Gilroy
– The 33rd annual Gilroy Arts and Culture Exhibit will accept
entries from 3 to 6pm Oct. 3 at the Willey Cultural Center, 140
Fifth St.
Entries will be judged Oct. 4, and the show will take place from
4 to 8pm Oct. 8 and from 12 to 5pm Oct. 9 and 10. The show is open
to artists 18 and older who live in the Gavilan District Area
including Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Hollister and San Juan
Bautista.
Gilroy – The 33rd annual Gilroy Arts and Culture Exhibit will accept entries from 3 to 6pm Oct. 3 at the Willey Cultural Center, 140 Fifth St.
Entries will be judged Oct. 4, and the show will take place from 4 to 8pm Oct. 8 and from 12 to 5pm Oct. 9 and 10. The show is open to artists 18 and older who live in the Gavilan District Area including Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Martin, Hollister and San Juan Bautista.
Cathy Mirelez, the city’s cultural arts and museum supervisor, has helped organize the show for the past seven years. She said judges from previous shows are always impressed with the quality of work they see in Gilroy.
“It’s a fairly small show. It’s not huge,” she said. “But every year, we have beautiful, stand-out pieces. The judges always say they have difficulty narrowing it down.”
Sponsored by the city’s arts and culture commission, the show will be judged by George Rivera, executive director of the Triton Museum of Art in San Jose.
“We’re really excited to have him here,” Mirelez said. “He judged the show seven or eight years ago, and he’s very well-rounded and experienced in art education.”
Awards will be given for best of show, best presentation, the mayor’s award and the purchase award. Cash awards are given for best of show, best presentation and the mayor’s award. First, second and third place winners in each category will receive ribbons and a small stipend. Honorable mentions also will receive ribbons.
The purchase award winning entry, voted on by the arts and culture commission, is bought by the city and becomes part of a permanent art collection. Purchase award winning entries from past years are housed in City Hall, Gilroy Museum and the Willey House, Mirelez said.
The mayor’s award winning entry will be chosen by Mayor Al Pinheiro.
This year’s best of show and best presentation awards are made possible by a $550 contribution from Tim and Janice Filice, Mirelez said.
The Filices donated the money in honor of Tim Filice’s deceased parents, Michael “M.J.” and Marian Filice, who were active in Gilroy’s art scene.
The entry fee per judged piece is $10 for Gilroy residents and $12.50 for non-residents. Entries submitted for exhibition only are $5 per piece for Gilroy residents and $7.50 per piece for non-residents. Any work sold during the show will be subject to a 15-percent fee benefiting city cultural activities.
A private artists’ awards reception will take place Oct. 7 from 5:30 to 7:30pm.
Each artist can submit up to two pieces per category with a maximum of four pieces total.
Entry forms can be picked up at the Gilroy Museum, 195 Fifth St., and the community services department at City Hall, 7351 Rosanna St. Call 846-0470 or 846-0460 for more information.
The first show in 1971 was organized by the city’s library and cultural commission and held at the Gilroy Museum.
The show featured work from artists of all ages but soon grew too big and split into an adult art show and a children’s art show. The children’s show, for artists ages 5 to 18, takes place every spring.
Other than the art featured at the Garlic Festival, Mirelez said this is the only art show she knows of in Gilroy. Between 100 and 175 pieces are entered each year, she said.
Plans are in the works for an arts and wine festival in conjunction with the Gilroy Visitors Bureau, Mirelez said. The festival would take place next fall and feature local wineries and artists.
