For many, the long weeks of sheltering in place have been a time of some introspection. We’ve learned more about ourselves. The Albany Museum of Art is reaching out to Southwest Georgians to parlay that personal perspective into artwork with its newest challenge, the Art of Selfies.

“We are heartened by the overwhelmingly creative response to the AMA’s first art contest and it was a joy to discover we live among so many talented folks, both near and far,” AMA Executive Director Andrew James Wulf, Ph.D., said. “This new challenge carries forward our deep passion to stay connected to the AMA Family.

“We know you’re out there, we’re thinking of you, and we’d love to see what you do with this new art challenge. Bring it on!”

To enter the contest, create a self-portrait in any medium and submit a jpg image of it to [email protected] by 5 pm on Thursday, May 28. Each participant may submit one contest entry.

The images will be posted in a photo gallery on the museum’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/AlbanyMuseumOfArt, by noon on Friday, May 29.

Once the photo gallery is posted, Facebook users vote for their favorites by “liking” the individual entries. Voting will continue through 5 pm on Monday, June 1. The AMA will announce the winners by 6 pm that day. The artwork and winners’ names will be posted on the AMA website, www.albanymuseum.com, its Facebook page, and will be announced and included in a press release to regional news media.

The person with the most “likes” will receive a complimentary one-year Supporting Membership in the museum. Second place will receive a Family membership. Those two and the third-place winner also will receive an Albany Museum of Art swag bag with AMA merchandise

Benefits of AMA memberships include invitations to all AMA events, a mailed copy of the AMA’s quarterly magazine, AMArt; discounts for AMA children’s art camps, children and adult art workshops, classes and special programs, and discounts for birthday parties conducted at the AMA.

In addition, the AMA Supporting Membership includes the North American Reciprocal Museum Program that offers admission and museum shop benefits at more than 800 museums across the United States.

The AMA Family Membership includes the Southeastern Reciprocal Museum Program with admission and museum shop benefits to more than 150 museums in the Southeastern United States.

Annie Vanoteghem, the museum’s director of education and public programming, says the contest is another way the AMA is staying engaged with members, supporters, artists and the public.

“We haven’t seen our friends as much as we would like to this spring,” she said. “This is a fun, entertaining way to share the beautiful faces of our community!”

She added there is no cost to enter and the contest is open to everyone. All media are welcome, including photography, painting, pencil, pen and ink, pastel, sculpture and mixed media.

“We’re calling on local artists and anyone who feels inspired to create to participate in the AMA Art of Selfies contest,” Vanoteghem said. “Create a self-portrait using any medium or style. Anything goes, just be creative!”

The Art of Selfies contest is the latest way in which the Albany Museum of Art is staying connected digitally. The museum has been closed to the public since March 18 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Online programs include:

-  Cut & Paste: Video Cuts—Brief videos spotlight the 11 artists whose work is part of the Cut & Paste: Works of Paper exhibition at the museum. A new two-minute video focusing on a specific artists is posted in the AMA Facebook page at 9 am on Tuesdays and Fridays.

-  Art of Meditation—Albany Yoga Project leads a meditation session via Facebook Live at 8 pm Sundays on the AMA Facebook page.

-  AMA Art Lovers Book Club Online meetings are on third Tuesdays of alternate months. The next online meeting is a discussion of Langston Hughes’ novel Not Without Laughter at 6 pm on Tuesday, May 19. The club meetings are free but space is limited. To register and to receive an invitation, email [email protected].

-  Staying Inspired!, a daily art project blog for children and families, is posted on the AMA Facebook page every week day.

-  Life Imitating Art has encouraged the public to recreate famous artwork with object they have around the house. A gallery of all the submissions so far can be seen at www.albanymuseum.com/life-imitating-art.

-  Toddler Takeover, for 15-month to 3-year-old kids and their siblings, is conducted at 10:30 am on first Tuesdays. The next session is June 2. The program is free, but space is limited. To register and receive an invitation for the next session, email [email protected].

-  Homeschool Day for homeschooled students is conducted at 11 am on second Thursdays. The next session is June 11. The program is free, but space is limited. To register and receive an invitation for the next session, email [email protected].

-  The winners and all submissions to the AMA’s first online contest, Art in Residence, can be seen at www.albanymuseum.com/art-in-residence.