When in Rome: The Art of Travel IEA

Juried Exhibition 2024

Melissa Stephens

This summer, I was blessed and lucky to travel to Europe with my husband and two sons. We visited seven countries and 22 cities in 40 days. We met interesting people, ate new foods, learned foreign customs, and greeted people in their native tongue. Our journey is the inspiration for the IEA’s 2024 Juried Exhibition theme, When in Rome: The Art of Travel.

Traveling has endless possibilities and renders a myriad of emotions. It might be humbling, cathartic, or transformational. The world is wide, which reminds us just how small we are. The openness that comes with travel is similar to artmaking - a process that enables us to make new connections and form new ideas.

Artists working in hot or cold wax will interpret their varied wanderings by plane, train, car, bike, on foot, or through the use of their imagination. Selected artwork will be featured in an online exhibition on the IEA website followed by a more detailed release in a special digital art magazine.

Arizona by Melissa Stephens

Encaustic, oil stick, copper pigment, oil pastel, pan pastel, and shellac on cradle board, 20 x 26 x 2 in

Three Juror Awards will also be given. These recipients will have the opportunity to write an article in the Spring IEA Wax Fusion magazine.

The Award of Excellence celebrates artwork that strongly relates to the theme, and is an example of great technical skill and emotive representation.

The Inspiration Award celebrates artwork that inspires, educates, and promotes introspection.

The Travel Award recognizes artwork that best depicts a sense of place through imagery, color, and content.

Artists do not need to be members to apply, but membership has its perks! Nonmembers will pay $30 for three entries, while IEA members in good standing will pay nothing.

We are fortunate to have the IEA’s former Exhibitions Director, Michelle Robinson, as our juror. Michelle received her Bachelor of Environmental Design in 1991 from Texas A&M University and continued with graduate studies at Texas A&M’s program in Visualization. She has been an artist and supervisor for Walt Disney Animation Studios for 31 years, and is currently cocurating an exhibition about the Los Angeles River for summer of 2025 at Shatto Gallery. Michelle volunteers with several organizations and advisory boards and is a member of the curatorial collective Monte Vista Projects in downtown Los Angeles.

Adventure can happen anywhere, from across the globe to right outside your door. We are excited to see your adventures in art featuring anything from Texas to Timbuktu. Remember, travel requires little else but our imagination.