Brenton Good

Professor of Art, Messiah University

Shin-hee Chin

Professor of Art and Design, Tabor College

Lauren Whearty

Artist and Co-Director at Ortega y Gasset Projects

Juror biographies are available at the Call for Entry site.

Denise Ryner

Andrea B. Laporte Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania

Juror biographies are available at the Call for Entry site.

Craft: Functional or decorative three-dimensional craft in any synthetic or natural media.  Fiber arts are included in this category.

Painting: Two-dimensional painting media including oil, acrylic, watercolor, encaustic, fresco, ink & wash, pastel, gouache and spray paint, painted on a two-dimensional surface.   

Photography & Digital Media: Traditional and digital photographs, photographs printed on metal, and time-based media.  Photographs printed on foam core will not be accepted. A.I.-generated art will not be accepted to the 2025 exhibition. NOTE: Artists are required to provide a media player, speakers, and screen for exhibition display purposes for digital works.  Media should be programmed to play on a continuous loop. The media player should be equipped to start automatically, and to start and play when and if power is lost and returns.   
Sculpture: Three-dimensional carved, molded, applied or constructed techniques using wood, glass, plaster, metal, stone, plastics, clay, soft or hard materials, found objects or natural materials. May include high and low bas relief, installations, kinetic sculpture and assemblage. 

Work on Paper: Two-dimensional works specifically created on paper, includes drawing, collage, etching, lithograph, woodblock, screen print, serigraph, calligraphy, computer art on paper, graphic art, digital art print, digital collage, monotype, cut paper and pastel.   

1. Artists must be current residents of Pennsylvania and 18+ years of age.   
2. Work must have been created within the past (3) years (during or after October 2021).   
3. Work must be able to fit through the available entrances. (Staff will be available to help.) The size limitations have changed in 2025 because of the State Museum’s renovation project. There will be three pathways to take work to the gallery.  
   • Passenger elevator: The elevator door is 39.75” W x 83.5” H and the car dimensions are 75” W x 89” H x 43” D (88” on diagonal). 
   • Escalator: The escalator entrance door is 29.5” W x 90.5” H and the escalator is 30” W.  
   • Public stairwell:  The stairs are 50.5” W and 86” H.  Please note that there are four sets of stairs between the ground floor and the first floor.  
4. The work must be of the Participant’s own original concept and execution. The work must be compliant with intellectual property law. If, for instance, the work contains copyrighted material, the work must be a fair use of the copyrighted material. If the work contains the copyrighted materials of others, the Participant must secure all permission prior to submission and furnish them upon request.    
5. All work must be freestanding and/or ready to hang. The reverse side of two-dimensional paintings, photographs and works on paper must have a wire or D-rings for hanging.    
6. All entry applications must be uploaded to Competition website.   
7. All entry applications must include an insurance value of each work submitted. If the work is for sale, the artist may submit a purchase price for each work. No insurance value may exceed the sale price.    
8. The State Museum reserves the right to reject any work from the competition or withdraw any award distinction.    
9. No substitutions are permitted.    
10. A panel of three selection jurors representing various media will assign numeric scores through the online entry site. The art with the highest scores will be included in the exhibition. An awards juror will review the work and make the award selections.    
11. All artists will be notified by e-mail of the judging results. Details for delivering or shipping of those works selected for the exhibit at The State Museum will be included in the notice. The artist may be responsible for installation of art if special conditions exist. The State Museum encourages the sale of exhibited work and does not take any commission. The State Museum collects information from interested buyers and will endeavor to connect the potential buyer to the artist.  Payment must be arranged between artist and buyer.  The artist must ensure that the buyer knows that art will not be available for pick up until the exhibition closes.   
12. Awards are selected by the Awards Juror after accepted art has been installed at The State Museum. Award recipients will be contacted prior to the awards ceremony and are asked to refrain from making their own announcements prior to the reception.   
13. Refunds will not be issued after the close of the submission process unless the exhibition is cancelled. 

A first place award of $500, second place award of $300, and third place award of  $200 will be provided for each of the five categories (Painting, Sculpture, Craft, Works on Paper and Photography/Digital Media). The Art Docents’ Choice Award of $300 may be presented. The State Museum may select a Purchase Award by choosing a work for its permanent collection.