High School Art Exhibition
TMA issues call for entries in showcase

TYLER, TX-The Tyler Museum of Art is casting an eye toward new talent on the horizon as it seeks entries for its 4th Annual High School Art Exhibition, scheduled for March 8- 30, 2008 at the museum.

The TMA curatorial staff has extended a call for entries to more than a dozen schools in the region, encouraging art instructors to submit the work of their most promising seniorlevel students for an opportunity to be showcased in the three-week public exhibition. The 2008 exhibition will be held in one of the TMA's large downstairs galleries, allowing the show's size to expand to almost double that of previous years, said Kentaro Tomio, TMA curator and organizer of the High School Art Exhibition.

"The purpose is to enable as- piring art students to experience a true museum exhibition, as professional artists would," Tomio said, " and to allow them an opportunity to build a portfolio and resume for a future career in art, if they choose to move in that direction."

Teachers will choose one piece of artwork, either two- or three-dimensional, from each eligible senior art student (AP or upper level) to submit for the exhibition. Entries must be accompanied by the official exhibition entry form, as well as an artist statement prepared by the student entering the work for consideration. The museum will have frames available for submitted works on paper (such as watercolors and pastels), with requirements on mat size and color included in the guidelines already distributed to local educators, Tomio said. The TMA curatorial staff will make every effort to include each submitted work in the exhibition, "but if there is more work than can be displayed in the gallery space, we will have to make the final determination of what can be shown in the exhibition," Tomio said. "The volume of excellent entries we receive increases every year, and space in the gallery unfortunately is limited. That's why we are issuing the call for entries early this year, to allow all these talented students an equal opportunity to have their work shown publicly."

Artwork will be judged by a panel of jurors appointed by the TMA curatorial staff from college art departments in the area, with the five most outstanding entries selected to receive Merit of Honor Awards. Each student whose work is chosen for display in the exhibition will receive a certificate of participation and a one-year student membership to the Tyler Museum of Art.

Awards will be distributed during the exhibition's opening reception, scheduled for 2-4 p.m. Saturday, March 8 at the museum. The public is invited, and admission is free.

Art instructors may obtain entry forms by contacting the TMA at (903) 595-1001. Entry forms and artist statements must be e-mailed to educate2@tylermuseum.org by Friday, Feb. 22. Artwork must be dropped off at the museum between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. Friday, Feb. 29.

The Tyler Museum of Art is located at 1300 S. Mahon Ave., at the corner of Apache Pass, adjacent to the Tyler Junior College campus off East Fifth Street. Regular hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and 1-5 p.m. Sunday. The Museum is closed on Mondays and major holidays. Light lunch is served from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday in the Museum CafØ, and the TMA Gift Shop is open during regular museum hours. For more information, call (903) 595-1001 or visit www.tylermuseum.org.