It is August, and we have just entered a very important part of our contest: the jurying phase. Some artists would not have entered this competition if their entries were not going to be juried by high-level professionals; others don’t really know what jurying means. So let’s start there.

Jurying—For artistic work of all kinds, an evaluation process by experts in the field that determines which pieces are better.

Who the jurors are matters.

The jurors determine the winners of the contest. We rely on their expertise, experience, taste and judgment. For that reason, we always look for the most qualified Christians we can attract, including artists, art educators, and those in affiliated fields. This year’s contest is being juried by a group of distinguished artists and educators from a variety of backgrounds and approaches to the Christian faith. They have overlapping expertise in the visual arts, music of many kinds, as well as various types of filmmaking and performing arts.

Wherever three or more are gathered.

Each category has a jury of three, and all the juries have access to an art historian and Bible scholar to consult with as desired. These juries have both a practical and an academic understanding of how the arts can assist in the Christian life and message as well as the range of ways that Christianity has been portrayed through the arts. You can find pictures and bios of our jurors on this page: https://engageart.org/jury/

Every artwork gets its due.

Right now, the jurors are going through every single contest submission that met the criteria outlined in the contest rules (our “distinguished” artworks, which are also in our online gallery). They will rate the artworks in two successive online rounds by the end of August. The Bible scholar and Art History professor are standing by to offer insight or to answer questions. After each round of ratings, the surviving artworks move on to be considered at the next level with more in-depth criteria.

In September, we will have Zoom meetings to discuss the remaining submissions and choose up to 10 winners in each of four different categories: music video, visual art, performing arts, and video.

What will matter to the jurors.

At each phase of the jurying, the artworks will be evaluated against the published criteria:

Theme and Impact (50%)
When the jurors look at the entries for “theme and impact,” they will be specifically thinking about the artist’s entry and its ability to communicate one or more of the themes found in Ephesians 6:10-20 as well as the degree of impact the artwork has on the audience.

Artistic Quality (50%)
When jurors consider entries for “artistic quality,” they will be looking at both the strength of the creative interpretation and the artist’s command of the medium.

Stay tuned!

Engage Art North America winners will be notified in October or early November and invited to an announcement event to take place in early 2021. We are currently planning a live announcement event, which will also be streamed, and depending on appropriate safety measures at that time, it may be “streaming only.” Winners will be announced on our website and through social media.