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: 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, open to all ceramic artists 18 years and older. For more information, click here.
Deadline: June 13 The world is out of kilter, with natural as well as social systems listing to extremes. What we need, we say, is balance; balance must be restored. But what do we mean by balance? This sculpture show is about expanding and reimagining the idea of balance. For more information, click here.
Deadline: June 30 This month-long group show at the Foundry’s industrial-style space in Washington, DC is open to painting, drawing, mixed media and photography by artists age 18 and up in the greater Washington area (you have to be close enough to deliver your work). One of Washington’s premier contemporary galleries, the Foundry promotes the work of emerging and accomplished regional artists. Learn more here.
Deadline: August 25: The Athenaeum Gallery invites DC, Virginia, and Maryland artists to explore concepts related to climate change. We are looking for a wide variety of topics and perspectives, but all work accepted into the exhibition will have a common leitmotif: optimism for improving our footprint on the planet. Works will inspire rather than threaten, celebrate rather than scare, and explore new materials and techniques that help present a positive message about climate change and productive ways we can meet the associated challenges. Click here to learn more.
Deadline: Until filled This Artistic Associate position offers a unique opportunity to engage with Pyramid’s creative community, and work alongside professionals in a sharing/collaborative environment. In exchange for 12 volunteer hours a month (10 onsite, 2 offsite), the Bookmaking Associate will have 24 hour access to studios and equipment and receive a 40% discount on most workshops. The Bookmaking Associate also has the opportunity to teach classes, assist or collaborate with resident artists, and submit artwork for consideration to sell in the Pyramid Atlantic shop. Apply here.
Deadline: May 11 Artists from antiquity forward have drawn inspiration from the landscape. The growth of cities, modern forms of transportation, and a seemingly ever-growing division between humanity and the natural world, as well as the inventions of portable paints, photography, and video, revolutionized the genre. Changes to the environment, both locally and globally, move at a rapid pace, and will no doubt continue to revolutionize the artist’s relationship landscape. Site:Brooklyn is calling for works that engage, across all mediums and techniques, with the natural landscapes and built environments. Click here to enter.
Deadline: May 15 The Foundation Art Festival is one of the biggest events on Long Beach Island, a vibrant arts community with patrons, collectors and visitors from across the country. As a beautiful summer resort community, the LBIF draws visitors from the New York, North Jersey, Philadelphia, Baltimore, the Washington, DC areas, and beyond. We are looking for artists who create handmade, original work. Seasoned or new artisans that create unique, high quality handmade products are encouraged to apply. However, we are open to products that are designed by the artist & produced in small quantities within the continental U.S. All mediums are welcome. Click here or more information.
Deadline: May 15 Creating copies of masterworks as a learning experience is a time-honored tradition in the art world, and a serious endeavor for artists at all professional levels. Reinterpreting a masterwork is another strong tradition, as artists transform the way we see or understand the work by using different mediums, altering compositions, or riffing on a work from a satiric or humorous point of view. This exhibit invites entries in both categories: Master Copies and Inspiring Interpretations. We envision a show of skilled copies and fun re-imaginings that will amaze and entertain a wide audience. For more information, click here.
Deadline: May 15 The GRASP Lab at The School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Weitzman School of Design invite you to apply for a four week residency program that will bring together faculty and students to explore the use of robotic technologies in addressing contemporary social, cultural, and environmental challenges. Three artists, designers, engineers or creatives from any discipline will spend four weeks at the GRASP Lab at PERCH, during which each will develop a creative project with resources offered by PERCH and the Department of Fine Arts and Design. Learn more here.
Deadline: May 16 We are pleased to announce the sixth “Plein Air Plus” Competition and Exhibition on Long Beach Island, New Jersey. The juror, will pick approximately 40 artists to participate in the Paint Out on Long Beach Island during July and August. The accepted artists will exhibit the paintings created in the LBI Paint Out in the “Island Life” exhibition scheduled for September through October. Long Beach Island has a vibrant artist community and is a vacation destination which draws its audience of collectors, supporters of the arts and artists from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, DC and beyond. For more information, click here.
Deadline: May 16 Paperworks 2021 is an international, juried competition for artists
creating work on, with, or about paper. Works made on paper, of paper, or about paper: cut paper, folded paper, woven paper, glued paper, drawings, paintings, pastels, printmaking, photographs, paper sculpture, 3D, bound books, collage, mixed media, video, and installation will be accepted. Selected artists will have up to six pieces included in a one month, online exhibition on the B.J. Spoke Gallery website in August 2021. Work will also be promoted on the gallery’s social media accounts. Awards will be given to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place artists. Learn more here.
Deadline: May 18 The MVA Gallery (Modern Visual Arts) invites artists and photographers of all levels (emerging to established) to submit original 2D artwork to the “Self – Expression” exhibition. This is an open theme Call. All subject matter and styles will be considered. The following mediums will be accepted: paintings, watercolors, prints, drawings and photographs. Let’s see your creative interpretations and personal visions. For more information, click here.
Deadline: May 19 The Locust Grove Estate is partnering with Barrett Art Center to announce four Solo Show opportunities in 2022-2023. Each 10-12 week show presents artists with the opportunity to present a solo show of 20-30 artworks in the Transverse Gallery in the Visitor Center at Locust Grove, a National Historic Landmark museum, education center, and nature preserve which attracts over 90,000 visitors annually. for more information, click here.
Deadline: May 21 Frame & Frequency is an ongoing International Film & Video Art Screening Series presented by VisArts located in Rockville, Maryland (just outside of Washington DC) that highlights artists whose new media, experimental film, and video works explore contemporary visual culture, and presents an intimate panorama of the variety and breadth of video art in artistic practice today. Frame & Frequency aims to present a diverse group of artists representing multi-generational and cultural backgrounds, nationalities and personal histories, while demonstrating the artists’ impressive command of video and new media technologies. Click here and scroll down to learn more.
Deadline: May 22 Vestige Concept Gallery Presents: Backroads: Art Less-Travelled. This exhibit seeks to showcase works of art that venture off the beaten path, especially with regard to travel. Artwork could include places or experiences involving hidden gems, special or unusual places, wanderings, odd travel, strange encounters, and/or “lost” and fading places. We are seeking artwork of any kind, from Emerging, Mid-Career, and/or Professional Artists. Work should somehow relate to the theme of the show. To enter, click here.
Deadline: May 24 A Taste of Home is a ceramic cup show celebrating and exploring our relationship to the meaning of “home.” In the past year, our homes have been transformed into new environments with new narratives and language. Working from home, remote learning, home studio practice, isolation, virtual socializing, economic impact, and/or watching social justice events unfold across the United States in a tumultuous election year are just some of the ways the home landscape has been changed. For some, the home landscape has changed forever. We ask artists to present ceramic cups or drinking vessels that reflect their relationship to the meaning of home, whether presented as a humble but favored object, vehicle of expression, or object of desire. 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: May 26 During this four-week, project-driven artist residency with Kolaj Institute, collage artists work together to create a series of collages that illustrate Eleanor H. Porter’s 1918 novel, Oh, Money! Money!. The result will be a book published by Kolaj Institute. The residency is being done in conjunction with “The Money $how” at Saint Kate – The Arts Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The book will be released at an event in July. For more information, click here.
Deadline: May 28 Presented by The State Museum of Pennsylvania in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Heritage Foundation, the 54th Art of the State exhibition will offer cash awards for selected entries in the categories of painting, work on paper, photography and digital media, sculpture and craft. It open to Pennsylvania artists and craftspeople. Learn more here.
Deadline: May 30 The annual Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival is a competitive, juried event that is consistently rated as one of the best outdoor art festivals in the country, both for the quality of the artwork presented and for its exceptional artist hospitality. For more information, click here.
Deadline: May 31 Applications for the MASB Artist Travel Prize are now available. The sixth edition of the MASB Artist Travel Prize awards $6,000 to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living in Baltimore City, to be used as funding for travel essential to studio practice. For more information, click here.
Deadline: May 31 Accepted work will be reproduced in the 2021 competition issue of The Photo Review, a critical journal of photography with an international scope and readership, and on The Photo Review website. Prizewinners will be exhibited at the Philadelphia Photo Arts Center. Editor’s selections will be exhibited in several Photo Review web galleries. Over $4,000 worth of prizes will be awarded, including a $500 purchase prize for inclusion in the Haverford College Photography Collection, one of the largest and most comprehensive college photography collections in the United States. For more information, click here.
Deadline: May 31 2020 of all years made our appreciation of our pets grow ever stronger. They were there to cuddle us when we were lonely, to push us out the door for walks when we felt sluggish. They entertained us running around their cages and through our house with balls. They chase away our blues and malaise with their love of us. We want to see all of your best animal companions in this show, be they small as mouse, or large as a horse. All artists age 16 and older, working in any media, may apply to this show. Learn more here.
Deadline: June 1 The goal of Idaherma Museum of Art Foundation is to discover and promote artists worldwide. This will be an online exhibition at the Idaherma Foundation and we are seeking creative artists who do original works on paper not done in any class or with any instructor within the last three years. For more information, click here.
Deadline: June 1 Atlantic Gallery is seeking works from this past year (2020-21) that inspire and embrace the spirit of rebuilding, renewal and resiliency. Submissions must utilize cold wax, encaustic, or both, in two dimensional or three-dimensional works. One artist will be chosen for the grand-prize of a weeklong solo show at Atlantic Gallery. For more information, click here.
Deadline: June 4 Target Gallery invites artists working in all visual arts to apply for the upcoming group exhibition “A Year In”. As we have now past the one-year mark of COVID-19 shut-downs in the United States, this exhibition will provide a catharsis, for artists and viewers alike, to take in and share in works that highlight the very specific reality that we are now in. This also provides an opportunity for artists to come together and share their experiences about how this year has changed, shifted, or influenced their artist practice. All submitted works should be connected to current events that have happened since March of 2020. For more information, click here.
Deadline: June 7 VisArts invites artists working in the expanded field of ceramics to apply for “This Moment of Rupture,” a juried national survey of contemporary ceramics. We are seeking artists who work in an expansive variety of media but that all incorporate ceramics in some way, be it with traditional methods, or with processes such as 3d printing, or as a part of performance art, mixed media and more. Artists may submit up to 3 works for consideration. Click here and scroll down to learn more.
Deadline: June 28 The Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture requests proposals from individuals, groups of artists or curators to present exhibitions in the Popcorn Gallery, Stone Tower Gallery and Park View Gallery venues at Glen Echo Park for the calendar year 2022. For more information, click here.
Deadline: June 28 As the weather warms, now is the perfect time to celebrate the joy of the outdoors in our little corner of the world. Fredericksburg, and Virginia as a whole, has extraordinary pockets of beauty to explore. We want to see the art inspired by your wanderings into nature in Virginia. For more information, click here.
Deadline: July 6 The Annual Art Ability Exhibition and Sale at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital is open to artists with physical, cognitive, visual and /or hearing disabilities. Paintings, drawings, fine printmaking, photography, mixed media, sculpture, jewelry and fine crafts accepted. All pieces must be available for sale and ready for display. Original work only, no reproductions will be accepted. Learn more here.
Deadline: July 9 VisArts invites artists working in all media to apply for 2022 Solo Exhibitions in the Gibbs Street Gallery, Common Ground Gallery, and Concourse Gallery. Exhibitions in each of the galleries explore the breadth of contemporary art featuring emerging to mid-career artists. Exhibits reflect a wide range of media and experimental approaches that offer the viewer unexpected interactions with art. Click here and scroll down to learn more.
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 3 This is a prestigious exhibit that has been held by the Philadelphia Water Color Society every year since 1900. There are over $10,000.00 in prizes including the $2,000 PWCS Award of Excellence. This exhibit is open to both PWCS members and nonmembers. For more information, 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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