2012 Janet and Walter Sondheim Prize

The Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts, Inc. (BOPA) announces the seventh edition of the Janet & Walter Sondheim Prize, which awards a $25,000 fellowship to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the Baltimore region. The prize is presented in conjunction with the annual Artscape juried exhibition and produced with partners The Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) and the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Approximately six finalists will be selected for final review, with their work exhibited in the Thalheimer Gallery of The Baltimore Museum of Art. An exhibition of semi-finalists' work will be shown in the Decker and Meyerhoff galleries of MICA during Artscape weekend (July 20-22, 2012). The fellowship winner will be selected after review of installed art and interviews with each finalist by the jurors. Remaining finalists not selected for the fellowship will each receive a $1,000 honorarium. For artist collaborators, the $25,000 prize or $1,000 honorarium will be equally divided among group members.

The selection process occurs in three phases. In the first review, jurors independently review applicants' submissions (five digital images or up to ten minutes of time-based work and a resume) and score them to select approximately 40 semi-finalists. In the second review, semi-finalists submit an expanded submission of up to 30 images or time-based works and a description of how they will use the fellowship. Jurors convene to choose approximately six to eight finalists for exhibition and final review. In the final review, finalists' work is exhibited in the Thalheimer Galleries of The Baltimore Museum of Art. On Saturday, July 14, 2012, jurors meet with each artist for up to 30 minutes in their exhibition space for a final interview, after which the jurors decide the fellowship award winner.

Application deadline is Monday, January 9, 2012. The entry fee is $30.00. Applications are accepted through www.callforentry.org. The prize is made possible by a generous grant from The Abell Foundation, with additional support from Alex. Brown Charitable Foundation, The Henry and Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Foundation, Charlesmead Foundation, Ellen Dankert, France-Merrick Foundation, Willard Hackerman, Legg Mason, John Sondheim and an anonymous donor.