Five people, two hours, a historic room at the Trift: on 12 August the jury of the facade exhibition met. They were welcomed with cake and cold drinks, and Zandra Gröschner had already set the table in the rose room when the first of them arrived. Two hours later the selection was made: 55 works will go up as large-format banners on the scaffolding of the Rathsmühle while the listed building is being restored.
The response exceeded all expectations
130 artists applied, submitting 347 works between them. From oil painting, watercolour and pastel to digital work and historical photography, almost everything that can be printed on a banner was represented.
To get through this volume in a single afternoon, the association built its own protected jury portal. There, every jury member could look through all submissions in peace beforehand and rate them independently, without seeing the votes of the others. On the day of the meeting these preliminary decisions were merged, so the panel could concentrate on the 78 applications where at least two votes had landed on the same work. The selection was made by image, not by name: each application could include up to three works, and exactly one work per person goes onto the facade.
Different perspectives at the table
Around the table sat an art educator, a workshop leader, a graphic designer, a street artist and a photographer. “It was precisely these different perspectives that made the difference. With some pictures I only saw what was in them through the eyes of the others,” says Roman Thomas, deputy chair of Denk.Mal e.V., who chaired the meeting. “You realise again how important it is to talk face to face. And how many committed people there are here in Celle.”
Diversity mattered to the association, and the selection shows it. The work of a 13-year-old will hang next to pieces by professional artists, alongside people who have been working in the town’s painting circles and studios for decades. The oldest among those selected was born in 1941. Jury members who had applied themselves could not vote on their own works; the portal locked those pages for them.
What happens next
Those selected will be notified over the coming days, after which we will publish the names. Then the work on the print files begins: for the banners we need the works in high resolution, and some of them will be photographed again especially for this purpose.
Not being among them does not mean being rejected. There were 55 places on the facade, and more than twice as many people applied. In the end the Rathsmühle will become a showcase of Celle’s art scene, as colourful as the people who took part. Public, free of charge, and in a place that many pass every day on their way into the town centre.
What to submit