KAHULUI — The Maui Arts & Cultural Center last week announced the rescheduled dates for application and jurying for its signature triennial exhibition, Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2022 (SPC22).

The exhibit was postponed from 2021 due to COVID-19. Exhibition dates for the Schaefer Portrait Challenge will be Jan. 11 to March 20, 2022 at the MACC’s Schaefer International Gallery.

Artists interested in participating in SPC 2022 are encouraged to access the “Call to Artists” prospectus and application, which is viewable/downloadable on the MACC’s website at https://mauiarts.org/spc2022.php .

The jurors for SPC22 will be Carl Jennings, associate professor, Arts and Humanities at Kapiolani Community College; Codie King, director, Wailoa Center; and Jan Sato, Baldwin High School art teacher.

Acknowledging the current Coronavirus/COVID-19 circumstances, some of the rules for the prospective artists and their subjects have been adjusted for the 2022 exhibit to accommodate the ongoing need for social distancing according to CDC recommendations. More details are in the exhibition’s prospectus. Any further updates will be posted on the MACC website.

The Schaefer Portrait Challenge is a statewide juried exhibition that has been held triennially since 2003, encouraging Hawaii artists to present the people of their island communities through explorations in portraiture.

This prestigious exhibition features the carefully selected entries of artists whose work best captures Hawaii’s extraordinary portrait subjects.

The SPC carries two substantial cash prizes. The Jurors’ Choice Award for $15,000 is sponsored by Carolyn Schaefer Gray, selected by the jurors, and presented at an artists’ opening reception. The Gene & Ruth Freedman People’s Choice Award for $5,000, sponsored by the Eugene and Ruth Freedman Family Foundation, is based upon the popular vote of gallery visitors throughout the duration of the exhibition at MACC, with award announcement and presentation at a reception on March 13, 2022.

The Schaefer Portrait Challenge is open to artists 18 years of age and older who are residents of the State of Hawaii. A broad range of interpretation and style from representational to experimental work is encouraged. Self-portraits are also accepted. All works entered must be original, one-of-a-kind and newly created specifically for this exhibition between October 2018 and October 2021. The work may not have been previously shown in any other exhibit, gallery, venue, website or social media. Accepted media are drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and mixed media. Accepted printmaking processes include relief, intaglio, lithograph and screen print, pulled from limited editions of 20 or less.

Photography and computer generated imagery is allowed only when used as a component in a mixed-media work (two or more combined mediums) based on the acceptable media listed above.

With their submissions, artists must submit a statement about themselves and their portrait subject.

The jurors for Schaefer Portrait Challenge look for portraits that communicate both visually and conceptually. Beyond technical proficiency, the artist must reveal their subject’s inner spirit or essence, and convey that essence to the viewer.

Jurying for SPC 2021 will consist of two rounds. A preliminary jurying will take place at four locations on the islands of Hawaii Island, Oahu, Kauai, and Maui, where the jurors will review submissions. Semifinalists will be selected at each location based on direct observation of the work by the jury.

Final jurying will take place on Maui, based on review of digital images of the semifinalists’ work from all four jury locations.

Full details on entering and artist requirements are in the exhibit prospectus and entry form available at MauiArts.org.