July 27 – Sept. 27, 2018 at Gallery Sitka
454 Main Street, Fitchburg, MA 01420
Opening Reception Friday, July 27, 6-9 pm (Art Awards at 7 pm)
Important Dates to Remember
Art drop-off at Gallery Sitka: Thurs., July 19 – Sat., July 21, 11 am-3 pm (If we do not receive your artwork by 3 pm on July 21, we may not be able to include it in the judging.)
Opening Reception: Friday, July 27, 6-9 pm (Art Awards at 7 pm)
Art pick-up at Gallery Sitka: Sat., September 29, 11 am-3 pm
Advice on how to write an artist statement.
Our Distinguished Judges (scroll down this page to read their bios):
Jennifer Jones, Fitchburg Cultural Alliance
Susan Navarre, Fitchburg Historical Society
Kledia Spiro, Marketing at The Fitchburg Art Museum (and an artist)
Susan Wadsworth, FSU Art History Professor
JUDGES’ BIOGRAPHIES
Kledia Spiro joined the Fitchburg Art Museum as the Marketing Manager in March, 2016. She designs and implements a comprehensive and strategic marketing plan for FAM’s exhibitions, educational programs, community programs and festivals, and membership programs. She also plays an active outreach role in the local cultural and educational community to imagine, create, implement, and sustain collaborative public art, education, and creative economy initiatives. She started the very first Uruguayan Film Festival with the United Neighbors of Fitchburg and the Consulate General of Uruguay in New York in the summer of 2016. Spiro also rebranded Fitchburg’s historic Blacksmith Festival to the ArtSmith Festival with the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce. The ArtSmith Festival now combines Fitchburg’s traditional Blacksmith Festival with an expanded and improved roster of visual artists, musicians, food vendors, and family fun. In the Summer of 2016, Spiro developed the curriculum for the advanced Public Relations Seminar at Fitchburg State University. Currently, Spiro co-teaches the Marketing and Cinematics teams for the Document Design seminar at FSU. She recently directed a video for the City of Fitchburg that won the Massachusetts Cultural Council Award for the Mayor’s Art Challenge. Prior to joining FAM, Spiro was the Exhibitions and Public Programs Ambassador at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. She was also the Graduate Internship coordinator for the Office of Career Services at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Spiro received her MFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and Tufts University. She also received the Museum Studies Certificate from Tufts University in 2015. She has a BA from The College of the Holy Cross in Studio Art and Psychology with an Asian Studies Concentration. In 2015, Spiro was awarded the Graduate Student Travel Grant by Tufts University, and was also selected as one of five artists for the New England Media Symposium on the panel “Gender, Technology and Media: Hypothetical Schematics” at Emerson College. In 2014, Spiro was appointed as the MFA Graduate representative for Exhibitions at the SMFA.
Susan M. Wadsworth is a professor in the Humanities Department at Fitchburg State. For twenty-five years, she has taught various art history and some studio courses at FSU. She has an MFA in painting from Cranbrook and an MA in art history from Tufts. Her own pastel works on paper have been exhibited throughout New England and upstate New York and lately reflect a strong Asian influence. She has also given lectures on diverse topics, from the criticism of Hans Hofmann and Kandinsky to Renaissance architecture and woman Futurists.