The NICHE Awards competition is open to professional craft artists over the age of 21 who reside in America or Canada and are actively involved in the design and production of craftwork supplied to galleries and/or craft stores. The NICHE Student Awards competition is open to any craft student residing in and attending an American or Canadian undergraduate, graduate or certificate arts program. Submitted work must have been produced or introduced after August 31, 2010 to be eligible. Work previously submitted to the competition will not be accepted. Artists may enter as a student for up to one (1) year after graduation; however, work submitted must have been produced while an artist was still a student. Professionals may only submit work produced within the U.S. or Canada. Work produced in secondary studios within other countries may not be submitted. NICHE magazine reserves the right to merge categories that do not accrue an appropriate number of applications. The only way to enter the 2012 NICHE Awards or 2012 NICHE Student Awards is by completing an application online. Paper applications will not be accepted. One application per artist is allowed. Each application allows for up to three pieces of work to be submitted; no more than two pieces may be submitted in the same category. The competition is judged on a per piece basis, not on an application basis. It is therefore possible to be up to a three-time winner. Artists may enter in either the professional division or student division, not in both. Entries must be submitted by the artist in the artist’s name, not in the name of a company or school. No additional images showing detail will be accepted for jurying. The image photo submitted may be enlarged by the judges to see detail. Each image must be a separate piece of work and show the work in its entirety. Applicants may not enter an individual piece in more than one category. Installation art will not be accepted in any category. Entry fee. For more complete information: http://www.nicheawards.com/apply-now/ Guidelines: http://www.nicheawards.com/guidelines/ Deadline: September 30th, 2011

via Bay Area Art Grind