Anna was one of three judges in the 2016 National Juried Show this past June in Toronto ON. This is her view on judging the National Juried Show (NJS).
Behind Closed Doors…
Several months ago Jackie White contacted
me to provide a glimpse into the judging chamber. Once I agreed to provide some
general information I began to organize my thoughts and create a general
overview of the judging process.
It is at this time that I feel the need to
thank the countless volunteers who work tirelessly on behalf of quilters across
Canada. We are familiar with board members’ faces and often know local guild
members who contribute volunteer hours. More often than not we are remiss in
remembering and honouring those helping out for a day or a few hours. Today my gratitude goes to those volunteers
who quietly drift in and out, fly across the country or drive several hours to
lend a hand holding up quilts for judging, and the volunteer who sacrifices her
birthday to ensure judges’ critiques are professionally typed for each entry. Thank
you to all!
But I digress… Back to the topic at hand,
insights into the judging process:
Quilts laid out by category, ready to be judged.
It all began with the call for entry in the
2015 Autumn issue of the Canadian Quilter Magazine. Information pertaining to
categories, deadline for submission, jury and judging teams were publicized for
reference. Quilt makers across Canada responded to the challenge with
enthusiasm.
Images of quilts with details were
electronically submitted to the jury coordinator in early 2016. Once she
ensured that all information, including the statement and the images were
organized the jury of three (two apprentice judges, one certified judge) were
provided with the secure access to the information. During a set time frame
individual jurors carefully reviewed the information supplied. Employing a
scoring system aided in narrowing down the selection. Jurors then connected via
Skype to compare and discuss their first results. With approximately 275
submissions, life came to a halt in three households… Primarily based on overall
design and visual impact the jury proceeded to reach consensus and ultimately
selected 135 quilts for the 2016 NJS.
Note: Pre-selection is an important step in
the NJS planning. Jurors base their decisions solely on the images and
information supplied. It is easy to understand why photographing one’s entries
to their best advantage is vital.
The Canadian Quilter’s Association’s
practice is unique in that the quilts not selected for the NJS receive
constructive critiques from each juror. Critiques are not formulated between
cooking dinner and running to the grocery store. ;-) Countless hours and several rewrites are part
of the juror’s task.
Fast-forward to the NJS Coordinator who
receives the information about all quilts submitted to the NJS. Soon quilt
entries arrive at the NJS coordinator’s door. She is responsible for receiving,
unpacking, documenting and organizing the submissions. Meanwhile she tours the
exhibition venue, recruits volunteers, communicates with the judges and CQA/ACC
board when she is not working a regular job and cares for her family.
Judges were provided with the judging
procedure and the necessary forms to make notes and record prize winners.
Judges, volunteers and CQA/ACC board representatives gathered Sunday morning,
and after introductions and a brief organizational meeting proceeded with the
task at hand. We soon established common ground in examining and evaluating
each entry, followed by a brief deliberation and summarization of our findings.
Constructive critiques were formulated individually and dictated to our
personal scribes.
Scribes typing judges comments.
How do I ensure staying within a reasonable
time frame? I cannot speak for my fellow judges, but am happy to share the four-step
process I have devised to help me stay focused and work in an organized manner:
1.
I view the quilt and determine
its visual impact based on its composition, colour and value contrast.
2.
I evaluate construction
techniques and their complexity.
3.
I examine the execution of
these techniques to ensure sound workmanship, and
4.
I determine how well the quilt
has been finished.
With practice these four areas are assessed
within seconds. It opens up the lines of communication between judges using educated
observations which ultimately lead to the formulation of constructive feedback.
Easy you say? Far from it! Each quilt
submission is treated with the greatest respect. We wear white gloves, use
reducing and magnifying glasses (when necessary), look the quilt over front,
back, determine whether the quilting stitches are balanced and check whether
the binding is full. My co-judges and I repeated this 135 times in 14 hours
(not including short breaks). It works out to approximately 10 quilt entries
per hour.
Each time I have the privilege to judge a
quilt competitions I am humbled that with professional judges personal biases
don’t enter the judging area. Quickly helpers, scribes and judges connect and
engage in mutual support for a successful outcome.
This was my second time judging an NJS. In
2008 in St. John’s, NF I was relatively new to the scene when the team came
together quickly in pursuit of a common goal, the fair evaluation of
approximately 90 quilts. The last two days confirmed that I have deepened my
knowledge in quilting over the past 9 years. I have gained a better
understanding of evaluating quilts and with the common goal of honouring quilt
makers across Canada we build community. An educational environment is fostered
through professional conduct by CAQ/ACC Certified Judges and committed
volunteers who give freely.
I would like to
thank the CQA/ACC board for the opportunity to be a vital part of the judging
team this year. I hope you will
consider the commitment and passion invested in this showcase of Canadian
Quilting.
