Applicants to the Juried Membership category must be members in good standing of The Best of Missouri Hands for a minimum of 6 months, at least 18 years of age and residents of the state of Missouri. Jury applications are reviewed twice a year.  Application deadlines for each event must be postmarked by January 15 or June 15.

Members may apply for either an individual juried membership or as a juried studio membership.  A studio membership is two or more artists collaborating and working on the same body of work.  Studio memberships have only one vote. 

Juried Membership acceptance indicates that an artist has developed his or her craft beyond mere competence of technique to a high standard of quality. The member also verifies that the work juried is their own and is originated and made by the artist.   The jury process is completed from images (except as noted below) displayed to a panel of craftsman and professionals.

Benefits and responsibilities of juried membership:

• To retain juried status you must  keep your membership current
• You may display The Best of Missouri Hands logo on the product line in which you were juried. 
• If you add to or change the art category in which you are juried, you must re-jury in the new area. 
• A mission of the organization is education.  It is the responsibility of juried members to participate in educational opportunities both to the public and other members. 
• You are eligible for a number of events that are planned specifically for juried members. 
•  If you do not retain current membership in good standing, you must return your BOMH logo and cease using it in the promotion of your art.  If your juried membership lapses, you must re-jury.

There are four categories for jurying into the Best Of Missouri Hands:

• Fine Art: Two dimensional art such as painting, photography or drawing
• Fine Crafts: Three dimensional art such as ceramics, jewelry or glass
• Traditional Craft: Work based on established designs or have roots based in the rural past
• Production Products: Includes items that are identical, produced in quantity, and are purely functional.  These products must be non-edible and contain no imported parts. Unlike the first three categories, this category must be juried from the actual items, rather than from images.  Items larger than a bread box should be hand-delivered to the jury site, while smaller production items should be mailed along with application.  Those who need to hand- deliver, please indicate on the application, and the jury chair will call with instructions for delivery and pickup.

The following categories are NOT eligible for juried membership:

• Works executed from commercial patterns, molds, stencils or kits (i.e. purchased or printed in publication)
• Items constructed solely by assemblage of purchased commercial items, and/or mere decoration of commercially produced objects.
• Items made with illegal or endangered substances such as song birds or ivory.
• Crafts identified as Native American Crafts not in accordance with the Indian Arts and Crafts Act of 1990.

Application Information

 

The Best of Missouri Hands is a non-profit association dedicated to the professional development of Missouri artisans, and, to the promotion and preservation of their craft.  The organization is governed by a volunteer board of directors and is funded through membership fees, fund raising, and sponsorships.  An artist must be a General Member in good standing for a minimum of 6 months before he or she may apply for Juried Membership. Applications for Juried Membership are reviewed twice yearly.  Deadlines for applications are January 15 and June 15. For information on general, student, or sponsoring membership please refer to the BOMH web site.

Application Process:

1. Fill out the application form.  Please include a short, one-page biography and photo of yourself (optional) for web page use.

2. Submit 4 images representative of your work.  All images must conform to the specifications listed below and must be submitted on CD.  The four images are viewed at once.  Images will be viewed together, four in a row.

Image Specifications -

• Dimensions: 1920 pixels horizontal by 1920 pixels vertical
• File format: Baseline JPEG (do not use progressive JPEG format)
• File size: The image file size must be less than 1.8 MBs.
• Images will be accepted on CDs only - please use a mailer designed to protect the CD during transit.

3. If applying in the production products category, actual work will be juried.  If work is small enough, mail with the application. If too large for mail, indicate such on the application and the jury chair will call with instructions for delivery and pickup.

4. Enclose separate checks for the following:

$25  jury application fee (non-refundable, ALL applications must include this fee or your application will not be processed)

$20  up-charge from general to juried membership dues if you are accepted as a juried member  - or -
$45 up-charge from general to juried studio membership dues (This check will be returned ifyou are not accepted.)

5. Provide a self addressed, stamped business size #10 envelope for notification of acceptance or rejection and jurors comment forms.  All images become the property of BOMH for advertisement and web site use.

6. Applications must be postmarked on or before January 15 or June 15.

Applications that are incorrectly or incompletely filled out will be automatically disqualified. The following check list is provided to ensure that this does not occur.

• Application form completely filled out
• Short one-page bio with optional photo
• Check for jury application fee ($25, non-refundable)
• Check for up-charge from general to juried membership fee ($20 returned if not accepted) - or -
  Check for up-charge from general to juried studio membership fee ($45 returned if not accepted)
• Self addressed stamped #10 business envelope
• Postmarked on or before January 15 or June 15

Since some first time applicants are rejected because of poor image quality, the following guidelines are offered:

1. Deficiencies in digital images will put your work at a significant disadvantage. Artists are advised to submit images of professional quality.
2. Clear, sharply focused digital images are best.
3. Represent a coherent body of work, either by form, technique, or concept, in all of the digital images.
4. Show the work fully, filling all or most of the image area.
5. In the case of 2D art, do not show frames.
6. One piece or one set of work per image.
7. Bold colors project better than pastels, whites, grays or blacks.  However, neutral backgrounds are preferred.
8. Well-lit, even exposure on all images is crucial.
9. Don’t let the background overpower or detract from the work.
10. If you have questions about the application process, PLEASE ASK. See our website at www.bestofmissourihands.org, send an email to information@bestofmissourihands.org, or contact the jury chairperson listed below.

Send completed jury applications by the deadline to: 

Ellen Klamon, BOMH Jury Chair
795 Brownell Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63122
314-821-5060
Ellements@ellenklamon.com

To view and print a Jury Application Form in *PDF format, click here.

*Please Note: You must have Adobe's free Acrobat Reader to view PDF documents (available through the link below, if needed).