The Mountlake Terrace Art Commission and Friends of the Arts are hosting the 43rd Arts of the Terrace Juried Art Show, starting Saturday at the Mountlake Terrace Library.

The show runs Sept. 23-30 and features 300 pieces of art from 126 artists in five categories: Paintings/Prints/Drawings, Photography, 3-Dimensional, Artisan Works, and Miniatures.

This year’s jurors are watercolorist Ron Stocke, sculptor David Varnau and photographer Kayako Mae.

Mountlake Arts Advisory Commission Member Conner Ryan brought the art show into the 21st century in 2008 when he converted the artwork entry process to an online format. He has also managed the organization’s website for years.

Now that the public is getting used to the new post-COVID normal, a large concern in the arts community is artificial intelligence, more commonly referred to as AI.

With Ryan having one hand in the technology world and the other in creative expression, he has a clear line between the two.

“Art is subjective and emotional — a thing that AI cannot be,” Ryan said. “I don’t believe AI-generated art should be in a competition against human-made art.” 

Ryan said that AI-generated art is an evolving space, and different tools will modify an existing work or fully generate entire pieces. 

“Also, every time you give up a space for AI-generated art, you are taking it away from a human,” he said.

Ryan said he imagines categories and guidelines for AI-generated art will be incorporated into art shows if they haven’t  already. 

“We would not accept AI-generated art in our show since that would take away from the human element,” he said. 

The Mountlake Terrace Library is located at 23300 58th Ave West. To learn more about daily show hours and other information, click here.

– By Rick Sinnett