17th Annual Fran Achen
Juried Photography Exhibition:
Art Through Photography’s Lens
June 4, 2026 – June 28, 2026
Awards Reception: Sunday, June 7, 2026, 1pm
The Classic Returns IN its 17th edition
Click to View Exhibition
We are honored to announce the 17th iteration of the Fran Achen Juried Photography Exhibition. This landmark event showcases the enduring power of the photographic print alongside the innovation of projected digital media. By pioneering this multi-faceted approach, the Whitewater Arts Alliance (WAA) continues to create an inclusive space where global and local visions meet.
The exhibition commemorates the life of Fran Achen and his positive impact on the Whitewater community as both a photographer and a high school teacher. Hosted at the Cultural Arts Center Gallery, this event celebrates Fran's legacy by helping us all see the world through fresh eyes.
Key Dates
Exhibition Dates: Thursday, June 4, 2026 – Sunday, June 28, 2026
Awards Reception: Sunday, June 7, 2026, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Drop-Off (Prints): Tuesday, June 2 (4–6 PM) & Wednesday, June 3 (12–2 PM)
Pick-Up (Prints): Sunday, June 28 (4–6 PM) & Monday, June 29 (4–6 PM)
Experience the Exhibition
Exhibition Engine
Our new web app, Exhibition Engine, where you can view both salons in one convenient place. Wait. What? How many local arts groups can you name that have their own exhibition web app? Well now you can name one — WAA! The Exhibition Engine is now available to view the show. You will also be able to view the work on the ArtCall site (see below).View Participating Artists (and their work)
In-Person: Cultural Arts Center Gallery, 402 W. Main Street, Whitewater, WI 53190
Gallery Hours Thursday-Sundays, Noon to 4pm
About the Exhibition
About Fran Achen
Public Voting
While our distinguished jury panel painstakingly reviews the hundreds of submitted images to make their choices for awards, members of the viewing public have the chance to weigh in as well by voting both in-gallery and online.
Vote In-Gallery using the “Dot” system: 5 free dot stickers per visit, one set of 5 dots per visit, visit as many times as you like.
Vote Online in our new exhibition web app (which contains its own Voting FAQ) or on the ArtCall site.
Two Salons
Our dual-salon format reflects our philosophy to celebrate the artist's vision regardless of how it is delivered to the viewer.
Traditional Salon (Prints)
Theme: Open
Dedicated to the enduring impact of the physical print. Accepted works are displayed in a traditional gallery setting and a global online exhibit.Digital Salon (Electronic)
Themes: Natural World, Creative/Abstract, Human Interest, Built Environment, Open/General
An electronic showcase of screen-based fine art. These entries are displayed on high-definition screens in-gallery and in a global online exhibit.
Awards & Recognition
11 Cash Awards Totaling $1,300 This year, we are proud to offer a revised award structure that reflects our core values:
Best of Show Overall Award
Photographic Merit Awards: 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Place awards in each salon.
Artistic Merit Awards: Fran Achen Creative Expression distinctions.
Additional Honors: Salon and Category awards, Honorable Mentions, and the Public Choice Awards.
The Human Lens: Skill, Soul, and Intention
Welcome to the 17th Annual Fran Achen Juried Photography Exhibition. This is a landmark year, drawing a record-breaking 502 submissions from across the region. With 201 entries in our Traditional Salon and 301 in our Digital Salon, the exceptional volume and quality of work gave our jurors one of the toughest challenges in Whitewater Arts Alliance history.
Two Salons, One Vision
We have innovated over the years to keep pace with the evolving medium of photography, ultimately creating our signature dual-salon format to honor two distinct approaches:
• The Traditional Salon celebrates the artist’s choice to realize their work as a physical print. Displayed on the walls, it demonstrates how photographic mastery is expressed through a tangible medium.
• The Digital Salon champions the artist’s choice to realize their work through transmitted light. Exhibited on screens, it demonstrates how photographic mastery is expressed through a luminous medium.
Unified vision is more fully realized this year with the Exhibition Engine. Our philosophy is simple: art comes first, tech gets out of the way. The salons are a single experience, allowing visitors to engage with every piece of artwork at their own pace—whether standing in the gallery or viewing on the screen of their choice.
The Big Tent of Photography
Evaluating the work is not a matter of weighing technical precision against creative vision as if they are separate forces. Fine art photography is a big tent, and it defies simple rules.
How else do you place Garry Winogrand’s kinetic street chaos alongside Diane Arbus’s raw, unsettling psychological intimacy? How do you measure the silent, minimalist, long-exposure discipline of Michael Kenna against Abelardo Morell turning rooms into giant camera obscuras? They cannot be measured by the same yardstick because each artist answers an entirely different truth.
Sometimes an artist pushes the boundaries so far that the rules flip. Consider Levon Biss: a photographer who uses hyper-technical focus-stacking, stitching thousands of macro frames into a single image. The magnitude of this mastery wraps all the way around only to emerge on the other side as pure poetry. Tech becomes art.
Photography is like jazz. Mechanics are mastered, instruments disappear, and music flows straight from the soul. We don’t want a compromise between Skill and Soul. We want the moment where they become indistinguishable and only the image remains.
The Human Requirement
If great art is born from deep intention, the heart requires a lived human experience. We do not reject powerful technology; we welcome AI and editing tools that empower artists to expand their vision. But the tool cannot become the author.
Art is a human response to a moment, preserved as a permanent record of that experience. Generative AI relies on a mathematical synthesis of existing data—it can mimic the surface of a style, but it cannot convey a personal response. It possesses no memory, no perspective, and no intent.
We value the artist who responds to the world, rather than an algorithm that invents it.
The Future of Vision
Every work in this unified collection stands as a testament to the power of intentional human vision. We are proud to honor grit, determination, and creative drive. As photography evolves, we remain a space dedicated to the artists pushing the medium forward—not by chasing the newest mechanism, but by deepening their response to the world.
We challenge you to step into these spaces to experience human imagination and realization.
Warm regards,
Jeff McDonald, Volunteer, WAA President, and 12-Year Chair
17th Annual Fran Achen Juried Photography Exhibition
Whitewater Arts Alliance
Submission Information
This is a juried exhibition with separate submission procedures for each salon. Both salons are hosted on the ArtCall system. Entrants will complete an online registration, pay entry fees, and upload images to be reviewed by our jury panel.
In keeping with our philosophy of human creativity, all entries must be light-captured (film or sensor). We celebrate the artist's unique eye; therefore, generative AI is not permitted. Our goal is to showcase the human experience and the artistic judgement that only an artist can provide.
Contacts:
Jeff McDonald, Exhibit Chair – waa.franachen@gmail.com
Kim Adams, WAA Gallery Director – wwartsalliance@gmail.com
OR View the Salons Individually on ArtCall
Resources:
Exhibition Poster: Download JPEG
Terms & Conditions: Download PDF
Call for Art 4” x 6” Postcard: Download JPEG
Press Release: Download PDF