AAW 2025 Member Show "Beginnings"
Application dates: January 1 to March 15, 2025
The
theme for the 2025 AAW member show is Beginnings. Each year, our goal
is to host a Symposium exhibition that showcases and celebrates the full scope
of excellent work being created by our members, from impeccably-crafted traditional turnings to innovative sculptures that push the boundaries. This year's theme also reflects our Symposium's host state of Minnesota, home to the headwaters of the Mississippi River.
As always, artists are encouraged to interpret the theme for themselves. When you think of a beginning, what comes to mind?
Do you already have a piece that reflects the theme perfectly? If it was made between March of 2023 and March of 2025 it is eligible!
Work is selected through a blind jurying process.
The entry fee is $25 for up to three entries. The fee is waived for fulltime students in art, design, or industry-related degree programs.
Venues: Beginnings will premiere at the AAW’s Annual International Woodturning Symposium in Saint Paul, Minnesota, June 12-15, 2025.
AAW Gallery of Wood Art, Saint Paul, Minnesota, August 10-November 3, 2025.
There are two cash prizes for this exhibition: the $300 Masters’ Choice, selected by the jurors or their representatives, and the $200 People’s Choice, selected by attendees at the AAW Symposium.
Guidelines
- The show is open to any current AAW member anywhere in the world, and to fulltime students in art, design, or industry-related degree programs, regardless of AAW membership status.
- All types of turnings are welcome: sculptural, functional, segmented, ornamental, green-turned, traditional, etc. (Please contact Tib Shaw if your project is more than 48" (122cm) tall or wide.)
- Collaborations are welcome. A designated contact person is required.
- A theme statement of up to 100 words that describes your interpretation of the theme is required.
- You are free to use any medium, but work must be created, at least in part, on the lathe.
- Work must have been created in the past two years (between March 2023 and March 15, 2025).
Additional Information
Entry images
Submit digital images in .jpg format, maximum size 2 MB per file. Minimum 2800 pixels per inch on the longest side. You may provide up to three images for each entry. The main image should be an overall shot; the remaining two images can include details or alternative views. Since the show is juried through photographs, it is important that images be clear, properly exposed, and in focus. Do not watermark or include your name on the images. A plain background is strongly preferred for jurying, and Instagram-style images are discouraged.
There are many online tools for resizing your images. Resizepixel is free, fairly simple, and does not require you to download software.
Delivery and display
Accepted work can be shipped ahead to the Symposium staging site to arrive by June 6th, or hand-delivered on Wednesday, June 11, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Artwork must be in excellent condition, be as shown in the entry images, and ready for installation. All work must be freestanding or with an easel or other support provided. Support subject to approval.
Sales
Displayed work need not be for sale, but for pieces that are sold, the AAW/artist split will be 45%/55%. Sold work must remain with the show until it closes in Saint Paul at the end of December 2025. Sold work may be replaced at the AAW’s discretion.
Awards
Masters’ Choice Award of $300
People’s Choice Award of $200
Catalog
A full-color catalog will be available. Participating artists will receive a complimentary copy. Collaborative projects will be allotted two complimentary catalogs.
Questions? Contact Tib Shaw at [email protected].