West Collection increases its purchase-prize program

The West Collection of Contemporary Art in Oaks, Montgomery County, has upgraded its purchase-prize program significantly in a way that guarantees a generous amount of patronage to Philadelphia-area artists.

Since 2009, the collection - created by Alfred P. West Jr., founder and chief executive of SEI Investments in Oaks, and his daughter, Paige - has sponsored the annual West Prize national competition in which the collection purchased $10,000 worth of art from each of 10 finalists. One of the 10 also received an additional $25,000 best-in-show award.

Beginning with the 2012 awards, renamed West Collects, the Wests have upped the jackpot to $300,000. Of this, $100,000 is committed to acquisitions from Philadelphia-area artists, with $175,000 designated for artists from other parts of the country.

Another innovation for the 2012 program encourages the public to choose the best-in-show winner by voting for favorite artists among the applicants through a special iPhone application called West Collects, scheduled to be activated Tuesday.

The policy of roughly equal purchase prizes also has been revised this year, according to Lee Stoetzel, the program's full-time director.

"The amount spent on a single artist might be more than $10,000, or it might be less, depending," he said. "This allows the possibility of there being more than 10 artists chosen from Philadelphia."

The West Collects competition is open to artists 18 and older working in painting/drawing, sculpture, photography, video, and installation. To be considered for the Philadelphia portion of the awards, artists must live in the city or in Delaware, Chester, Montgomery or Bucks Counties. New Jersey artists will be considered with the national and international applicants.

Artists must apply online through the collection's website, www.westcollects.com; the site's application function is also scheduled to be activated Tuesday. There is no fee. Applications close April 1, 2012, and the winners will be announced May 15. Collection curator Paige West will choose winners, except for public-selected best-in-show, who need not be a finalist.

An exhibition of work by the 2012 Philadelphia winners will go on view Oct. 1, 2012, in Philadelphia City Hall, and run through May 1, 2013.

A concurrent show of national and international finalists will be mounted at SEI headquarters in Oaks, where the collection, which numbers about 1,100 works, is on extended loan, Stoetzel said.