Exhibition

May 15-Jul 20, 2025

GoggleWorks 17th Annual National Juried Art Exhibition

Cohen Gallery

Presented by GoggleWorks

GoggleWorks Center for the Arts proudly presents the 17th Annual National Juried Art Exhibition juried by Nestor Armando Gil! This highly anticipated showcase invites talented artists from across the nation to share their creative visions. Open to professional artists aged 18 and older, the exhibition celebrates original, handcrafted works across a diverse range of media—including drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, collage, photography, and beyond. This year’s exhibition aims to curate a stunning collection that reflects the richness and diversity of contemporary artistry, bringing together bold ideas, masterful techniques, and innovative perspectives.
A digital catalog will be created by GoggleWorks Center for the Arts containing artists’ statements and images of work(s), together with the juror’s bio and statement.

About the Juror: Nestor Armando Gil

Nestor stacks wood carefully in the spring and summer so that it can cure all autumn and keep the house warm through winter. This does not come naturally to him, a Florida boy born to immigrants from Cuba.

But like all things, stacking wood can be learned – like art.

As an artist, Nestor is materially promiscuous. He works in sculpture, printmaking, drawing, performance and community-based works. Most of the time, no matter the material or discipline, he makes things that will not last, using fragile materials like paper and dead butterflies. The only material to which Nestor is fiercely loyal is ideas. In his own work, this grows from the deeply personal into the political. In the work of others, Nestor lets curiosity drive his looking.

As an art viewer and art thinker, Nestor’s interests are broader still. Painting, sculpture, photography, print, video, drawing, ceramics, textiles – you name it, Nestor is fascinated by the traditional and with nascent practices, the analog and the digital, the monumental and the infinitesimally small. Nothing is off limits. Possibility is everywhere.

College dropout, graduate at 30 (from New College of Florida), high school English and Art History teacher, college art professor (after MFA from Chapel Hill) at Lafayette College: Nestor maintains an artistic and curatorial practice marked with adventure and oddity. He is a devoted fan of music, words, images and forms – and his family, them most of all.

To view Nestor's website, click here!

Awards

Exhibition Award – GoggleWorks staff will award a solo exhibition to an artist whose work aligns with the GoggleWorks mission of transforming lives through unique interactions with art for the 2026 exhibition calendar. A $400 stipend will be available to the artist at the time of contract signing.

Awarded by the Juror
Best in Show – $350
First Runner Up – $250
Second Runner Up – $150
Honorable Mention(s)  – $50

Important Dates

March 14, 2025: All entries due by midnight

April 4, 2025: Acceptance/Rejection emails will be sent

April 30, 2025: Mail delivered artwork due at GoggleWorks

Wed. May 7, 2025: Hand delivered artwork intake

  • 10am – 12pm and 3pm – 6pm

Thur. May 8, 2025: Hand delivered artwork intake

  • 12pm – 3pm

May 15 – July 20, 2025: Exhibition on-view to public

May 16, 2025: Gallery Reception & Award Ceremony, 6-8pm

July 21 – July 22, 2025: In-Person Artwork Pick-Up

  • Times TBD

Week of August 19th, 2025: Artwork shipped back begins

Gallery Reception & Award Ceremony

Fri. May 16, 2025 6-8pm