The Small Stones Festival of the Arts will open its eighth annual juried exhibit of fine art painting and photography on Saturday, Jan. 24, at noon at the Community Harvest Project barn, 37 Wheeler Road, North Grafton. An opening reception and awards ceremony will follow at 2 p.m. The free festival will run through Feb. 1.

The two-week exhibit features 144 works by regional fine art painters, watercolorists, photographers and other two-dimensional artists. Artwork will be displayed in a gallery setting, along with a schedule of artist and juror talks. The festival is sponsored by the Blackstone Valley Art Association and the Worcester County Camera Club.

Artist talks will be held on Jan. 24 at 2:30 p.m. with fine artist Lissa Banks and photographer Dimitry Papkov. Banks works primarily in acrylics and is known for expressive florals, portraits, still lifes and landscapes. Papkov is an award-winning landscape and travel photographer whose work has appeared in juried exhibitions throughout New England.

The Worcester County Camera Club will also host a special remote presentation on Tuesday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m., featuring black-and-white landscape photographer Huibo Huo of San Diego, Calif. Huo will discuss the enduring appeal of black-and-white photography, developing a personal artistic vision and the techniques she uses to create her work.

Cash prizes for first, second and third place, along with jurors’ choice awards, will be presented in both fine art painting and photography. Winners are selected by a panel of six jurors with professional experience as practicing artists or curators at museums, galleries and colleges. Festival attendees will also vote for a popular choice award in each category.

Fine art jurors include Jim Welu, director emeritus of the Worcester Art Museum; Jo Ellen Reinhardt, co-founder and director of the New England School of Fine Art; and Janet Montecalvo, an award-winning commercial and fine artist. Photography jurors include photographer and lecturer Ron Rosenstock; Nancy Kathryn Burns, Stoddard Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the Worcester Art Museum; and Pip Shepley, a lens-based artist whose work has been widely exhibited.

The mission of the Small Stones Festival of the Arts is to elevate the practice and appreciation of fine art and photography in the Blackstone Valley and beyond. Grafton Arts Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization, serves as the festival’s financial sponsor.

Festival organizers acknowledged support from numerous organizations and businesses, including the Brigham Hill Foundation, Grafton Cultural Council, Massachusetts Cultural Council, local credit unions, and several area businesses.