NBCC Guidelines for Jurying

Juried Membership:

• A juried member of the New Brunswick Crafts Council is a professional craftsperson/artist creating exceptional quality hand-made contemporary or traditional items, or historical reproductions.
• To become a juried member, individuals must fill out an application form and submit five professionally-presented examples of their work to be reviewed by a peer-based jury.
• The five examples must be typical items in the medium in which the craft artist plans to sell. Members must be re-juried to sell products in a new medium
• To be successful, the applicant’s products must demonstrate all of the following four areas:

1. Originality:
• products must be original to the craftsperson or a skillful rendering of a traditional or classic design
• work must show the ‘hand of the maker’ indicating a personal contribution that separates the work from that of other craftspeople. Work must demonstrate a clear, personal vision and unique, distinctive style

2. Design:
• products must demonstrate that the maker has an understanding of design, indicated by a careful consideration of concept, function, colour, texture and form

3. Materials:
• products must be made of high quality materials, suitable to the item produced
• commercial, pre-manufactured components and recycled materials can be used if the original form is substantively transformed by the craftsperson

4. Technique:
• must demonstrate a high level of technical skill and consistency of quality
• must be sound and able to withstand normal expected usage

Jury Process:

• The peer-based jury will be made up of three craft professionals with a minimum of two jurors in the specialized field of the applicant. Applicants must submit five individual pieces which demonstrate the breadth of their practice.
• In the incident that work is very large, arrangements will be made to have the jury process occur either on site or in close proximity to the maker’s studio.
• In exceptional cases, digital images may be permitted. Please contact the Project Coordinator for details.
• Juries will be held twice a year in mid May and October.
 

Evaluation:

• Each piece will be examined and evaluated by the jurors individually.
• Submissions will be evaluated on a yes/no basis in each of the four criteria: individuality; design; material; technique.
• Every item must receive a “yes” evaluation for the applicant to jury successfully.

Results:

• Applicants will be notified of the results within two weeks of the application date.
• In the case of acceptance as a juried member, applicants will be notified of and invoiced for the prorated membership fees for the current year.
• In the case of a request to resubmit, applicants will receive feed back from the jury and encouraged to resubmit for the next jury session.
• If for any reason the applicant feels that there has been an error in the jurying process, they can appeal the jury’s decision. Applicants must contact the Executive Director within 10 days of receipt of letter, who will then notify the Chair of the Standards Committee. A new peer-based jury will be struck to review the work. The applicant will be given notification of the outcome within two weeks of the appeal date. The decision of the second jury is final.

Review:

• All juried members are encouraged to maintain the highest level of craft production in New Brunswick.
• Members of the Standards Committee will circulate at all New Brunswick Crafts Council fine craft festivals to ensure standards of quality and media designation. If problems are identified, the Standards Committee will notify the juried member in writing.
• Members will be expected to make necessary improvements by the following craft festival.
• If there are any unresolved issues, a panel will be struck to address these issues with the member.