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[Chris Saper]

Dear Tim,

Although I have never been a selected artist for either of the two big ones, The American Society of Portrait Artists, and the Portrait Society of America, I watch them each year with great interest. It seems that they generally take about ten paintings in as finalists, although I believe one of the organizations took 20 last year.

These are excellent competitions with really wonderful entries and winners. I am unsure of the number of entrants but you would guess that most of the attendeesa at the conference have entered...and that would run several hundred.

The difiiculty with many of the competitions is that it is so costly to compete, many of the organization members are unable to have the opportunity to have their work judged. In some cases, you are only eligible to enter (approx $30-$50 range) if you are also a paid attendee, ($300 + range) and you will not be notified until after the cancellation penalty date. To attend means also air or other transportation, hotel and meals for 3-4 days.

I have only been fortunate enough to actually attend one of the meetings, and I can't overstate how valuable it was to me. I have at least been able to enter a couple of times, but for me to travel from Arizona is a minimum $1000 weekend. Of course I would be thrilled to write the check if I were a selected artist, but the $350 or so price tag, just to enter, isn't one that I can afford on a regular basis.

It would be wonderful if they were to offer some type of competition that was more financially accessible to the memberships.

Kindest regards,
Chris