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.
Opportunities
Call for Artists, Target Gallery – Alexandria, VA
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. Learn more here.
Global Peace Photo Award 2021
Deadline: June 6 The Global Peace Photo Award recognizes and promotes photographers from all over the world whose pictures capture human efforts towards a peaceful world and the quest for beauty and goodness in our lives. The award goes to those photographs that best express the idea that our future lies in peaceful coexistence. No Entry Fee. For details click here.
Innovative Grants for Artists and Photographers
Deadline: June 10 Innovate Grants support artists and photographers through quarterly grants. We believe that new ideas come from sparks of inspiration and aim to provide just that, access to small and mighty bursts of financial support so that you can focus on making your important and innovative work. Apply to the Spring Cycle here.
Call to Artists, Contemporary Art Gallery Online International All Abstraction Competition – Virtual
Deadline: June 13 Contemporary Art Gallery Online encourages entries from all 2D and 3D artists regardless of their experience and/or education in the art field or where they may reside. This is an international competition and everyone is encouraged to participate. A group exhibition of all entrants will be held online at the Contemporary Art Gallery Online following the close of the competition for thirty days. Learn more here.
Call for Submissions, MPArtfest 2021 — McLean, VA
Deadline: June 15 MPA is currently seeking submissions for our 15th annual MPAartfest, a one-day juried fine art and craft show and sale in McLean Central Park. Accepted Artists will be provided one tent in McLean Park on October 3rd as well as a virtual online profile on the MPAartfest website. Learn more here.
Call for Entry, Black and White, Colors of Humanity Art Gallery – Virtual
Deadline: June 15 Sometimes a monochrome pallet can say more than a full spectrum of color and creates a striking contrast. We would like to see your work that is composed of black, white, and shades in between. Cash prizes will be given. Additionally, the “Best of Show” winner will be featured. His or her artwork will be on the cover of the show and it will be largely displayed with an article about them and their work. Other winners will be featured and have similar recognition. Learn more here.
Torpedo Factory Artists Open Call Regional Painting Competition – Alexandria, VA
Deadline: June 28 The Torpedo Factory Artists Association’s Regional Painting Competition is open to 2D artists residing or working in Virginia, Washington DC, Maryland, West Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania working in watercolor, oil, ink, gouache, acrylic, encaustic and mixed media. Monetary prizes will be awarded. Learn more and submit artwork here.
Call for Artists, Hypotheses at Target Gallery – Alexandria, VA
Deadline: June 30 Target Gallery invites artists working in all visual arts to apply for the upcoming group exhibition “Hypotheses”. This exhibition is all about the process of intellectual experimentation and/or the exploration of new ideas and techniques in an artist’s practice. The goal of this theme is to create a dialogue of work in conversation with each other about embarking outside one’s traditional boundaries of understanding. Whether it be based in cerebral or scientific research or experimenting with a new technique or conceptual idea, each work in the exhibition will embody this concept of questioning and discovery. Learn more here.
Call for Artists, D.C. Public Library – D.C.
Deadline: June 30 The District of Columbia Public Library is looking for artists, designers, and art/design teams to design of a permanent work of public art for the interior of the children’s area in the newly constructed Southwest Neighborhood Library, located at 900 Wesley Place, SW. For more information, click here.
Call for Entry, Strange Figurations Presented by SlowArt Productions – Hudson, NY
Deadline: June 30 This competition is open to all artists, national and international, working in all media. All forms of painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, graphics, digital and installation art, video, etc. are eligible. Winning artists will be featured in a group exhibition at the Limner Gallery, October 14 – November 6, 2021. The exhibition will also be displayed on the Limner Gallery web site and promoted on social media. For more information, click here.
Call for Entries, Falls Church Arts – Falls Church, VA
Deadline: July 4 Falls Church Arts is accepting submissions for A Year Apart: Art Created in Isolation, an all-media exhibit of art created during and inspired by the pandemic that will be on view from July 31 to September 12. For more information, click here.
Call for Artists, Essex Gateway Sculpture Artwork – Middle River, MD
Deadline: August 9 Any and all Maryland artists are invited to submit work for the new Essex Gateway Sculpture, a public outdoor display featured at the entrance to the new Essex Gateway Park. This sculpture will be viewed by over 30,000 people who drive through Essex daily, and it will be the centerpiece to the new public space. The chosen work will be displayed in the four panels of the sculpture. All works submitted will be exhibited in a curated show and press event at the Heritage Society of Essex and Middle River. For more information, click here.
Re-runs: These were previously posted, but it’s not too late to enter!
Bookmaking Associate Wanted, Pyramid Atlantic Art Center — Hyattsville, MD
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.
Call for Entry, A Year In, Target Gallery — Alexandria, VA
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.
Call for Submissions, Ceramics – Rockville, MD
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.
Call for Entry, Artina 2021: Balancing Acts, Washington Sculptors Group — DC
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.
Request for Proposals 2022, Glen Echo Park Partnership Gallery — Glen Echo, MD
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.
Get Out(side), a Regional Juried Exhibition, Liberty Town Arts Workshop — Fredericksburg, VA
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.
Regional Call for Entry, Artists Choice 2021, Foundry Gallery — DC
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.
Call for Entry, 2021 Art Ability at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital — Malvern, PA
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.
Call for Solo Exhibitions 2022, VisArts – Rockville, MD
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.
Call for Proposals, 2022 Rehoboth Art League Solo and Group Exhibitions – Rehoboth Beach, DE
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.
Call for Entry, 121st International Exhibition of Works on Paper — Wallingford, PA
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.
Call for Entry, The 2021 Athenaeum Open ART OPTIMISM Focus on Climate Change/Sustainability — Alexandria
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.
Call For Entries, Athenaeum Gallery – Alexandria, VA
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.
Ongoing: These opportunities have rolling deadlines.
Call for Art, Links Bridge Vineyards—Thurmont, MD
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 Workshop Proposals – Hyattsville, MD
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]
Call For Stories About Women in the Arts, Maryland State Arts Council
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.
Call For Artists, Busboys and Poets
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.
Alterwork Studios Online Residency
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.
Accepting Artwork for Curatorial Review by AIWA
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.
Call For Entry Hamilton Arts Collective Guest Artist Exhibition – Baltimore, MD
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.
Howard County Arts Council Quarterly Call For Artists – Ellicott City, MD
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.
Exhibit at Hotel Indigo Downtown Baltimore — Baltimore, MD
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.
Solo or Group Shows in Athenaeum Gallery – VA
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.
The Creativity Grant Program State of Maryland (MD)
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.
Artist/Writers: Cover Art for Academic Medicine
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.
The Awesome Foundation Accepting Applications for Art Projects
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.
Call for Artists: Maryland Art Place Seeks Proposals for Rotating Exhibition Partnership with Baltimore’s Hotel Indigo (MD)
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.
Peripheral ARTeries – Biennial Contemporary Art Publication
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.
Exhibit at Hotel Indigo (VA)
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].
The New Project Studio – Ongoing Opportunity (VA)
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.
Public Arts Grants & Opportunities (VA)
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.
Residency: Maryland
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.
Looking for artists: Foundry Gallery (DC)
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.
Looking for artists: Printmakers (DC)
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].
