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Hi Gloria
Michelle has given you a lot of good advice.
When I was teaching at the University of Wisconsin, I used to regularly enter both local and national competitions. If Ohio is anything like Wisconsin, it could be quite worthwhile.
Local competitions often offer cash awards, purchase awards, etc... which can be nice, and make it a mildly profitable endeavor. These shows often get reviewed in local papers, which is an additional perk, and can help your visibility and reputation as a local artist. National shows are more of a pain in terms of shipping etc... and I usually entered them only when I knew of the juror and it seemed particularly worthwhile. I guess it depends on your goals and strategy for where you want to go with your career.
As a college professor, I needed to be particularly conscious of building my resume--as an artist, exhibitions replace the publish or perish criteria for tenure. Now that I'm off that track, I don't worry about my resume so much (but maybe I should!)
A lot of the value of competitions depends upon the quality of the venue and juror. This may be another argument for local competitions, since you are in a better position to make those judgements.
Now that I live in the New York City area, competions are less appealing. A much larger pool of artists cut down on award opportunities, and a larger proportion of what I see seems dubious. Perhaps I just haven't done the legwork.
Best of luck,
Andrea
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