Crop Art 2009

Adding a New Dimension: This year’s 94th annual celebration of Farmers Fair introduces a new crop art competition.

Traditional Crop Art
This is the seventh year for the very popular Crop Art competition so we’ve taken it up a notch and added a new dimension, a third one to more specific. That’s right! This year we’re going to have two Crop Art competitions. We will still have the traditional Crop Art contest for entries that can be hung on a wall. Geometric and mosaic patterns, farm landscapes, and animal portraits dominate this category. We have had many spectacular seed pictures in the past and the judging is always difficult. The rules for the traditional Crop Art competition haven’t changed. Thanks to our new sponsors for the Crop Art contest this year, “Ralph the Realtor” and Paul Tucker.


Rules: This contest calls for entrants to create a piece of artwork entirely out of dry seeds and beans. Entries in this category would include but are not limited to portraits, landscapes, and other pictures that would normally be painted. Submitted artwork will be judged on overall artistic merit, cleverness of subject, technique, originality, and skill. The natural color of the seeds and beans provides the only pigment to the pictures as no paint or dyes are allowed. Only seeds and beans that are used for crops that can be grown in Pennsylvania may be used. No portion of the seedpod is to be used in the artwork. The artwork is to be completely and exclusively created from whole and unadulterated naturally colored seeds and beans. Seeds should be affixed permanently to the flat surface with a clear or invisible adhesive. Seed portion of artwork must be less than ¾” thick. (If work is mounted on ½” thick board the total thickness of entry must be less than 1 ¼’.) Crop Art pictures are to be no larger than 400 square inches in area and mounted on a stiff flat board such as plywood. It is not necessary that the board be rectangular. Pictures may have frames but frames are not required. No portion of mounting board is to be visible. Mounting board must be completely covered with seeds. There should not be glass or plastic covering the artwork. An unsigned 4” by 6” legend card must accompany the artwork with samples of the seeds used in the artwork clearly identified.
Prizes for the contest are as follows:
First prize- $100, Second prize- $75, and Third prize- $50


For more information on this competition call Paul Tucker at 432-8194 or email at pandktucker@comcast.net
For inspiration see the Minnesota State Fair Crop Art Gallery web page at www.cropart.com

New This Year: 3D Crop Art

The new Crop Art category will be called Crop Art 3D and will take the place of the also popular but somewhat smelly Veggie Art competition. Veggie Art was a sculpture contest in which pieces of fruit and vegetables were used to create the 3D artwork. The trouble with this competition is that we really needed to have a refrigerated showcase to keep the art in good and olfactory correct condition. By the time Sunday morning cleanup came around you can probably imagine what stage of rigor mortis the sculptures were in. No doubt we will hear from the fruit fly lobby on this one. So this year we are adding the third dimension to the Crop Art challenge. The same size and general rules for Veggie Art will apply to the Crop Art 3D but now dried seeds will be the medium. The sponsor for Crop Art 3D is Tri-County Abstract Services in Camp Hill.

Rules: Entries in this category are to be three-dimensional sculptures of whatever support material is chosen covered entirely with dry seeds and/or beans. Clay, foam, natural or manmade objects may be used as the base material but no portion of this base is to be visible. No glue or supports are to be visible. Entire work must be covered with seeds so no props can be used. Work should be displayed on a board or support that is also completely covered with seeds. Entire installation must fit inside a 16”x16”x16” area. Submitted artwork will be judged on overall artistic merit, cleverness of subject, technique, originality, and skill. The natural color of the seeds and beans provides the only pigment to the pictures as no paint or dyes are allowed. Only seeds and beans that are used for crops that can be grown in Pennsylvania may be used. No portion of the seedpod is to be used in the artwork.

Prizes for the contest are as follows:
First prize- $100, Second prize- $75, and Third prize- $50

For more information on this competition call Paul Tucker at 432-8194 or email at pandktucker@comcast.net

For inspiration see the Minnesota State Fair Crop Art Gallery web page at www.cropart.com
For 3D examples check out the work of Mojo Motsumoto