Press Release The Andy Warhol Museum Hosts the National Society of Arts and Letters’ National Visual Art Competition

The Andy Warhol Museum will host The National Society of Arts & Letters’ National Visual Art Competition from May 16 – 18, 2013. This exhibition will include the first place competition winners from all 18 chapters of the NSAL, including Pennsylvania. The national winner will receive a $15,000 prize, as well as a reserved spot in the exhibition at The Warhol. The exhibition is on view May 17 – June 2, 2013.

The NSAL Pittsburgh Chapter closed applications for the Pennsylvania Visual Art Career Awards Competition on April 1. All participants were required to submit artwork using one of several specific techniques, including relief printmaking, intaglio printmaking, screen printmaking, monoprint, lithography, or computer graphics. Third place will receive $750, second place will receive $1,500, and the first place winner will receive $3,000 and a spot in the National Visual Art Competition.

In addition to hosting the exhibition of winning artwork, Tresa Varner, curator of education and interpretation at The Warhol, will be among the judges for the Pittsburgh Chapter competition. The Warhol’s Director, Eric Shiner, will be one of the selected judges for the national competition in May.

Tresa Varner states, “This competition is an excellent opportunity for emerging printmakers in Pittsburgh. The jury prize is substantial and the artist awarded first place in the local competition will exhibit in The Warhol exhibition.”

Eric Shiner adds, “We are excited to see what works will make it into this juried exhibition. Warhol, of course, had the unfortunate experience of being rejected from a juried exhibition here in Pittsburgh in 1949, so, if nothing else I hope that provides some relief to those artists who don’t make the cut!”

This exhibition is sponsored by the Harry Wallace Kamin and Dorothy McNally Kamin Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation.

NSAL is a not-for-profit organization of men and women who are engaged professionally in the arts, or who wish to actively sponsor the work of young artists. The organization encourages the highest artistic integrity while aiming to promote a greater public interest in the arts. NSAL’s mission is to identify, encourage and support talented young artists in the performing, literary and visual arts. To fulfill the goals of NSAL, chapters conduct competitions in: Dance, Drama, Literature, Music, Musical Theatre, and the Visual Arts. The national competition focuses on an alternating discipline each year.