Registration Deadline: Monday, March 6, 2023 | Image Submission Deadline: Monday, March 20, 2023 
Final Art Submission Deadline: Monday, April 10, 2023 | Art Exhibition Opens: May 9, 2023 to July 16, 2023

OVERVIEW
This year marks 18 years since the Reginald F. Lewis Museum launched its High School Juried Art Show. Our 2023 theme, “Black Futures, Black Imaginings” coincides with two exciting exhibitions that explore Afro-Futurism. For its 18th year, the High School Juried Art Exhibition at The Reginald F. Lewis Museum provides an opportunity to honor the artistic talent of Maryland youth from all 25 school districts in the state. Partnering with the Maryland State Education Association (MSEA), the exhibition and programming will explore what young people imagine and conceive of for the future of the cities, state, region, the nation, and the world.  The High School Juried Art Show has provided students opportunities to voice, create, and showcase their own artistic vision and expression.  This year, a cohort of selected students will now have the opportunity to work behind the scenes with museum staff and community art professionals to learn the art of curation and design.

A NEW MODEL: A REDESIGN OF THE HIGH SCHOOL JURIED ART SHOW

The Reginald F. Lewis Museum is pleased to announce a relaunched annual High School Juried Art Show. This year we’re inviting a cohort of students to serve as curators for our “Black Futures, Black Imaginings” themed High School Juried Art Show. Students are invited to curate the art of their peers. This new addition aligns with the Museum’s mission to “ document, interpret, and preserve the complex experiences and contributions of Black people. By creating space to showcase young people’s vision of the future, we serve as a catalyst for bold and rigorous conversations – led by the vision of young people. 

For eighteen years, the High School Juried Art Show has provided students opportunities to voice, create, and showcase their own artistic vision and expression. A cohort of selected students will now have the opportunity to work behind the scenes with museum staff and community art professionals to learn the art of curation and design. Over the course of exhibition selection and design process, students will have the opportunity to:

• Explore the concept of art’s ability to create or document change
• Investigate the major themes and concepts of AfroFuturism 
• Learn The core skills of creating a narrative for an exhibit (how to curate)

Student curators, selected by the museum, will meet with the curator and various public humanities leaders to learn more about curating. This will include exploring:

• The role of a curator
• Conceptualizing an exhibition 
• Exhibition design and writing text panels
• Interpreting artwork

The student curator cohort will also be invited to participate as judges to jury the annual High School Juried Art Show along with adult art judges from the community.  Our inaugural student curator cohort has been selected and will be announced in the spring. Next year, in the late fall we’ll invite applications from students who wish to serve as part of the curatorial cohort. Traditionally, 20 – 30 artworks have been selected for the exhibition.  For more information on this new addition to the High School Juried Art Show (HSJAS) please contact Terry Taylor, Education Programs Manager at terry.taylor@lewismuseum.org  and Imani Haynes, Curator at imani.haynes@lewismuseum.org.

THEME

Maryland art educators can submit students’ art works for Grades 10 – 12 for this year’s exhibit which will be showcased in the Lewis Now First Floor Gallery.  Our theme, “Black Futures, Black Imaginings,” is inspired by the exploration of Afro-Futurism. The term Afrofuturism was created by cultural critic Mark Dery in 1994 to describe music, literature and art that centers on African diasporic culture with science fiction, fantasy, and technology elements. Irrespective of medium, afrofuturist art blends elements of science fiction and fantasy with Black history and contemporary culture to reimagine past, present, and future.  According to  the online article, “Afrofuturism and Black Joy”  in Facing History and Ourselves, Afrofuturist thinker Dream Hampton explains: “All social justice work is science fiction. We are imagining a world free of injustice, a world that doesn’t yet exist.” Anchored in our theme,  “Black Futures, Black Imaginings,” we explore the concept of Afro-Futurism, Black Futurism, and AstroBlackness as an imaginative and liberatory practice.  Major themes and ideas for “Black Futures, Black Imaginings,” include:

• Concepts of time
• Space
• Existence 
• The speculative 
• Futures based in justice
• Community
• Citizenship
• Identity
• Environment, climate, and nature

Note : Students should create and submit original artwork that reflects these or other themes related to AfroFuturism, AstroBlackness, the fantastic or speculative, and/or the theme, “Black Futures, Black Imaginings.” 

GUIDELINES FOR REGISTRATION AND SUBMISSION REGISTRATION:

• To participate in the show please complete the  online registration form by March 6, 2023.
• Schools can submit a total of 25 pieces of fine art work per school. All art work must be two dimensional or “low relief.” Student art submissions can include collages, drawings, paintings, prints, photographs, lithographs and mixed‐media assemblages.

SUBMISSION: 

•  For the judging, students or teachers must submit a jpg image (4 MG or 300 DPI max) of the artwork, art label and a video recording (1-3 minutes) describing their inspiration for the work.  Video files should be recorded in a .MP4 format. Please upload your files.
• by completing the online art label form by Friday, March 10, 2023. Both files should be saved under the following format:
• Last Name_First Name_Artwork_Date Submitted
• Last Name_First Name_ Video_Date Submitted