How the jury works

Based on a recent conversation with an artist who was concerned that somehow my personal tastes in art would influence how the artists would be picked for the show, let me clarify my position. First of all, I am NOT on the jury and my juries are picked, not because they have the same tastes in art as I do but rather for their expertise in the arts. When the jury process takes place, they are instructed by me to pick the best of every style in every genre, and not to be picking what they personally like. We cannot show the public the diversity of the arts in Colorado if all of the artists were what I would buy or what the jury would buy for our personal collections. Quite frankly, that could be a bit boring (especially if it were only my tastes in art). Personally I have always enjoyed the festivals around the country that covered such a broad spectrum of work in each of the categories that I found myself anxious to see the next booth (and the next, etc) because of the inspiration that kind of diversity breeds in all of us. It saddens me when I hear that artists feel they need to alter their style or creativity in order to try to get into a major show since they feel that the show is looking for a certain type of art. I feel strongly that the shows should not be dictating (either directly or indirectly) the creativity of the artists, but rather the creativity of the artists should dictate the style of the show.