be submitted annually.
If you have followed my county fair circuit of exhibiting, you will know that this is a big deal for me. I love exhibiting in fairs. The statistics are pretty incredible 2,207 applied this year, 324 were selected. It is difficult, the caliber is high, especially for photography. There also isn’t any other opportunity to exhibit at the State Fair for photography. This is it and it is in the hands of a subjective juror.
My husband and I got a baby sitter and we went to the opening First-Glance event. I was so excited to see my work hung on the gallery wall. I found where it was located and found myself dumbfounded, after all these years of trying not only did I get into the show, I was awarded 3rd place in the photography category and was also selected to receive the Weisman Art Museum award.
In closing, a very heart-felt expression of gratitude to everyone who saw the exhibit and sent me selfies of my fine art print in the background. A special note of appreciation to the fan who purchased the piece as well. The work on the 2023 submission is well underway and the decision will be a difficult one to match up to the exceptional experience that was had for 2022.