Terms &Conditions.

Acceptance of these terms

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) are an agreement between you and The Meridian Art Circle, operating as Meridian Arts Circle (“Meridian,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). They apply when you access this website, submit to a Meridian competition, accept a finalist invitation, pay a finalist fee, or participate in an exhibition.

By using the website or submitting an application, you agree to these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the website or submit an application.

Eligibility

Unless a specific call states otherwise, Meridian competitions are intended for artists who are at least 18 years old. You must be legally able to enter into these Terms and must comply with any location, medium, theme, or other eligibility requirements published for the applicable call.

Employees, contractors, jurors, and immediate household members of anyone directly involved in selecting a particular competition may be excluded from that competition when necessary to avoid a conflict of interest.

Competition structure

• Preliminary entry: Artists may submit up to three images at no cost. Additional-image purchases are not offered.
• Finalist invitation: Meridian may invite selected applicants to advance. An invitation may be accepted or declined.
• Confirmed finalist: Every invited artist who accepts the invitation and completes the $15 payment is confirmed as a finalist and enters final judging.
• Final recognition: Finalists may be selected for the Meridian Award, one of three Axis Citations, or the Circle Selection. Finalist status alone does not guarantee one of these distinctions.
• Circle Selection: The Circle Selection has no fixed twelve-person or twelve-work cap. Its size may vary by exhibition.
• No cash payout: Meridian distinctions are non-cash exhibition and recognition honors unless a specific call expressly states otherwise.

Submission requirements

You are responsible for submitting complete and accurate information before the stated deadline. Late, incomplete, corrupted, inaccessible, misleading, or ineligible submissions may be declined without review.

Artwork images should accurately represent the entered work. Meridian may request clarification or a replacement image when a file cannot be reviewed, but is not required to do so. You may not submit content that is unlawful, defamatory, hateful, deceptive, invasive of privacy, or otherwise unsuitable for a professional art exhibition.

Unless a call expressly permits collaborative work, the submitting artist must be the creator and rights holder of the entered work.

Artwork ownership and display license

You retain copyright and ownership of your artwork. Meridian does not acquire ownership of an artwork merely because it is submitted, selected, or exhibited.

By submitting, you grant Meridian a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to receive, store, resize, crop when reasonably necessary for layout, reproduce, and review the submitted images and related information for competition administration.

If you are confirmed as a finalist or selected for recognition, you also grant Meridian permission to display and reproduce your submitted artwork images, name, artwork title, medium, dimensions, year, artist statement, biography, and related submission information in the applicable online exhibition, exhibition archive, award announcement, email, social media, and reasonable promotion of Meridian and that competition.

This promotional license does not permit Meridian to sell your original artwork, sell reproductions, license the work to an unrelated commercial party, or place it on merchandise without a separate written agreement. Meridian will provide artist credit where reasonably practical.

Your promises about submitted work

You represent that you created the submitted work or control all rights needed to submit it; the submission does not infringe copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, moral, contractual, or other rights; and any identifiable person or third-party material appearing in the work is included with appropriate permission when required.

You are responsible for claims arising from work or information you submit. Meridian may request evidence of authorship, ownership, releases, or permissions and may remove a submission or exhibition entry if a credible rights concern arises.

Judging, awards, and editorial discretion

Selection is inherently subjective. Meridian may appoint internal or guest reviewers and may consider artistic quality, originality, presentation, relevance to the call, exhibition balance, and other curatorial factors.

All eligibility, finalist, award, citation, and Circle Selection decisions are final to the fullest extent permitted by law. Meridian may decide not to grant a distinction, may adjust the number of Circle Selections, or may cancel, extend, reschedule, or modify a call when reasonably necessary. Material changes will be communicated to affected entrants when practical.

Finalist fees and refunds

The preliminary application is free. The $15 fee is charged only after an artist receives and accepts a finalist invitation. Payment confirms finalist status and participation in final judging; it does not purchase or guarantee an award, citation, Circle Selection, exhibition placement, review, sale, or other result.

Finalist fees are generally non-refundable once payment is completed and final judging has begun. Meridian may issue a refund for a duplicate or erroneous charge, a canceled finalist round, or when required by applicable law. Payment-processing fees may be handled according to the processor’s rules.

Competition communications

You agree that Meridian may contact you about your application, eligibility, finalist invitation, payment, judging status, exhibition participation, credits, and other administrative matters. These operational messages are not marketing messages and may be necessary to administer your entry.

Marketing emails, if offered, will be sent according to the choices presented when you subscribe and may be unsubscribed from at any time.

Third-party services

Meridian may use third-party services to operate the website and competitions, including Fillout for application forms, website hosting and WordPress services, email providers, cloud storage, and a payment processor for finalist fees. Those services may have their own terms and privacy practices.

Meridian is not responsible for a third-party service outside our reasonable control, but we will take reasonable steps to select and configure providers appropriate for the information being processed.

Meridian website content

Except for artist-owned works and third-party material, the Meridian name, logo, seals, page designs, written copy, award names, graphics, and other website content belong to Meridian or its licensors. You may not reproduce, modify, sell, impersonate, or commercially exploit that material without written permission.

Artists may accurately display a seal or distinction they received, provided it is not altered or used to imply an award, endorsement, or affiliation that was not granted.

Disclaimers

The website, competitions, reviews, awards, and exhibitions are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Meridian disclaims warranties of uninterrupted availability, error-free operation, commercial success, sales, publicity, professional advancement, or any particular competition outcome.

Nothing on the website constitutes legal, tax, financial, career, or professional advice.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, Meridian and its owner, contractors, reviewers, and service providers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, lost profits, lost opportunities, lost data, or reputational harm arising from the website, a submission, a competition decision, or an exhibition.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, Meridian’s total liability for a claim relating to a particular competition will not exceed the amount you actually paid to Meridian for that competition. This limitation does not apply where liability cannot legally be limited.

Suspension, cancellation, and changes

Meridian may suspend access, reject or remove a submission, revoke recognition obtained through fraud or material misrepresentation, or discontinue a competition when reasonably necessary to protect artists, rights holders, the integrity of judging, or the operation of the website.

We may update these Terms. The effective date at the top will be revised when changes are posted. Changes will apply prospectively unless applicable law requires otherwise.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Colorado, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. Subject to applicable consumer-protection law, any dispute that cannot be resolved informally will be brought in the state or federal courts located in Denver, Colorado, and the parties consent to those courts’ jurisdiction.

Contact

Questions about these Terms or a Meridian competition may be sent to: