I am honored to have been asked to juror this annual exhibition, because I have great respect for the artists connected with the First Frontier Collage Society, and also because I love collage as an art form.

I selected 50 works from over 200 submitted to present to you, in my opinion, a strong and cohesive show of collage at its best.

My choice was based on a number of different considerations. First of all, I looked at the images and looked for professional presentation of the work itself. That let me know that the artist took care and respected his or her work. Then I looked at construction of the work… the use of materials, proficiency of technique, the careful attention to detail, and really, above all, good composition, composition, composition!

I am drawn to color and texture and love the way many of the artists used these elements, but I like work that is more than a clever assemblage of seductive materials, work that literally transcends the material being used and that pulls me in and captures me. I am impressed by work that explores an idea with focus and where the image itself becomes more than a sum of the materials themselves.

I think the work chosen shows the ability of these artists to achieve personal modes of expression in collage and that they bring a fresh strong voice to the medium. I hope my choices intrigue you as much as they did me.

Nancy Dunaway, 2007 Exhibition Juror

Greetings,

For my message, I am quoting the great artist and teacher, Robert Henri, from his book, THE ART SPIRIT.

Mr. Henri writes, "The thing to do is for each individual to look about, learn from all sources, look within, and find if one can invent for oneself a vehicle for self-expression. To have ideas one must have imagination. To express ideas one must have science (knowledge of the materials). All this is to urge you to investigate, to read, to think. To be an artist is to construct, and to whatever degree one shows the genius for construction in work of any sort, he is that much an artist."

There were many entries to the Exhibition and, certainly, the entering artists proved by their varied works that each one is on the path for constructing art, and therefore, fulfilling Henri's definition.

The First Frontier Collage Society's Board and members would like to thank Dianne Talley in her first year as Exhibition Chair. For her, the Exhibition is the culmination of many months of work and much correspondence. Thank you to Delda Skinner for obtaining our juror. In addition, thank you to all the many artists who entered the 2007 Exhibition. Please consider entering our 2008 Exhibition.

Marilyn Lindholm, President