The NewNow

The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve (AAWR) is proud to present the NewNow 2023, Northeast Ohio’s premier competitive art exhibition.  This year’s multi-media show was juried by Charlotte Gordon, the Artistic Director of The Southern Ohio Museum in Portsmouth, OH, and  Mark Chepp,  the Executive Director of the Southern Ohio Museum in Portsmouth, Ohio.  We are very pleased to continue our community partnership with Tri-C East to once again  hold this exhibition on their beautiful 3,000 sq. ft. Gallery East, located at 4250 Richmond Road, Highland Hills, OH 44122.

Since its inception in 2014 the NewNow has been a very different exhibition each year, based on the jurors’ selections. One thing that has remained constant is the quality and variety of the work of our NEO artists as epitomized by all of the entries as well as the final work chosen for the exhibition. The NewNow was conceived as a means to highlight and celebrate this variety for the world to see, and it continues to do so. The NewNow is set apart from the throng of other regional juried art exhibitions, through its consistent use of  highly qualified, non-regional jurors.  “The NewNow offers local artists a unique opportunity to get their work in front of fresh eyes and seeks to rise above the local art politics which can often lead to the same artists being selected for shows repeatedly.” explains AAWR Executive Director Mindy Tousley. Our esteemed jurors from the Southern Ohio Museum, willingly took on the major task of examining the 507 entries submitted by 159 artists, which had to be culled down to a final target of 65 works. A number determined in advance to approximate an installation which would highlight rather than overcrowd the work on display. Gordon and Chepp address this in their juror’s statement “It was a genuine pleasure to view and select awards for the New/Now exhibition at the Archives of the Western Reserve.  The most difficult task was to edit down the prodigious number of entries—over 500—to a manageable 65.  And, while jurors will always want more, space makes its own demands, and stringency advances both cohesion and clarity… The standouts here, those pieces receiving awards as well as many others, have created a lasting impression on us.  There were five awards to be given out, though we remember well many, many other strong works.”   In addition to selecting the final work in the exhibition, Chepp & Gordon were responsible for selecting 4 works which  received cash awards announced during the opening reception. An additional cash award was chosen by popular vote.