From Shreveport Times,February 21, 2018, by Tiana Kennell:
Artspace gallery will become the home of more than 200 original artworks created by regional talent for its annual art competition and exhibition.
Critical Mass 6 will inhabit a multi-dimensional and multi-discipline collection of paintings, sketches, photography, sculpture, literature and more.
It will return for its sixth year rejuvenated and expanded with changes to its layout, new special guest critics and the debut of audience voting.
The Critical Mass 6 opening reception, presented by the Shreveport Regional Arts Council, will be 5:30 p.m. March 2 at Artspace, 708 Texas St. in downtown Shreveport.
The event is the anchor of the organization’s critic’s series. Renown national art critics will travel to Shreveport to review and critique the pieces, ultimately naming the Best in Show for visual and literary categories.
This year, performing arts category will not be included due to lack of submissions to meet the competition’s criteria.
The second goal is to present the artists with the opportunity to have a conversation about the work that’s designed to help them expand their reach outside of the region, Atchison said. Some past winners and participants of the critic’s series have increased national sales and exhibition shows.
Critical Mass was formed with a mission of offering constructive critiques to area artists that could be used to further their skills and professional careers as artists. By inviting out-of-town art professionals, it ensures bias-free feedback, Atchison said.
“My intention with any sort of criticism is the artist can learn something and benefit in a way,” said visual art critic Alicia Eler. “I think about the role of the critic as someone who is honestly going to point out… what is useful about this work, what doesn’t really work and how it can be improved.”
The artists also have the opportunity to win Best in Show and receive $2,000 to produce a solo exhibition or presentation at Artspace in the fall.
Several new aspects will be noticeable at this year’s exhibition — one in which gallery guests will notice upon entry.
The exhibition is expanding.
In past years, Critical Mass has been in Coolspace, an upstairs gallery space inside Artspace dedicated to regional artists. This year, the exhibit will include the Mainspace gallery to allow more space between each fine art piece and create a better flow.
A Literary Lounge will be added to the exhibition, which is aimed to enhance the literary portion of the show. Samples from the literary artists’ entered works will be creatively presented on the walls. And the lounge will inhabit comfy furniture and a bookshelf stocked with the completed literature for guests to read.
Also, this year, the exhibition will be curated by mixed media artist Lesli Marshall, of Dallas. Marshall last worked with SRAC during the installation of murals around downtown’s Shreveport Common neighborhood last year.
New and returning special guests will participate.
Nationally acclaimed art critic Robert Pincus, formerly of the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Tribune, has been the curator of the SRAC’s critic’s series since its inception. Each year he invites fellow critics from across the country to Shreveport to judge the competition.
“We created Critical Mass so that all artists in the 10 parishes of northwest Louisiana will be able to exhibit what they believe represents their best recent work created within the past two years and critics come in and look at that work and determine what piece compels them most to want more,” Atchison said.
The visual art critic will be Alicia Eler of the “Star Tribune” newspaper in Minneapolis. The literary critic will be Ann Fisher-Wirth, a published poet and a professor at the University of Mississippi.
“I’m always excited about people who have a really high skill level… to really have the visual skills and be able to communicate visually first rather than have big lofty ideas but unable to communicate visually,” Eler said.
At the opening reception, the critics will engage in a public Critic’s Talk to share their thoughts on the collection.
On Saturday, the critics will work with the artists one-on-one for to review their portfolio and offer personal feedback and guidance.
The Critical Mass 6 People’s Choice Awards will debut.
Guests will have a chance to vote for their favorite artwork via paper ballot for the duration of the exhibition, March 2-May 5. The artist with the most votes will be announced at the close of the exhibition in May and receive a $250 cash prize.
The winners of the Best in Show and audience choice prizes will be announced during the Critic’s Talk at 7 p.m. March 2.
Exhibition dates will be extended.
Critical Mass 6 will be open March 2 – May 5 — two months opposed to the previous one month span in prior years.
“We’re extending it from one month to eight weeks so that the whole region can come and see and support their artists,” Atchison said.
If you go
What: Critical Mass 6
Where: Artspace, 708 Texas St., downtown Shreveport
Opening reception: 5:30 p.m. – 8 p.m. March 2
Exhibition dates: March 2-May 5
Gallery hours: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tues-Fri; 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. Sat
Info: artspaceshreveport.com
