The 48th TAG Annual opens Saturday at Trumbull Art Gallery.
About 130 artists who live within 100 miles of Warren submitted 241 two-dimensional and three-dimensional works for consideration this year. Curator Karen Fry said that is seven artists shy of the record number of participants since TAG moved to its downtown location nine years ago.
''We were very happy with the response,'' she said.
Jurors for this year's show are Susan Schroeder, a retired art professor at Kent State University, and her husband George Schroeder, a retired art professor at Hiram College.
The couple spent about six hours Sunday narrowing down the 241 entries to the 115 pieces by 87 artists selected for inclusion.
''I said to Susan, 'You two really put a lot of time into this,' and she said, 'So did all the artists','' Fry said.
Fact Box
When You?Go
WHAT: 48th TAG Annual
WHEN: Saturday through Oct. 6 with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday. Gallery hours are noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
WHERE: Trumbull Art Gallery, 196-198 E. Market St., Warren.
HOW MUCH: Admission is free. For more information, call 330-395-4876.
While both have juried many art shows in the past, this is the first time they've served as co-jurors.
''We've been bouncing ideas off of each other for nearly 50 years, so it was nothing new,'' she said.
George Schroeder said the work submitted was traditional in subject matter and approach.
''There wasn't anything that was radical or highly experimental,'' he said. ''That makes it easier to judge in a way. You're not confronted with anything you have to figure out from scratch. But traditional can be good. It's not a pejorative thing to say.''
In their jurors' statement, they wrote, ''The range and quality of the art submitted here was impressive. In making our selections we tried our best to see each work from the artist's point of view rather than from our own aesthetic position. We kept our eyes open for originality - an individual point of view - and we found it in abundance. We also wanted to see technical proficiency sufficient to express the visual idea in a piece. In some cases we were quite impressed by the artist's masterful command of their medium.''
In some cases, the artists hurt their chances because of the way the work was presented.
''Regrettably, some entrants disqualified their work by inadequate or inappropriate matting or framing,'' they wrote. ''Occasionally, a work can be strong enough to overcome poor presentation but it doesn't happen often, especially in a strong field such as we have here.''
In addition to the work at TAG, another 69 works not chosen will be display at the Nissen Gallery at Trumbull Memorial Hospital.
''There are some really nice pieces in that show too,'' Fry said.
Fourteen works were selected for cash awards from a prize pool totaling $2,000. George Schroeder said selecting the 14 award-worthy pieces from the 115 accepted works in some ways was easier than deciding what to include.
''All the award winners were certainly strong,'' he said.
The winner will be announced at 8 p.m. Saturday as part of an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at the gallery.
''With this kind of show, the kind of thing you're struck by is how much talent there is in the community and how willing they are to support TAG and all it does,'' Susan Schroeder said.