Judge & Jury

    It comes down to pink slips and green slips. Art juror Scott Stulen has a stack of both as he weaves among rows of artwork, sticking them on frames. Pink means no, green means yes – and Stulen has an explanation for each.

    Stulen, project director for mnartists.org, a division of the education department at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, is the sole juror for ArtsWest 30, L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library’s annual juried art show. The exhibition, running from March 5 to April 10, will present 45 selections from an initial pool of 251 art pieces. The contest attracted art of every style and medium, from acrylic paint to video to jewelry. Stulen was excited about the inclusiveness of the show. “This is a rarity,” he says. “Anyone can submit – you don’t need to be a student.”

    Stulen is not a stranger to Eau Claire, having graduated from the UW-Eau Claire in 1998 with a BFA in sculpture. However, he is confident that his decisions are unbiased. “I don’t have a personal connection with the art community here any longer,” says Stulen as he crouches near a canvas to get a closer look.

    Neither is Stulen worried about his personal aesthetic getting in the way of fairness. “It’s not prominent,” he says of his fondness for multimedia. Having judged about two dozen shows – some with multiple jurors involved – he knows that jurors tend to gravitate toward the same pieces in spite of their separate backgrounds and preferences.

    “A line starts to form, and quality rises to the top,” he says. “Usually, if we differ at all, it’s only on about 10 pieces.” In fact, he once collaborated with three judges for a college show in Minnesota and the outcome was argument-free: all three jurors picked the same pieces. 

    Stulen has general criteria, but does not follow a strict rubric. Indeed, he carries no notebook. Instead, as he makes the first few rounds, he deliberately leaves some pieces of artwork untouched. These are the ones that require more contemplation.