Every week, we gather a variety of artist opportunities from the DC area and beyond. Find one below and apply today — good luck! Click here for recent opportunities posts, and submit your opportunity listing here.
Deadline: March 21 The Horizons Design + Art Competition is organized by the School of Design + Art at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia, and has four categories that reflect the range of degree opportunities at Marymount University’s School of Design + Art. Open to regional undergraduate students, this juried competition seeks original creative work in the following categories: Art, Fashion Design, Graphic and Media Design, and Interior Design & Architecture. For more information, click here.
Deadline: March 23 As part of the development of a new Lexington Market, including a new plaza, two Calls for Artists have been released seeking permanent, site-specific, integrated artworks. Both calls are open to artists living and working in Maryland and its contiguous states: Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Artists living and working in Baltimore and across Maryland are especially encouraged to apply. Artists may apply individually or as a team. Learn more here.
Deadline: March 25 For this public art opportunity, an art piece in the form of a bus shelter will be created that represents stories, culture, and architectural elements distinct to each individual municipality. This public art project will consist of multiple sustainable features, that will highlight civic interaction, collaborative partnerships, and the improvement of the quality of life. These bus shelters are designed to activate neighborhood advancements and to serve as aesthetically pleasing landmarks for years to come. Artists or artist teams must be able to plan, design, and construct the bus shelter with weather resistant, non-hazardous, and easily cleanable materials. Interested artists or artist teams are allowed to submit an application for 1-2 of the six municipalities within this bus shelter public art opportunity. Learn more here.
Deadline: March 31 The Public Interest Design LAB is a fellowship created by the Goethe-Institut and the DC Public Library that will invite up to six D.C.-based designers in various fields who work closely with social movements and local community-based organizations. The fellowship will support development of existing projects that confront inequities and foster connectivity through community-based design. Priority is placed on projects that will benefit from international exchange and a broadening of professional networks. Apply here.
Deadline: April 5 This year’s Image Show will be hosted virtually by Washington Sculptors Group and Harvard’s Center for Hellenic Studies in conjunction with International Sculptors Day 2021, a global celebration of sculpture. WSG members are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity to show their work, and presentations will be recorded and shared on WSG’s YouTube channel following the event. DC area gallerists, curators, collectors, and art representatives will be invited to watch live. The event will be hosted virtually and followed by a Q&A from the audience. Instructions on how to participate will be sent to accepted participants. Click here for more information.
Deadline: April 12 The Trawick Prize Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards is a visual art prize produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District that honors artists from Maryland, Washington, D.C. and Virginia. The annual juried competition awards $14,000 in prize monies to selected artists and features the work of the finalists in a group exhibition. All original 2-D and 3-D fine art including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, fiber art, digital, mixed media and video completed within the last two years will be accepted. Learn more here.
Deadline: May 24 The Workhouse Arts Center (WAF) is extremely proud to announce a call for entries for its 11th annual Workhouse Clay International Exhibition 2021. This is an open call for functional and/or sculptural ceramic artworks. For more information, click here.
Deadline: until filled The Pyramid Atlantic Papermaking Associates are crucial to keeping the paper mill thriving, relevant and dynamic. This work-exchange position offers a unique opportunity to engage with Pyramid’s creative community, and work alongside professionals in a sharing/collaborative environment. For more information and to apply, click here.
Deadline: March 18 Innovate Grant is now accepting submissions for the Winter 2021 Cycle. Innovate Grant awards (2) $550.00 grants each quarter, to one Visual Artist and one Photographer. In addition to receiving a grant award, winners will be featured and recognized on our website and join a growing community of vibrant and talented artists. Multiple disciplines and genres accepted. Learn more here.
Deadline: March 18 On behalf of the Town of Riverdale Park, the Hyattsville CDC is announcing a Call for Artists for the Riverdale Park Public Art Initiative. The Initiative seeks five (5) sculptures of various styles and sizes to display for a one year-long placement, at pre-determined, publicly-accessible sites within the Town of Riverdale Park. For more information, click here.
Deadline: March 22 Digital America is now accepting submissions for Issue No. 17. We are excited to publish digital art, internet art, design, essays, video, audio, multimedia art, and new media art that digs deep into the cultural impact of our digitized world. What does it mean to be in an online “America,” in an increasingly globalized and interconnected world? How does this cybernated world affect our lived experiences? Learn more here.
Deadline: March 24 NJ Transit and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts are pleased to present the TRANSITional Art Project; Trenton Transit Station. This exciting project seeks to select five (5) visual artists who live or work in the Central New Jersey Counties of: Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, Union, and Hunterdon; who are current residents of the State of New Jersey. Preference will be given to artists with a connection to Trenton. Qualified artists are encouraged to submit their work for a temporary art project at the NJ Transit Trenton Transit Station to take place in Summer 2021 as part of the “Stepping into Tomorrow” public art event. Learn more here.
Deadline: March 24 NJ Transit and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts are pleased to present the TRANSITional Art Project Trenton Transit Station. This exciting opportunity is accepting proposals from adult visual artists who live or work in Central New Jersey (Counties of Mercer, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Somerset, Union, and Hunterdon). Qualified artists are encouraged to submit their work and a brief narrative proposal for updating the bike racks at the NJ Transit Trenton Transit Station. The selected artist will be engaged to re-craft the existing bike racks through either durable sculpture additions, or painting. Learn more here.
Deadline: March 31 Looking for a fun summer job? Apply now to be a counselor for our summer camp program! Visual and Performing Arts camps will be offered to children grades K-7 in full-day, one-week sessions from June 28- August 27. Camp counselors serve as classroom aides and help ensure that campers have a positive and safe camp experience during our arts camps. Learn how to apply here.
Deadline: April 8 Soho Photo Gallery is pleased to announce the 23rd International Krappy Kamera Competition. Located in lower Manhattan, SPG is New York City’s longest running co-operative photography gallery. This year because of the pandemic the winning work will be shown on the SPG website from July 16th to August 8th, 2021, not in the gallery. The opening reception will be held on Zoom on Wednesday, July 21st with our juror Ann Jashad. All work will be permanently archived on our website. Learn more here.
Deadline: April 10 Seeking all mediums for Alexandria Museum of Art’s 34th September Competition. All artists over the age of 18 – working in any medium – are eligible. All work must be original and must have been completed in the last two years (2019 or later). AMoA encourages artists working in video and other experimental media to submit entries for judging. Learn more here.
Deadline: April 13 The competition is open for Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain, Portugal, the Latin American diaspora, and foreign artists living and working in any of the above regions/countries. All Latin American artists above the age of 18 are eligible to participate. Painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, digital, printing, and mixed media are eligible. For more information, click here.
Deadline: May 7 The Virginia Beach Art Center presents a showcase of water-related artwork from the Mid-Atlantic states. Artists from South Carolina to Pennsylvania are invited to show explore our relationship to water through visual media. From a single drop to mighty oceans, from rising mists to stormy skies, water is all around us – and up to 78% of our bodies! Learn more here.
Deadline: August 25 Artists who live or work in Virginia, Maryland, or the District of Columbia may submit a proposal for a solo show. A group of artists who live or work in the area may submit a proposal for a group show. A curator, living or working anywhere, may submit a proposal for a show featuring works by artists living or working in this area. For more information, click here.
Deadline: April 28 The VSA (Very Special Arts) Emerging Young Artists Program amplifies the voices of visual artists with disabilities through career development and professional empowerment. The competition seeks excellent work from emerging artists with disabilities, ages 16-25, residing in the United States. Fifteen winning artists are selected by jury. Grand Prize is $20,000, First Prize is $10,000, Second Prize is $6,000, and the remaining Awards of Excellence are $2,000 each. For winning artists, one of the submitted artworks will be selected for a national exhibition. Artists participate in professional development activities provided by the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Learn more here.
Deadline: July 18 The Exhibitions Committee of the Rehoboth Art League is in the process of organizing solo and group exhibitions for 2022. This is a very competitive program as RAL can only accept a limited number of proposals each year. Artworks in any media will be reviewed. The RAL is situated in the town of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, a highly traveled area not only by the residents of this and the expanding surrounding communities, but also by art patrons from the Washington DC, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New York metropolitan areas. Over 29,000 people participate in Rehoboth Art League programs annually. Special exhibitions have played an important part of our programming since the league’s beginning, in 1938. The RAL campus houses the Corkran,Tubbs, Ventures, and Homestead galleries. For more information and to apply, click here.
Deadline: August 25, 2021 Artists who live or work in Virginia, Maryland, or the District of Columbia may submit a proposal for a solo show. A group of artists who live or work in the area may submit a proposal for a group show. A curator, living or working anywhere, may submit a proposal for a show featuring works by artists living or working in this area. For more information, click here.
Links Bridge Vineyards, a small artisan style winery located just outside of Frederick, Maryland, is looking to feature the artwork of various artists on the walls of their tasting barn for two weeks at a time. To learn more, call Joan Cartier 301-602-5733 or email her at [email protected].
Pyramid Atlantic offers year-round workshops in printmaking, papermaking, book arts, and hybrids thereof. We offer multi-week, daytime, evening, and weekend intensives for adults in our fully equipped studios. As part of a robust and diverse schedule of offerings, we welcome unsolicited workshop proposals, and hope that you will consider applying! Workshop proposal reviews are ongoing, but for best consideration, submit class proposals by the following dates: 1/15 for Summer Workshops; 4/1 for Fall Workshops; 7/1 for Winter Workshops; 10/1 for Spring Workshops. Questions? Email Gretchen, Artistic Director, [email protected]
2020 has been dedicated to the Year of the Woman in Maryland. Do you have an inspiring story about vital contributions of women-identifying people who are artists, arts administrators, or cultural workers? Perhaps an exhibition, performance or project featuring women? Share it with the Maryland State Arts Council for potential use in marketing and communications! Send your ideas to [email protected], and include “Year of the Woman” in the subject line. Satff will contact senders whose stories are selected for inclusion in future newsletters, eblasts, or social media postings. Learn more about Maryland’s year of the Woman here.
Busboys and Poets is looking for submissions from Maryland and Virginia artists as it expands to new locations in both areas. Submissions can include drawings, painting, photography, sculpture, mixed media, assemblage, fiber, quilts, etc. Art images reflecting life in the city, family, portraits, whimsy, abstraction, social uplift and life experiences within diverse cultures are encouraged for submission. For more information, click here.
This residency was designed to give emerging contemporary artists an online platform to create new work and explore their practice. Over the course of four weeks, artists will be encouraged to experiment and explore their concepts and move their work forward in the contemporary art world. Learn more here.
The Alper Initiative for Washington Art features five exhibitions per year in the newly constructed first floor space in the American University Museum. We accept submissions, on a rolling basis, from Washington artists of all ages and backgrounds, and working in diverse media. The museum’s Director and Curator, Jack Rasmussen, will select curators who will review these submissions for potential use in Alper Initiative exhibitions. For more information click here.
The Hamilton Arts Collective (HAC) and the Hamilton Gallery seek applications from artists for month-long Guest Artist exhibitions at Hamilton Gallery located at 5502 Harford Road, Baltimore, MD. The selected guest artists will be invited to exhibit a selection of their current work in Gallery I of the Hamilton Gallery. The Guest Artist exhibition is featured in Hamilton Gallery communications and will be promoted by the HAC and Hamilton Gallery. This is an open call to artists residing within 60 miles of Baltimore City. Baltimore residents are encouraged to apply. Click here to learn more.
The Howard County Arts Council gallery program was established to enhance the public’s appreciation of the visual arts, provide a venue to exhibit the work of local, regional, and national artists in a professional space, and provide leadership in the arts by presenting a broad spectrum of arts in all media from both emerging and established artists. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group. Proposals from curators and arts organizations are also welcome. Click here to learn more.
The Maryland Art Place (MAP) is working with Hotel Indigo in downtown Baltimore to offer rotating exhibitions in the hotel’s library and Poets Modern Cocktails and Eats restaurant. This opportunity is open to visual artists living or working in Maryland. ’s public art partnership projects (MAP), in partnership with Hotel Indigo, is pleased to announce an open call to artists. MAP will curate four exhibitions a year based on submissions entered through a rolling basis. Click here to learn more.
The Athenaeum Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia exhibits visual arts created solely by artists living or working in the region (DC, Maryland and Virginia) and strives to present visitors with a wide variety of excellent art and unique experiences. In addition to the shows curated by the Gallery Director, the Athenaeum Gallery invites artists and curators to submit show proposals. For more information, click here.
Deadline: Rolling. The purpose of the Creativity Grant Program is to strengthen the vitality and sustainability of artists and small organizations to maintain a strong and stable arts infrastructure in the State of Maryland. The Creativity Grant also provides opportunities to serve the growing needs of relevant arts projects and collaborations within Maryland communities. For more information regarding eligibility and funding timelines, please review the Creativity Grants Guidelines. For more information about the program, and to apply visit the Creativity Grant Program State of Maryland website.
Deadline: Rolling. Submit original works of art inspired by, but not necessarily representative of, an academic medicine experience from any perspective: caregiver, researcher, teacher, learner, or patient (for example, learning how to be a physician or scientist, caring for patients, exploring research questions, making a new discovery, being a research participant, teaching, or being cared for in a teaching hospital). The journal welcomes photography, sculpture, painting, textile work, and other visual media. Images may be cropped or resized to fit into the allotted cover space. Artists must also submit a related Cover Art essay as a narrative companion to the artwork, to explain the connection between the work and the “academic medicine experience.” The related narrative should be 250 to 600 words and is subject to editing. To apply for this opportunity, and to learn more, visit the Academic Medicine website.
Deadline: Open. The Awesome Foundation for the Arts and Sciences is a worldwide network of people devoted to forwarding the interest of “awesomeness in the universe.” Established in 2009, the foundation distributes $1,000 grants on a monthly basis to projects and their creators. The money is pooled from ten or more self-organizing “micro-trustees.” The chapters are autonomous and organized by the trustees around geographic areas or topics of interest. Apply on the Awesome Foundation website.
Deadline: rolling. Maryland Art Place (MAP), in partnership with Hotel Indigo is pleased to announce an open ‘Call to Artists’. As an extension of MAP’s annual IMPACT public art partnership projects, MAP is working with Hotel Indigo to offer rotating exhibitions in Hotel indigo’s library and Poets Modern Cocktails and Eats. This opportunity is available to visual artists living or working in Maryland. Maryland Art Place will curate four exhibitions a year based on submissions entered through a rolling basis. Guidelines and information here.
Deadline: Rolling. Peripheral ARTeries is looking for artists to be featured in the new special Biennial Edition of their art publication, that comes to its 10th edition. This opportunity is great for both established and early career artists who need a boost to their artist portfolio. The 10th edition will once again explore and show current trends and tendencies in Contemporary Art: Peripheral ARTeries cultivates a spirit of openness through a unique collaborative and participatory approach.Each artist may submit a maximum of three works or projects made in any technique: painting, drawing, video art, experimental cinema, fine art photography, experimental media, mixed media, installations, public art, performance. The call is open to all proposed kind of art and media capable of challenging the viewers’ traditional perspective on art itself. To submit, visit the Peripheral ARTeries website.
Artists works will displayed in the hotel’s gallery (220 S Union St, Old Town Alexandria) for a six-month period. Two-dimensional, framed works only. Artists will install the work using the hotel’s mounting hardware. Labels will be provided by the hotel. All sales handled by artist, no commission. Preference for local or locally influenced selections but not required. The space measures approximately 7’10” by 8’3.″ If interested, contact Kate Ellis, General Manager, [email protected].
Ongoing. Located in Studio 8, the New Project Studio is a community-focused arts incubator space that offers a short-term location to test new program ideas, spotlight underrepresented voices, and enhance community engagement. Projects rotate on a regular basis. For more information, click here.
Ongoing. The City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts provides grants for nonprofit arts organizations as well as individual artists. See all current opportunities and online applications here.
Deadline: ongoing. Montgomery College, Rockville and Germantown Art Department is seeking proposals for its Artist-in-Residence Program, encouraging proposals that cultivate collaborative work between artists and students.
Deadline: ongoing. Foundry Gallery is seeking a few artists in the greater Washington, DC area. If interested in applying for membership please send up to five images (jpg attachments) and an email letter to: [email protected]. The oldest cooperative in Washington, the gallery holds monthly solo and members’ group shows at its beautiful space north of Shaw near the 9:30 Club.
Deadline: ongoing. Washington Printmakers Gallery is seeking artist members specializing in printmaking, photography and book arts. An active cooperative for over 30 years, the gallery holds monthly solo and members’ group shows in its lovely space in upper Georgetown. Distant and shared memberships are available. If interested in applying for membership please email [email protected].
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