Eighth Annual Juried Exhibition (Benefiting Austin-based Teen and Family Services)

Archway Gallery presents Eighth Annual Juried Exhibition (Benefiting Austin-based Teen and Family Services) on view July 9 – August 3, 2016. Opening Reception: Saturday, July 9, 5 – 8 p.m.  Juror Remarks and Prize Distribution: 6:30 p.m.

The open-themed show welcomes all artists in south and central Texas, 18 years or older, to submit works independently completed within the last three years and not previously exhibited by Archway Gallery.

Selected juror John Carroll Runnels (pictured) will award all prizes at Archway’s opening reception, on July 9th from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. First prize winner will receive a $500 cash award and guest artist privileges for one month at Archway Gallery.

Proceeds from the month-long exhibition benefit Austin-based Teen and Family Services. The mission of Teen and Family Services is to provide a peer-based recovery support system for adolescents and their families. It is committed to providing the entire family with tools, skills and knowledge to deal with substance abuse in a holistic way. Residential and outpatient services include counseling, activist, education, retreats and academic support.

Juror John Runnels obtained his BFA from the University of Southern Mississippi and studied painting in Italy on a Ford Foundation Scholarship. With his wife and partner Charlie Jean Sartwelle, he co-founded the oldest surviving artist warehouse in downtown and has been a driving force behind the explosive growth of ArtCrawl Houston, ambitiously artist-centric and non-commercial, and now a widely imitated structure for studio visitations.

His public projects include installations in Tacoma, Washington, Cincinnati, Ohio and Frisco, Texas. Runnels is currently finishing a public art commission for the City of Phoenix which includes a ¾-mile wall with ceramic tile and adjacent bus shelters. His public work in Houston includes eleven text-based boat sculptures along the Buffalo Bayou waterfront as well as three METRO light rail stations. He will begin a text/poetry sidewalk project in 2016 to unify Main Street access points to the stations.

Archway Gallery began its juried exhibition series in 2009 to broaden opportunities for artists and to support local nonprofit organizations. Past jurors have included Dean Ruck, Jeff Law, Bert Long, Julie Farr, Patrick Palmer, Mark Larsen and Gus Kopriva. Charity partners have included The Houston Arboretum, Houston Humane Society, The Houston Area Women’s Center, ArtReach, The Buffalo Bayou Project, Houston Audubon and Young Audiences of Houston.