September Competition

Beginning July 5th, the Alexandria Museum of Art will showcase outstanding contemporary art from around the world for the 32nd year of our September Competition. Featuring pieces from all media, this exhibition features work of artists 18 and up throughout the country and beyond. The pieces on exhibit were selected by a guest juror from over 450 works with no information apart from the images of the artwork and very basic details about the piece itself. This year’s exhibition features work from 49 artists, 4 countries,
23 states, and 49 cities.

The 32nd September Competition is on display from July 5th through October 24th, and the opening reception was
on July 12th. The juror announced her award selections at the reception including first, second, third, and honorable mentions. In addition to these awards, the Alexandria Museum of Art staff will select one piece from the exhibition for a purchase award which will be added to the museums’ permanent collection.

AMoA proudly welcomed Dr. Marilyn Laufer as the juror for the 32nd September Competition. Dr. Laufer began her career as a museum educator working at various museums in the Midwest until she decided to return to academic studies at Washington University in Saint Louis, where she received her doctorate in art history. In 1990, she joined the faculty teaching art history at Marshall University in Huntington, W.V. where she also co-directed the Birke Art Gallery. Joining the Department of Art faculty at Auburn University as an instructor in 1996, Laufer divided her time between teaching and working as a guest curator for such institutions as the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, GA; Morris Museum of Art, Augusta GA; Columbus Museum, Columbus, GA; and the Georgia Museum of Art, University of Georgia, Athens, GA. In 2006 she was asked to serve as the interim co-director of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art at Auburn University (JCSM) and was named director the following year.

In June of 2018 Laufer was named Director Emerita upon her retirement, having served Auburn University for 22 years. While director of the museum, Laufer established the 1072 Society which provided funds that enabled the enhancement of the museum’s collection to include a wide range of artwork that included Old Master works on paper, significant 19th-21st century photographs, as well as sculpture, prints and paintings.
Dr. Laufer has contributed to numerous art-related publications, written scripts for documentary art films, served on numerous arts panels as well as has been asked to lecture at a variety of venues. She currently lives in Asheville, NC with her husband Tom Butler, also a retired museum director, and their two opera loving dachshunds, Isolde and Siegfried.