PADUCAH – “Art Through the Lens 2022,” an upcoming exhibition at Yeiser Art Center in Paducah, is open to everyone with no content restrictions. It offers photographers an outlet for their art, encouragement to develop their vision and presentation, and cash rewards for works of exceptional value.
Each year, from the submitted works, 50-70 images are selected for exhibition by a qualified jury and $2,000 in cash prizes will be awarded to works of high value.
Art Through The Lens is on view from September 24 to November 12. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Established in 1975 as the Paducah Summer Festival Photo Competition, Paducah Photo has grown from a fledgling competition into an international juried exhibition. Over the past 40+ years, this exhibition has become one of the most prestigious annual photography events in the Mid-South.
For the 2022 exhibition, 600 entries came from three different countries and 35 US states, reduced to 54 people from two countries and 24 states. ATTL also offers a regional show dedicated to showcasing the works of artists within a 100-mile radius, adding an additional 40 artists to the exhibit.
In 2013, Paducah was designated as a member of the Creative Cities Network of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in the field of crafts and folk art. To both embrace this international honor and reflect the exhibition’s international growth, Paducah Photo has taken on a new name, Art Through the Lens.
The juror for this year’s exhibition is Carolyn Benedict Fraser. Fraser is a photographer and educator based in Nashville, Tennessee. Her work uses the constraints of camera, frame and vision to address how we orient ourselves in the face of mental and physical limitations.
She studied psychology and photography at Mills College in Oakland, California, and earned an MFA from Cornell University. She presented her work at the SPE Northeastern Conference 2017, Is Photography Enough?: Interdisciplinary Approaches Beyond the Still Image.
In recent years, her work has been included in exhibitions at Site: Brooklyn in Brooklyn, New York, Washington State University, the Humble Arts Foundation in New York, and the Millepiani Gallery in Rome, Italy.
A free reception open to the public will be held for Art Through the Lens on Sunday, November 13 from 1 to 3 p.m. Although there is no admission charge to visit the gallery, donations are encouraged to further the mission of the organization.
The Yeiser Art Center, a non-profit corporation with 501c3 status, was established in 1957 as the Paducah Art Guild with the purpose of promoting appreciation of the visual arts and their creation. It started as a small voluntary organization with founding members Mary Yeiser, Ginny Black and Bob Evans in the lead. Today, YAC has a permanent exhibition space that hosts seven exhibitions a year and a permanent collection of over 200 works.
The center offers visual arts-based programming, including educational classes for children and adults, public talks in galleries, and artist talks. YAC also has a supportive membership program, as well as many loyal volunteers.
