Installation view of the “Rejection Exhibition” at Provo’s Alma Gallery. Image courtesy of the gallery.

Tyler Alexander thinks of himself as a bit of a Napoleon. Not the continent-conquering general who rode France’s revolutionary wave to become one of the most fateful figures in European history. Rather, the nephew, an emperor as well, of sorts. He began as the first president of France’s Second Republic in 1848, staged a coup when the constitution forbade him another term, and ruled France as an autocrat until his regime collapsed and he was captured in the ill-fated war with the Prussians in 1870. It was this Napoleon who came up with the idea of a Salon des Refusés to house the extraordinary number of works not accepted into the official Salon of 1863. It was a pivotal moment in the history of Impressionism and Modern art (Édouard Manet’s Déjeuner sur l’herbe, for example, was exhibited), but contrary to popular conception, was official rather than revolutionary. Alexander has done something similar at his Provo gallery.

Dubbed the “Rejection Exhibition,” this show gathers works that were not accepted into the annual Springville Museum of Art’s Spring Salon, transforming the sting of rejection into a celebration of resilience, creativity, and community. “Rejection has played a significant role in my journey as an artist,” Alexander says. After earning his BFA (Weber State University), he eagerly submitted work to the Spring Salon, confident it would be accepted. Instead, he was met with rejection—not once, but five years in a row. “It greatly affected me,” Alexander says. “I was left with an identity crisis.” He shifted styles multiple times, questioning himself at each turn.

Ironically, the piece he currently has on view at Springville is his first ever to be accepted. “I had assumed it would be rejected and was already planning to hang it in the Rejection Exhibition,” he says of the exhibit at Alma Gallery. The idea for the exhibition was simple: offer artists a space to show their rejected works without additional judgment. “My only rules were that it had to have been rejected, and second, fit through the front door,” Alexander says. “The last thing I wanted to do was hand an artist a second rejection.”

Tyler Alexander’s large work, “Gathering II,” is his first to be accepted at the annual Spring Salon at Springville Museum of Art. Image courtesy of Shawn Rossiter.

Given space limitations, submissions were accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. In total, the gallery is displaying 152 artworks—a fraction of the roughly 800 works rejected by the Springville jury this year. The Springville Museum’s own staff supported the effort. Museum director Emily Larsen and curator Allison Pinegar helped spread the word, including a link to Alma’s show when announcing the Spring Salon’s accepted works. “We wouldn’t have made it this far without their support,” says Alexander. “They were excited to see the idea take shape.”

To Alexander’s surprise, not all artists wanted to participate. “I can understand maybe there being a feeling of not wanting to be part of a ‘rejection’ show,” he acknowledges. For his own part, Alexander says he’s “learned to treat rejection as just a fact of being an artist. You learn the ins and outs of the system and try not to take it personally—although no matter how much you prepare yourself mentally, rejection stings. You’re on the outside looking in, and all you want is to be accepted.”

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” Alexander says. “Both artists and patrons expressed how much they appreciated this extension, especially with so many artists being turned away. It gave me the chance to meet artists who might never have otherwise shown at Alma Gallery, and that was meaningful to me.”

Alexander is already planning to bring the show back next year, hoping the guaranteed visibility might even encourage more artists to take the leap and submit to Springville. “This ongoing relationship benefits both the Springville Museum and Alma Gallery,” Alexander emphasizes. “As we expressed in our original statement, the show was not created in protest but in solidarity, acknowledging the real challenges artists face when exhibition opportunities are limited.”

Views of the “Rejection Exhibition” at Alma Gallery in Provo. All images courtesy of the gallery.

Exhibition of Rejected Artworks from the 101st Springville Salon, Alma Gallery, Provo, through May 31.

Shawn Rossiter

The founder of Artists of Utah and editor of its online magazine, 15 Bytes, Shawn Rossiter has undergraduate degrees in English, French and Italian Literature and studied Comparative Literature in graduate school before pursuing a career in art.