Students seeking to free their inner artists can submit pieces to Baton Rouge’s own Uncommon Thread wearable art show.
Culture Candy’s Uncommon Thread is a national competition for wearable art, and prospective artists from all mediums are encouraged to apply by April 25 to have their work featured in the event.
The art show will be held May 13 at the Old Governor’s Mansion.
Erin Rolfs, Culture Candy executive director and creator of Uncommon Thread, said she created the show with a specific, elegant and Southern tone.
“The idea was that Baton Rouge could host this really quirky, off-the-radar art form on a national level,” she said. “And, we could do it in a respectful and classy way but still have this genuine, grassroots feel to it.”
Uncommon Thread is teeming with participants from all art forms and will feature D.J. Otto and Of Moving Colors dancers, Rolfs said.
“There’s a lot of collaboration and input behind the scenes from the artists that are involved with the production of the show — with the dancers, musicians, set designers and costume designers,” she said. “We try really hard to make sure that they’re happy, that they’re getting some exposure and learning something from it.”
Rolfs said the communication behind the scenes produces a wonderful experience for audiences.
“On the surface, to an audience, it’s just this really cool presentation of artwear,” she said. “It’s almost like a fashion show, but with the bodies in these clothes [it seems like] more of sculpture or armature than the models of a runway show.”
Danielle Honeycutt, coordinator of the show and French studies graduate student, said applicants must produce a piece and write a statement about how their work fits into the theme of the show.
“This year’s theme is transmogrify,” she said. “So, this whole concept of morphing — kind of like changing or evolving from one thing to another. And we’re hoping it’ll encourage people’s pieces to, in some way, shape or form, start off as one thing and evolve into something else.”
Honeycutt said the show is a great opportunity for artists to get exposure and draws artists from a broad range of artistic mediums.
“It’s actually a juried competition that draws artists from all over the U.S.,” she said. “You could be in sculpture, you could be in fashion merchandising, visual arts. No matter what type of artist you are, as long as you can make a piece of art that can go on a body, you can participate.”
Besides national recognition, the competition’s winner earns $1,000, Honeycutt said.
“Any artist, a lot of what they do at this point in their lives is to build their portfolio,” she said. “Or, for graduate students who might want to have this as some sort of dissertation focus, it’s a great outlet to do that — to get your work seen and out there in the public eye.”
Vickie Suplee, a past participant in the show, said she has attended every Uncommon Thread Show but finally decided to participate as an artist last year.
“It is an excellent experience as an artist and an audience member,” she said. “The show is fun, the environment is exciting, and it’s really great to see all the mediums of art come together.”
Suplee said participating in the show as an artist is incredibly rewarding.
“It’s a big commitment,” she said. “In the past, I just never had the time to create a piece for application, but after I did and was selected for the show, it was worth all the effort.”
Prospective entrants can check out culturecandy.org for more information.
 
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Contact Cathryn Core at [email protected]