Niche Awards 2015
NICHE Magazine
The Rosen Group
Baltimore, MD
The NICHE Awards competition is open to professional craft artists ages 21 and older who reside in America or Canada and are actively involved in the design and production of craft work supplied to galleries and/or craft stores. All work must have been made and finished in the United States or Canada. Work produced or finished in secondary studios in other countries may not be submitted.
The NICHE Awards Student competition is open to any craft student attending an American or Canadian undergraduate, graduate or certificate arts program, and the work itself must have been produced in the United States or Canada while the student was attending the arts program. Student artists may enter as a student for up to one (1) year after graduation; however, the work submitted must have been produced while an artist was still a student.
The 2015 NICHE Awards competition seeks NEW WORK in all categories, whether student or professional. Submitted work must have been designed, produced or introduced after October 1, 2013 to be eligible. Work previously submitted to the competition will not be accepted. All work must be designed and made by the artist or a collaboration of artists, with all collaborators identified.
HOW TO APPLY:
- The only way to enter the 2015 NICHE Awards or 2015 NICHE Student Awards is by completing an application online. Paper applications will not be accepted.
- One application (and one fee) enables you to submit three pieces of work. Only one application is allowed per artist. Each application allows for up to three pieces of work to be submitted.
- No more than two pieces may be submitted in any single category. If you submit three pieces, the third piece must be entered in a different category. You may choose to submit artworks in three different categories if you wish.
- The competition is judged on a per piece basis, not on an application or portfolio basis. It is therefore possible to be a two-time or three-time finalist or winner in a given year.
- Artists may enter in either the professional division or student division, but not in both in a given year.
- Entries must be submitted by the artist in the artist’s name, not in the name of a company or school. A piece submitted as a collaboration must name all collaborators, and can be submitted only once and in only one application (in other words, collaborators should not submit separate applications using the same work of art).
- No additional images showing detail will be accepted for jurying. The image photo submitted may be enlarged by the judges to see detail. Each image must show a separate piece of work and show the work in its entirety.
- One piece, one category: An artwork can be entered only one time in one category.
- Assemblages and installation art will not be accepted in any category: The mission of the NICHE Awards is to identify the best of fine craft artworks and products, which are collectible in quality and design and suitable for the consumer market.
- NICHE magazine reserves the right to merge categories that do not accrue an appropriate number of applications. Also, the judges reserve the right to shift a piece to a different category, and to combine, create or eliminate categories.
FEE: $40 for professionals, $20 for professionals who will be exhibiting at American Made Show in 2015, and $18 for students.
Each entry is judged individually. The judges’ scores are not cumulative per application, but reflect their decisions per individual image entry. The work is judged on the following:
• Technical excellence, both in surface design and form
• A distinct quality of unique, original and creative thought
• Market viability (professional entries only)
Decisions of the judges will be final. Notifications will be sent to finalists in October 2014. There are typically several finalists and one winner per category. The number of finalists per category is determined by the volume of submissions within that category. Judges reserve the right to award a tie.
Visit website for full details including complete list of categories and the online application: www.nicheawards.com/guidelines
