Now in its sixth year, The BUZZ will on display at the Jasper Art Gallery from Jan. 19 to Feb. 17.
“We have a two-sided goal: one is to give community members and local artists the opportunity to showcase their work in the Jasper Art Gallery without having to commit to a JAG membership,” said Luuk Wijk, board member of the Jasper Artist Guild.
“And then part two of the goal of ours is to hopefully entice some people to become a member of the Jasper Artists Guild.”
The BUZZ attracts between 20 and 30 new artists annually, with some artists submitting multiple artworks.
The exhibit has also garnered a lot of interest from youths, with a 10-year-old submitting art last year.
“It’s a wide variety of art,” Wijk said.
“And that goes from drawings to watercolours, photography and there's some sculptures – wood sculptures, metal sculpture – so there's a lot of different mediums from all ages, which I think is pretty cool.”
BUZZ 2019 received 92 submissions in total, but interruptions during COVID resulted in an overall downturn in participants and submissions.
The guild now hopes to see a reversal in this trend during BUZZ 2024.
Artists can submit as many as three original creations in their chosen media.
Two or three-dimensional wall art, photography to a maximum size of 48 inches on the long side and sculpture will be accepted.
Wijk noted that the contest is open entry and did not have a specific theme.
“We’ve been considering whether we should connect a theme to this exhibit, but we feel like because we want to entice people, we're trying to make it as accessible as possible,” he said.
“You do what you do and show that to us, whether that’s landscape photography or abstract oil paintings.”
With Jasper having long-time residents, newcomers and a sizable international community, Wijk added it would be interesting to see the differences between the visions of so many artists from diverse backgrounds.
Artists are asked to deliver their art pieces to the gallery between Jan. 11 and Jan. 13, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
All works must be accompanied by a completed submissions form, which can be found on the guild's website along with entry guidelines.
The exhibit will open with a gala on Friday, Jan. 19 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
