The Whitley County Extension Community Arts Center is a prime facility to host and curate art exhibits. Due to Covid-19 restrictions we had to think of new ways to create art exposure and interaction within our community. Our solution was to provide an online photography exhibit and competition through our existing social media outlets and our newly added YouTube page. To reach a wide range of demographics, the contest was promoted through email, social media, and local newspapers. For safety accommodations, Whitley County Fine Arts created an online platform where youth and adults could submit 2 photographs into their choice of 4 categories: landscape, macro, people and pets. 

We had a lot of interest in this program. 35 adults and 10 youth participated for a total of 45 participants. This included ages ranging from 3-80 years. Submissions were taken from regional and local community members and 5 local professional photographers volunteered to judge the over 70 photographs.  The judges reviewed each photo through an online platform and ranked the photo on a scale of 1-10 on composition, lighting, and focus. They contributed constructive and positive feedback for each submission. The contest included fourteen 1^st place winners and ten 2^nd place winners. The youth grand champion and an adult grand champion were presented with a trophy and a large framed copy of the winning photograph. All other winners were presented an enlarged photo of their submission and a ribbon.

The Online Photography Exhibit and Competition, allowed Extension Fine Arts to reach new participants, promote local art and artists, and increase access to quality arts experiences for the community at home. All participants’ photography is presently available for viewing on our social media outlets, including Facebook and YouTube. 

Program participants reported increased confidence. We know this because surveys were sent out along with feedback from the judges. When participants were asked if judges feedback gave them confidence? Participants reported, “yes, it helped me to have some different viewers commenting on my work. Often times, you get stuck with a "cool" or "that's nice," but very rarely do you get specific feedback.” Another participant said, “very much so! Very kind judges, encouraging comments. Their recognition of features of photos I didn't notice myself ('this picture would make a great fabric design') was very much appreciated!”