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.
New Opportunities
MoCA Arlington, Assembly 2026: Independent Curator Request for Proposals — Arlington, VA
Deadline: May 15 With an eye towards the 250th birthday of the United States, MoCA Arlington’s 2026 biennial will focus on the current practices of contemporary artists who live and work in the regions that made up the original thirteen colonies: Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia as well as Washington, DC. The museum is seeking proposals from independent curators based in these states for exhibitions that explore current material and conceptual trends within contemporary art. Click here for details.
Call for Art, Stamp Gallery Basement Exhibition — College Park, MD
Deadline: May 17 The Stamp Gallery invites all artists to submit their work for consideration for Basement, a Summer exhibition curated by Sydney Feurer, UMD ‘29. Basement is an exhibition that celebrates the hidden lives of the strangers we take for granted. All artists are welcome to apply, regardless of their affiliation or lack thereof with the University of Maryland. Click here for details.
Call for Muralists, Leesburg Executive Airport — Leesburg, VA
Deadline: May 29 The Town of Leesburg is seeking design submissions from artists and artist teams for the first mural in a planned series of aviation-themed public artworks at Leesburg Executive Airport. The series will eventually span multiple hangars, with each mural representing a stage in the aviation journey, from the spark of inspiration to the promise of innovation. Click here for details.
Re-runs: These were previously posted, but it’s not too late to enter!
Call for Entries, Mid-Atlantic New Painting 2026 — Fredericksburg, VA
Deadline: May 15 The University of Mary Washington Galleries is now accepting submissions for our upcoming juried exhibition, the 2026 Mid-Atlantic New Painting Biennial. This biannual celebration of contemporary painting showcases artists from Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Begun in 1997, MANP is celebrating its thirteenth iteration. Click here for details.
Call for Entries, International Nature Photography Competition & Exhibition — Cumberland, MD
Deadline: May 15 The International Nature Photography Competition & Exhibition celebrates outstanding nature photography—plants and animals, landscapes, and conservation storytelling—from photographers worldwide. Images accepted for exhibition will be presented in a professionally curated, in-person gallery exhibition in Cumberland, Maryland, a growing arts destination in the heart of the central Appalachians and within easy reach of Washington, DC, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh. Awards total $5,000 in prize money, plus a $500 conservation cause award to a conservation organization chosen by the Conservation Storytelling award winner. Click here for details.
Call for Proposals, Riverviews Artspace 2027 Exhibition Season — Lynchburg, VA
Deadline: May 20 Riverviews Artspace in downtown Lynchburg, Virginia, is currently accepting proposals for our 2027 exhibition season. This is an open call. We welcome submissions from emerging and established artists at all career stages, working in any and all media, as individuals or as groups. Click here for details.
Call for Art, Rich with Love – A Decade of Remembrance at Stamp Gallery at the University of Maryland — College Park, MD
Deadline: May 25 In honor of the 10-year anniversary* of the murder of 1st Lt. Richard W. Collins III, the Bowie State University-University of Maryland Social Justice Alliance invites students, artists, faculty, staff, and community members to submit original artwork for a commemorative, community centered exhibition at the STAMP Gallery. This call seeks to honor Lt. Collins’ life, legacy, and humanity while creating space for collective reflection on love, loss, justice, belonging, and remembrance. Click here for details.
Request for 2027 Proposals, Glen Echo Park Partnership Galleries — Glen Echo, MD
Deadline: June 5 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 2027. Click here for details.
Call for Proposals, Athenaeum Solo or Group Show 2025-2026 — Alexandria, VA
Deadline: September 30 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. Click here for details.
Ongoing: These opportunities have rolling deadlines.
Studio Sundays Submissions, Create! Magazine
Every month Create! Magazine! picks several winning images of artists’ studio spaces and features them on their website and social media along with artists’ work and story. Submit a quality image of your workspace, studio or kitchen table where you make work for a chance to be featured. For more information and to submit, click here.
Call for Artists, Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council
Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council (PGAHC) is featuring county artists at its newest art space Arts’tination at National Harbor. Arts’tination is dedicated to supporting local artists and curating immersive creative experiences. PGAHC is recruiting artists to show and sell their work and/or to conduct arts related workshops for the public. Artists should submit work samples and inquiries to [email protected]. For more information please visit https://www.pgahc.org/artstination.
Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grants
These monthly grants range from $500–$3,000, with the average amount being $1,700. Visual and performing artists whose work is of a contemporary, experimental nature and who have a US Tax ID Number can apply. For more information, click here.
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 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)
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
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
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.
Maryland Art Place Seeks Proposals for Rotating Exhibition Partnership with Baltimore’s Hotel Indigo (MD)
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
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)
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)
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].
