Bowling Green, Ky. - Entry forms for the U. S. BANK CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS 2006 OPEN ART EXHIBITION are now available, and beginning November 15, the forms may be picked up at the Kentucky Library and Museum, at U. S. Bank locations throughout the competition region, or they may be downloaded from the Website: www.wku.edu/Library/museum/artshow

This competition is open to both amateur and professional artists. Entrants must be Kentucky residents, they must be 18 years of age or older, and they must live within a 65-mile radius of Bowling Green. Western Kentucky University students who meet the age requirement qualify as Kentucky residents.

This is the third year the Kentucky Library and Museum has hosted this regional competition, and the event guidelines remain virtually the same as last year:

l. All entries – not just prize winners – will be exhibited at the Kentucky Library and Museum from March 5 – April 9, 2006.

2. The nonrefundable entry fee is $10/artist.

3. Participants may submit a maximum of two works in any acceptable category: painting, watercolor, works on paper, fiber arts, ceramics, sculpture and photography.

4. The awards ceremony/reception, scheduled for 5 – 7pm, Saturday, March 4, will be open to the public, as well as artists and sponsors.

Awards will remain unchanged from previous years. First, 2nd, and 3rd place winners in each Professional category will receive $200, $125 and $75, respectively; in each Amateur category, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd will receive $100, $50 and $25, respectively.

All entrants may vie for the two major awards: the Dorothy Grider Purchase Award and a $250 Best of Show award.

Susan Shockley, Curator of the Parthenon in Nashville, has been selected to jury the show.

The U. S. BANK CELEBRATION OF THE ARTS is a wonderful regional art competition, which gets bigger and better each year. The competition has grown from 125 artists and 225 works the first year, to 203 artists and 375 works the second. It is anticipated that both the number of artists and entries will increase in 2006.

Organizers are indebted to U. S. Bank for making this wonderful, regional collaboration of artists, arts organizations, the University community and the public possible, and to the Dorothy Grider Art Exhibit Fund and the Beulah Winchel Kentucky Museum Endowment, both in the WKU Foundation, for providing additional funding.

The competition prospectus has all the details: specifications, delivery/retrieval of entries, the event calendar, and, most importantly, entry forms. However, for more information about the 2006 U. S. BANK CELEBRATION OF ARTS, contact Earlene Chelf (270) 745-5263 or earlene.chelf@wku.edu or check the Website: www.wku.edu/Library/museum/artshow

For More Information contact Earlene Chelf (270) 745-5263 - earlene.chelf@wku.edu