OMOT Art Shows — Old

In 2010 TI and TIAA began hosting the annual On My Own Time (OMOT) Art Shows at the Texins Activity Building in Dallas. OMOT is an employee art competition organized by the Business Council for the Arts. The goal is to recognize and encourage creativity, stimulate dialog, and build team spirit among employees in the North Texas region. OMOT is open to artists who are TIers – active or retired – and their spouses, TI contractors and TIAA members and their spouses.

The show will run from August 5 – August 16 in 2013. During that time you may vote for the "People's Choice" award either online or in person (please limit voting to your three favorite entries.) Awards are presented at a reception for artists and their families on the last day of the show. First place winners and "People's Choice Award" and "Best of Show" pieces will appear in a region-wide exhibition at NorthPark Center.

Entry Rules

Participation
Open to artists who are TIers – active or retired – and their spouses, and TIAA members and their spouses.
 

Classification
Artists may enter their work in Division A (Amateur) or Division B (Professional). If the artist's answer is "yes" to any of the criteria listed below, they must enter Division B. Please note that it is possible for an artist to be a Professional in one category and an Amateur in another. Awards, exhibitions, and sales directly related to On My Own Time does not automatically place artist into professional category.
 

Division B (Professional) criteria:

  • A person routinely sells his or her work in the category they are entering.
  • A person has had a professional, curated, or gallery exhibition.
  • A person is employed in an art-related job and the category he/she is entering is related to their profession. Examples of occupations falling in the Professional division are: architects entering artwork containing structural drawings; photographers entering photographs; graphic or advertising artists or illustrators entering graphic artwork. If the person is entering artwork in a category that differs from their professional field, they will be considered an amateur. Please note: the submitted entry must have been created "on his/her own time."
Categories
The competition has the following categories, each with a professional and amateur division. Artists may choose the category, if the work is undefined: 
  • Works on canvas – oils, acrylics, etc. on traditional canvas
  • Works on paper – drawings, prints, watercolors, etc.
  • Color photography
  • Black and white photography
  • Enhanced photography and Computer Art – photographs that have been significantly enhanced, altered, and/or manipulated whether by computer software, by hand, or by other methods as well as hard copies of other computer-generated work
  • Sculpture
  • Ceramics and Wood (not sculpture)
  • Jewelry and Metal – jewelry and other functional metal works (not sculpture)
  • Textiles/Fiber art – an object utilizing fabric, yarn, thread, or textiles, including, but not limited to, the following techniques: weaving, quilting, needlework-embroidery, needlepoint, crocheting, tatting, knitting, sewing, basketry, wearable art, rugs, and surface design (batik, etc.)
  • Mixed Media – use of more than one medium in a work of art
Procedures
All entries must be the original work of the employee/artist. There is no size or weight restriction in any category for the in-house shows, unless deemed necessary by the company coordinator. One person should be able to safely move or install each entry or the artist must be available to help move/install it. Works larger than 6 feet x 6 feet are ineligible for display in the region-wide show due to space limitations.

The work must be created by one person only and may not be a group project. Collaborative pieces may be exhibited in the in-house show, but are not eligible for judging.
 
All entries must have been created outside of work hours (i.e.; on the artist's own time), and not previously been submitted as an OMOT entry in any corporate show. There is no restriction as to when an entry was created.

Kits WILL NOT be considered for judging, but may be exhibited in the company's in-house show. Kits are defined as anything made from a pattern that is not the original work of an artist, including but not limited to: needlework kits or patterns in a book, or woodworking kits with patterns. Such works must be labeled "KIT."

The number of entries is limited to a maximum of two per person.

NO MORE THAN ONE ENTRY FROM ANY ONE ARTIST MAY WIN A PLACE IN THE REGION-WIDE EXHIBITION, with the exception if one artist wins both "Best of Show" and "People's Choice" for two different entries.

The judges will select a first place winner in each category and one "Best of Show" winner. The decisions of the judges are final. "Best of Show" must be one of the first-place winners. "People's Choice" and "Best of Show" selections from each company will go to the region-wide show. Because all entries in the region-wide show have already won ribbons, there will be no further judging.

If the judges believe that the quality of artwork submitted in any one category does not merit a first-place prize, there will be no winner in that category.

Presentation requirements
All artists must provide a digital image of each work entered in the show. Send the image file as an email attachment to omot@tialumni.org, including the artist name and title of the art object.
 
The photos will be posted on the TIAA website for viewing and voting for the "People's Choice" award. There will be a link from the TI internal website to the TIAA website, so active TIers can view and vote. We are required to send a digital image of the winners in each category and the "People's Choice" to the Business Council for the Arts for their catalog in the region-wide competition later this fall. The OMOT team will take care of this after the winners are announced.

Digital images should be medium resolution (minimum 600 pixels shortest length) in JPEG format. We recommend scanning or photographing art work before it is framed, especially if it is mounted behind glass. Do not add any special effects, like drop shadows, or text to the digital image. Digital images will be cropped to show only the art, not the frame, unless the frame is part of the art.

We suggest the following tips for photographing art:

  • Photograph art in a sun-lit room
  • Position art parallel to the camera
  • Use a tri-pod to steady the camera
  • Do not use a flash, if possible
  • Do not zoom in, move the camera closer
  • Photograph art under glass at a slight angle to reduce reflection

All works designed to be hung MUST BE FRAMED and/or READY FOR HANGING, including photographs. (See below for hanging guidelines.) Entries not meeting this requirement will be DISQUALIFIED from the TI and region-wide exhibition and returned to the artists.

Each entry MUST BE LABELED with the artist's name, company name, category, medium, and title. If there is no title, works may be designated "UNTITLED," but to avoid confusion with other "untitled" works, it is not recommended. See example of a suitable label here. Fill in the information and affix to the back or underside of each item entered in the exhibit – limit of two in total for each person.

Delivery and pick-up of artwork

  • Artists are responsible for delivering artwork to the Dallas Texins Activity Center Central Expressway Site three days before the show either between 4 – 7 p.m. or 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
  • Artists must collect their work after the close of the in-house exhibit.
  • The artists who have winning entries (in each category or "People's Choice") are responsible for delivering and picking up his or her own artwork for the region-wide show at NorthPark. The OMOT Team will provide the artist with a delivery location map and detailed information, including delivery and pickup times.
  • The Company (TI/TIAA) and North Texas Business for Culture and the Arts reserve the right to publish any entry.

Any questions may be directed to Ted Houston at omot@tialumni.org.

OMOT Art Show 2012

More than 50 artists, active TIers, retirees, and spouses, participated in this year’s On My Own Time (OMOT) Art Competition, entering 86 art objects.

2012 OMOT Art Show photos:  http://tialumni.com/omot/omot_2012_winners.pdf

 

OMOT Art Show 2011

More than 50 artists, active TIers, retirees, and spouses, participated in this year’s On My Own Time (OMOT) Art Competition, entering 87 art objects.

2011 OMOT Art Show photos:  http://www.tialumni.org/omot/OMOT%202011%20Winners.pdf

 

OMOT Art Show 2010

2010 OMOT Art Show photos:  http://goo.gl/HE3QW

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