As part of the annual Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition’s jury process, almost 900 artists from the United States and several foreign countries submit digital images of their work to be juried. In February, a panel reviews the images and the artists receiving the highest scores are accepted into the Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition.
To encourage and support the visual arts on a regional basis, the Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition sets aside booth spaces for artists whose primary residence is in the following Central Pennsylvania counties: Blair, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Huntingdon, Mifflin and Union. Through the Central Pennsylvania Division of the Sidewalk Sale, many artists have been introduced to exhibiting at juried outdoor shows. All exhibitors in the Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition are subject to the same rules, pay the same fees, and are eligible for the same awards.
Our jurors visit each exhibitor during the Festival as part of the jury process and subsequently award over $17,500 in prize money. These award winners are announced at the awards ceremony at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday during the Festival, at the Allen Street Stage. Here are this year’s jurors:
Julie Crosby is a studio potter residing in the Finger Lakes region of New York. She began working in clay as a student at the Hartford Art School and earned her BFA in ceramics in 1995. She traveled the country for artist-in-residency opportunities and to learn kiln building, settling in Upstate New York in 2001. She is a New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) fellowship recipient. Her work has been included in Ceramics Monthly, The Studio Potter and The Log Book. Julie has exhibited at the Smithsonian Craft Show, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show and has served as curator for the Worcester Center for Crafts Pottery Invitational.
Watercolor artist James Farrah holds signature memberships in the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, and the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies, among others. While most of his work is in watercolor, he also works in oils and acrylics. He has exhibited widely, and his works are held in the permanent collections of the Tucson Art Museum, the National Sports Museum, and the New Mexico Folk Art Museum, among others. Holding a BFA in painting, watercolor and graphic design from Penn State, he teaches at the Hameau Artists Retreats near Belleville, PA.
Andrew Kuebeck received his completed undergraduate work at Bowling Green State University and went on to earn an MFA in Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing from Indiana University. Andrew works in a variety of formats ranging from functional jewelry to sculptural objects and vessels, and has lectured and has taught workshops nationally on the incorporation of photographic images into jewelry pieces and vessels. He has exhibited and published nationally, and in 2012 was named a SNAG Emerging Artist. He is an Instructor of Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
Katie Laux is the Director of Patron Services at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, OH. Over her twenty-year career in the arts Katie Laux has also worked at the Columbus Museum of Art and the Greater Columbus Arts Council. For many of those years, she served as Director of the Columbus Arts Festival where she worked with artists to continually improve their experience from application to move-out. After her tenure at the Festival ended, she continued volunteering for and jurying local arts festivals.
A native Texan, Krissi Riewe is an apparel industry professional, educator, designer, and artist. She has undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of North Texas, and is currently an assistant professor at Kent State University. Her research focuses on exploring materials transformation and new digital technologies such as laser-cutting, 3D printing, and digital textile design. Her experience working for a nationally respected family-owned women’s boutique specializing in professional lingerie, swimwear, and post-surgical fitting gave her an understanding of the fashion industry from manufacturer, to retailer, to end consumer.
