‘Elsa Band,’ Larry McIntosh, Apalachicola, Fla.

VALDOSTA — The Valdosta National art exhibit has become one of the top annual art shows in South Georgia.

While the Annette Howell Turner Center for the Arts’ Spring Into Art is the premier exhibit to showcase local and regional artists, Valdosta State University Art & Design’s Valdosta National has become the region’s premier showcase of art from across the nation.

Granted, anyone nationwide can enter the open Spring Into Art, and anyone local can enter the juried Valdosta National, and occasionally these lines do cross, but the Valdosta National allows area art patrons the opportunity to see distant artists’ styles and themes.

The show opening Tuesday, Jan. 17, will be VSU’s 35th annual juried art show open to artists nationwide.

Mark T. Errol, who curates the VSU’s Dedo-Maranville Gallery exhibits, said Valdosta National 2023 has an additional title this year: “Change in Weather,” representing “a collection of juried works from around the country tackling the topics of climate and weather.”

He added the exhibit received numerous artworks from across the nation with 45 pieces from 30 artists selected “for their diverse and impactful connection to the theme,” he said.

Polly Huff and Dr. Jason Allard, Ph.D., are the people who made the choices for the juried exhibit.

Huff is the curator and finance and operations director at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Tifton, and Allard is professor of geography, climatology at Valdosta State University where he teaches on the topics of climate, weather and hazardous environment.

VSU Art & Design presents the Valdosta National 2023 with a free, public opening reception, 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, Dedo-Maranville Fine Arts Gallery, VSU Fine Arts Building, corner of Oak and Brookwood. The exhibit runs from Jan. 17 through Feb. 6. Gallery hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays; 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Fridays.