ArtX…the X is for excellence, eXtraordinary and X marks the spot for Claremont’s student artists!

(February 21, 2011) – This is where Claremont’s student artists will want to be.

ArtX is an exciting opportunity for high school student artists to learn and experience the finer points of the competition and exhibition process. Last held in 2009 by the Claremont Museum of Art, ArtX is a juried art competition and exhibition for all high school students, grades 9 – 12, who attend school or live in Claremont, California. Public, private and home-schooled students are invited to participate. Cash prizes will be awarded. All ArtX activities will be held in the Ginger Elliot Gallery at Claremont Heritage’s Garner House at Memorial Park.

The theme for ArtX2011, What Matters?, is particularly appropriate for the times. Not only does the theme provide both a global and local source of inspiration for artists, it can also be interpreted on a very personal level.

ArtX focuses on two-dimensional forms of artistic expression: multimedia visual arts and photography. Artwork will be reviewed and critiqued by a panel of judges comprised of professional working artists and arts educators. How students interpret the competition’s theme, What Matters? will be extremely important. The resulting exhibition will showcase the creative talents of high school level student artists currently working in the City of Claremont.

Entries will be accepted April 18 and 19. Judging by a panel of professional artists and arts educators will take place April 21st. The exhibition, held in the Ginger Elliott Gallery located at the Garner House at Memorial Park, will open May 4th with an artists’ reception open to the community starting at 5:30pm. Winners will be announced.

All of the eligibility, registration and deadline information students will need to know to enter the ArtX competition are available on the Claremont Museum of Art website at www.claremontmuseum.org.

ArtX is made possible by a generous donation from a CMA member. The Ginger Elliot Gallery exhibition space for ArtX has been generously underwritten by Gould Asset Management LLC of Claremont.

As the director of arts education for the Claremont Museum of Art (2007-2009), Lori Evans Lama created the ArtX project for high school students and the aRtPM graffiti art project for middle school students along with a comprehensive menu of public gallery programs. Prior to her work with CMA, Lori was a senior programming staff member at PBS and later a vice president/broadcast executive for an international media company. Lori is also an award-winning writer, director and producer. You can contact Lori Evans Lama at artxinfo@gmail.com

ARTX JUDGES & JUDGING PROCESS

Judging of student artwork entered in the ArtX competition will be based on creativity and originality, skill and technique, artistic vision and style and execution of the theme “What Matters?” Cash prizes will once again be awarded to the winners. Each piece of student artwork will be evaluated using a standardized rubric, a printed set of rules and instructions used to guide the judges. Then, the artwork will be judged on a simple rating scale that will be calculated to determine the winning entries.

Cash awards will be given to those pieces of artwork that place in the categories of Best of Show ($300) plus First ($200), Second ($150) and Third ($100) place and Honorable Mentions ($50) in each of two categories: mixed media/visual arts and photography. Winning artwork will be on display at the Ginger Elliott Gallery in Memorial Park. All entries will be exhibited on the Claremont Museum of Art website.2011 ArtX JUDGES (alphabetically)

Robert Flick
Robert is a Southern California photographer. A native of Holland, he received his MA and MFA from UCLA. He was a Getty Scholar and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship. Robbert has been showing his photographs for 30+ years both nationally and internationally including a 30-year retrospective at LACMA in 2004 accompanied by a monograph, Robert Flick: Trajectories, jointly published by LACMA and Steidl Verlag, Germany. From 1976 until 2006, he headed the photography program at USC Roski School of Fine Arts. Robbert was a judge for the 2009 ArtX student competition.

James Fuller
Jim Fuller received his MA from UC, Berkeley in 1953 and taught painting, drawing, sculpture and
printmaking at several schools including UC, Berkeley; Cal State, LA; UC, Davis; the Laguna Beach School of Art, and finally, Scripps College in Claremont. Jim is Professor Emeritus at Scripps College and is best known as a Claremont watercolor painter. Throughout Jim’s long career, he has been the recipient of numerous awards, and participated in solo shows throughout California. He is former founding Board member of the Claremont Museum of Art.

Nancy Macko
A member of the faculty at Scripps College since 1986, Nancy has been Director of the Scripps Digital Art Program since 1990. Originally from New York, she received her graduate degrees from UC, Berkeley with a concentration in painting and printmaking. She is a practicing artist and has produced 20 solo exhibitions and participated in over 140 exhibitions. She has also been active in the broader field of fine arts including museum work and curating. Nancy currently works in painting, printmaking, digital media, photography, video, and installation.

Jeanne Steffan
Jeanne currently teaches high school at Chaffey High School in Rancho Cucamonga. She received her received BA from UC Davis and an MFA in painting from Claremont Graduate University. She paints and works in tiled murals. She has exhibited her work in venues as diverse as Kellogg Gallery, dA Center for the Arts and the Folk Music Center. In addition to teaching in public and private schools and several colleges, Steffan has completed private commissions and continues to work actively. Jeanne served as an ArtX judge in 2009.

Juan Thorpe
Juan is a painter who uses acrylic on canvas or panel as his primary media. His paintings are inspired by machines, technology and nature. He studied fine art at Cal Poly Pomona where he received his BFA degree. Juan lives, works and creates art in Pomona, CA in the Pomona Arts Colony. He is an active artist with regular exhibitions of his paintings in Southern California museums, universities and galleries. Along with his wife, Susie Eaton, they curate shows at their gallery, Bunny Gunner.

Jessica Wimbley
Jessica is currently the Museum Educator/Arts Coordinator for Pomona College Museum of Art in
Claremont. She received her BFA in Painting from Rhode Island School of Design and MFA in Visual Arts from UC, Davis. She exhibits her work locally and throughout the U.S. Wimbley has taught visual art and art history courses at the college level and has served as a visiting lecturer to a number of institutions. Jessica is currently a candidate for a duel degree MA Arts Management and Executive MBA in Claremont Graduate University’s Arts Management Program. She is an active member of Emerging Art Leaders of LA, board member of Museum Educators of Southern California, and acts as a Mentor in Claremont Graduate University’s Minority Mentor Program. She is the recipient of the 2010 California Association of Museums Fellowship.