Valdosta National – Art Criticism

Art Spoken For Inclusivity and Diversity

By: Desiree Rose Bailon

How far can someone speak out, especially about certain topics or implying certain ideas that would be seen as controversial or problematic? The Valdosta National of 2024 tries to implement the idea of allowing different artists to display their identity through their artworks. The artists presented were filtered and selected by the juror, Olivia Richardson, in collaboration with Mark T. Errol, the curator for Art Spoken. Art Spoken was designed to bring in in different artists of different races, ethnicities, and sexual orientation to light and into the spotlight to show who they are as people and show themselves through their work. The idea was solid, but the desired outcome was lacking. The effort was there, but it seemed too lackluster of what it means to show the artist’s identity and who they are to be recognized in honorable fashion.

The Valdosta National 2021: An Overview

By: Nicholas Black

The “Valdosta National 2021”, is an event held by the Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery at Valdosta State University, and many artists from all over the United States are represented at the “Valdosta National.” In an interesting turn of events due to the Coronavirus Outbreak, the “Valdosta National” is shown online for the first time in the show’s history. There is now a possible international audience to the show due to the better visibility of the show. Everyone with internet access across the world can view the “Valdosta National” at any time at their leisure. In some ways, however, there is a disadvantage to the “Valdosta National” being solely online. People cannot get a closer look at the art, especially with the three-dimensional artworks like the sculptures. There is a variety of artwork in 2021’s “Valdosta National,” as paintings, videos, sculptures, mixed media, photography, textiles, lithographs, and etchings are included. Cash awards were given to the top four winners at this exhibition and Claire Dempster was the juror and judge of 2021’s exhibition.

Valdosta National 2021: Not Quite Past 2020

By: Madison Pritchard

“The Valdosta National 2021” was hosted by Valdosta State University Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery. It is an all media competition that was shown virtually this year due to the pandemic. The juror and judge for the competition this year was Claire Dempster. Some of the featured artists in the show were Amy Broderick, Samuel Dunson, and Martha Underriner.

The Valdosta National group Exhibition

The Valdosta National group exhibition at the Dedo Maranville Gallery in the Fine Arts building did a wonderful job showing the different styles of artists’ works with different mediums and styles used throughout each piece. Not only was I surprised by the variety and distinctions of artworks displayed on the walls of the gallery but there were even sculptures built in such a unique way, giving the viewer more than one way to look at the artists’ piece. The works Square Sun by Nathan Taves and The Garden by Bryce Speed caught my attention the most when looking through the exhibition. It brought up an issue I find amongst many artworks in exhibitions, how judges go about deciding which artwork gets awarded and if there is an appropriate judging criterion they follow in order to make their judgment. In this paper, I will address the issue of judgment, placement and which works I found to be successful and not so successful.

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