THE POWER OF A LETTER

Recently I volunteered at a local art organization to assist while rejected work for an upcoming art show had to be retrieved.  An interesting exercise for anyone who enters juried shows and has suffered the rejection syndrome.  Post-it® Notes with a Y or a N were put on the artwork in the gallery.  (Y = YES. N = no.)  The show's list of entries had a Y or a N next to the artist's names though the Y's also got a yellow highlight.  A simple letter can carry such power. 

I know artists who take rejection in stride, others dwell under a dark cloud for a day and then there are the ones who will voice their displeasure to the organization.  (We artists can forget it is all subjective.)  Even when one does suffer rejection one tends to ignore the fact others are suffering the same probably because we may not know the other artists who entered the show or we may focus on those lucky ones selected.  Most shows accept a tiny portion of the entries so the no's if penciled on Post-it® Notes could create quite a pile.  This time I was able to put faces to the N's and seeing their comings and the goings of the work made me realize such a group can give solace if one thinks of rejection only as a Post-it® pile of Ns.