Some 145 pieces of art sit on the floor against the walls of an otherwise empty gallery on the third floor of the Indiana State Museum.
Walking slowly around the room’s perimeter, Hector Acuna and Anne Blair Brown stand contemplatively in front of each piece — paintings, drawings, sculptures and other creations of glass, wood and fabric.
“Can we move this one into the light?” Acuna asks. A small painting is shifted from a shadowy corner to a new location where the details can be viewed under brighter lighting.
A handful of museum staff members and volunteers with Hoosier Art Salon watch from a distance. Brown and Acuna talk quietly to each other and gesture between a few artworks, eventually making their final decisions for the award winners.
This is the jury process for the 101st annual Hoosier Art Salon exhibition. Known as the state’s preeminent juried art exhibition of works by Indiana artists, this year’s exhibition will be open from Aug. 23 through Oct. 26.
The effort to bring the exhibition together began months ago. With a deadline of mid-June, Hoosier Art Salon received submissions of 665 original works from more than 250 artists, setting up a rigorous selection process. Of those, the 129 chosen artists include nine former best-of-show winners and 26 first-time participants. To qualify, artists must be current Indiana residents or have previously lived in the state for at least one year. 
Central to the selection process are the jurors, who individually evaluate each artwork. New jurors are chosen each year and always come from out of state to ensure objectivity. This year, the task was entrusted to Acuna and Brown, who are accomplished artists in their own right.
As judges, they take personal preferences out of the equation and evaluate works based on factors such as artistic fundamentals, composition and presentation as well as certain variables like innovation.
“I’ve had people grab me and say, ‘Why didn’t you give this one an award?’” said Brown. “A lot of people don’t understand that the jury process is math and opinion is taken out as much as possible. There’s an algorithm to it that makes it very fair. We go to the foundational elements of art and apply them to each piece. Every now and then, there’s a rule breaker that’s just so innovative that that’s what we call art, whether it’s what we would hang in our house or not.”
Based in Nashville, Tenn., Brown is a master member of The American Impressionist Society and a signature member of The Oil Painters of America. Her work, inspired by local surroundings and travels, is featured in galleries across the United States.
Acuna, an educator and professional artist from Milwaukee, Wisc., holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in fine art. His work, which is held in public and private collections, has garnered national recognition and he was named breakthrough artist of the year by Plein Air Magazine in 2023.
As judges and viewers of art, Brown and Acuna both said they appreciate pieces that take risks, push boundaries and challenge comfort zones. For the artworks they selected for various honors, Hoosier Art Salon will award more than $55,000 in prizes to the artists, including $5,000 for best of show.
Acuna and Brown encouraged visitors to take a moment before they review this year’s winners to reflect about what particular pieces of art they connect with and why.
“We live in a society that is very comfortable defining and categorizing things and telling us what we should already think or feel about something,” said Acuna. “Art is one of these small pockets of life where you can decide for yourself if something is right or wrong, if it’s interesting or not interesting. We can all have our different subjective opinions.”
