Call For Artists -- Finding The Right Prospectus

“CALL FOR ENTRY”

I am gathering information to write about "Call For Entry” for visual artists. If you know of any contests, competitions or open calls with a deadline this summer or fall, send me the information. I am looking for museums, universities and brick and mortar galleries. Please no online galleries because MYARTSPACE has its own gallery devoted to selling works at NYAXE.
After doing some research, I am hoping to add some information to my blog and update it monthly.
I have had quite a bit of experience submitting my work to galleries and museums back when I was actively working in that direction. I know how frustrating it is to sift through all the crap out there. “How do we know what type of gallery is calling for entry?”
I used to look through Art Week for the latest call for entry; but they have gone by the wayside as of February 2010. Now, with the ubiquitous internet there are more and more scams. I will work very diligently to get some viable information very soon. In the mean time, I do know that some places are better than others in regard to visibility.

First of all, ask yourself why you want to show your work? Is it only to sell your work, or craving recognition, or just to get your art out there; "as we say in the art world?" Well, where is out there? If you look on the internet there are plenty of sites devoted to "call for entry" but most of them charge a yearly subscription. They aren’t too expensive but which one or two are the best?

I had friend of mine go through all the trouble in the submission process just to get into a tiny gallery way out in the middle of a wheat field in Nebraska. Not that there is anything wrong with Nebraska; but getting your art into show, after all the hard work put into making the art, preparing it to show and shipping it off, it seems like you would want to show in a place where plenty of people will see your art work.

Now, if you put in all that effort in making the art, getting it in order on CDs and DVDs, labeled, size/medium and all the other requests on the detailed prospectus, where are you going to show your work? It is always best to start close to home. If you are an emerging artist there are plenty of shows for artists who have just earned their MFA or have a limited number of shows under their belt. But for the people who have hit a ceiling and passed the emerging artist status, it becomes harder and harder to find quality places to submit work.

I know a woman who made up almost 300 portfolios and took them around to galleries in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Europe. She only got into one show and that was in Pacifica, California. Her work was great but no one cared to even look at it. She heard people laugh at her as she left a few of the galleries. I really felt bad for her. I don’t know what happened to her after she moved to New York but I hope she got off the ground.
I know there are many ways to get work shown but I will stick to “Open Calls For Entry” and “Artist’s Call For Entry.” Some of the “calls for art” may state their desire to look at an artist’s work for an upcoming show.

They may be looking for a certain theme or they want any genre of fresh art for an open call. Sometimes this work is shelved for future shows. They may be named, “call for entry” “call for art” “call for artist” but they all are requesting artist’s to send in examples of there work to their jury or selection committee. I am sure most of you already know this but I am just answering some of the questions from readers about this topic.
I will start with the competitions I know myself, do a bit more research and hopefully I will get plenty of information from "out there."

Of course I have to let you know about what MYARTSPACE has to offer in terms of competitions. The Scholarship competition is very successful for students and a few different competitions are coming up. I will keep you posted.

Let me know what you are interested in and what you would like to find out about art competitions.

I want to let you know about a “Call For Entry” in San Francisco where years ago a colleague of mind won and was almost sued for slander. I will just leave that information at that and move on. Look over the prospectus and see if your art would fit in the category.


Call For Artists: 2010/2011 Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series
2010/2011 Art on Market Street Kiosk Poster Series
CALL FOR ARTISTS: prospectus may be viewed at:

http://www.sfartscommission.org/pubartcollection/calls-for-artists/2010/05/10/call-for-artists-20102011-art-on-market-street-kiosk-poster-series/

APPLICATION DEADLINE: MONDAY, JUNE 7, 2010, 5:00 p.m.

Remember the deadline and follow the prospectus. After you read all the details you will see how much you have to do to “GET OUT THERE”
Feel Free to email me @

jennykterry@gmail.com

best,

Jenny Harris
Senior Editor
MYARTSPACE.com