Chairman’s Message
In this, the 16th ARC Salon, with over 5,400 entries, the quality of the work in our competition rivals that of the Paris Salons of the 19th century. But uniquely, the ARC Salon is truly global in scope with artists represented from 75 countries. Now in the 21st century, the range of subjects explored goes far beyond what could have been conceived of in prior centuries.
Join me in congratulating Mark Pugh (Best in Show) and all the winners, honorable mentions and finalists in all eleven categories in the competition as well as all other ARC and partnering awards winners.
Nothing demonstrates better than these fine works of art, the basic tenets in the ARC Philosophy, perhaps the most important being, that Realism in the fine arts is a universal visual language making Realist Fine Art one of humanity's greatest accomplishments. The purpose of all language is communication and alone, among all living things, people have the capacity to communicate with each other in near limitless complexity and sophistication. Realism in fine art also serves the vital drive of people to communicate with each other; whether it be with loved ones, co-workers or complete strangers. Communication is a primary force that makes us human.
Most communication is in the form of spoken and written language. People who speak different languages have difficulty communicating, without a common language which exists in a spoken or written form. Without a way to translate, people who speak and write different languages simply have few ways to understand each other. With 8 billion people on the planet there are over 7,000 living languages which are currently used, and in most cases, those who communicate with any one of them, are unable to communicate with those who speak the others. But the fine art of painting, drawing and sculpture cuts across all those language and cultural differences and as a universal language is able to express our shared humanity with the nearly limitless range of ideas, emotions, dreams, passions, beliefs, and fantasies. It also creates a lasting record of people, nature and events.