No matter where you are in your creative career, from emerging, to mid-career or even as an established professional artist, a call for arts is integral to anyone no matter where they are in their career. It allows individuals to located potential opportunities, new venues and galleries and ways to exhibit their work.
Typically a call for art and call for artists are very similar. They both usually are looking for visual artists / art work for presentation. The person posting the call is seeking artists to create specific artwork, or existing artwork for a forthcoming exhibition, gallery opening or fair.
When reading these art calls, there are several details that everyone should look at to determine which calls are suitable for them and their work.
Deadlines. All art calls will typically have a deadline for when artists can submit their work. When looking at a deadline, be sure to adjust for any work that needs to be shipped, mailed or delivered in some form. If you are shipping any work, it is highly recommended that you insure the package.
Large scale works may need to be crated – delivered in a crate box, which is significantly more expensive to ship.
An example of crates used to ship art
Venue. Various different individuals or organizations can create a call for arts – galleries, fairs, museums, cities, or even private individuals.
When viewing a call, it is important to understand where you work will be presented in. Some work is not suitable for all types of venues, and vice versa. As a painter, an outdoor exhibition presents potential problems such as displaying your work (wall space). Even technical logistics such as power sources, table space and weather are all potential factors to be considered.
If a business is posting a call, it is important to understand whether your work will be insured while in their possession or if damaged.
It’s also important to understand the demographics of the business as well. A landscape painter may not necessarily do well, or be interested in exhibiting in a gallery that is known for street artists. Although it is not unheard of, but one should be prepared and not let their expectations get the best of them.
If the venue is tied to a fair, there should be information on expected number of visitors, location and additional costs, if any. Most fairs will assign individuals a space for use. There are typically additional rules as far as what is allowed within the space limitations (wall height is a common rule).
Exhibition Dates. Some art calls require that an artist is present for the opening of an exhibit. Additionally the planning for any artwork that is unsold, or was only for display needs to be planned for – whether picking up, shipping or other. The exhibition date is also essentially for some individuals to place in their CV (curriculum vitae).
Submission rules. The most important and often overlooked and not followed part of the process.
When responding to a call and submitting an application, it is essential to follow the steps outlined. Many individuals or organizations will not accept or review an application if not submitted correctly. Some places have specific rules about how many pieces of work to submit, how to name the files and additional information required such as artist statement, bio, CV or even portfolio.
Some art calls also have submission fees. We won’t get into whether fees are appropriate or not, as they’ve been discussed many times over, but all artist should plan accordingly and have a budget to accommodate such a fee should there be one.
Depending on the venue, there will also be additional rules as to when work can be dropped off / delivered and then picked up. In some cases work needs to be pick up immediately after the end of an exhibition, sometimes some businesses want to keep certain works for longer if there is positive reception from the audience.
Eligibility. Some posts have specific requirements for eligibility. Most common are either age, career position (emerging artist, mid-career artist or professional artist).
Other art calls may require citizens or residents of a certain area to only submit. This is especially common for call for artists for public works, where the local government is looking for resident artists to display.
Some art calls are open internationally, but present a logistic dilemma as artist will have to worry about shipping, insurance and potential travel expenses.
Theme. Many art calls have an overall theme and looking for works of art within that theme.
Black and white, new works, figurative works are all common themes that someone is looking for. You should make sure that your work fits the overall theme, and eligibility before continuing to submit an application.
Additional details. Knowing whether a show or exhibit is curated is a vital detail as participation adds more weight in your CV and experience.
There may be additional fees, such as commission if a work of art is sold. Understanding what these fees are, if any, can help you plan accordingly and price your artwork effectively.
Understanding the organization / business that is posting the call is also essential in determining whether your work is appropriate or will be beneficial to you and your career.
Finding out how the business or organization plans to market the event is also vital. It helps us gauge potential traffic and how many people our work will be visible to. This is extremely important when two exhibitions potentially overlap and a decision needs to be made whether participate in one or the other.
A call for entry is a broader term and can relate to submissions beyond the visual arts. It is any submission process that allows for participants to submit an application to be reviewed, whether for an award, prizes or other considerations. Call for entries exist for everything from commercials, to films, to even products. They can include disciplines in the applied arts, performing arts, literary arts or even multidisciplinary art forms, or other fields outside of these.
A casting call, on the other hand is directly attributed to those in acting or performance.
Though these are merely suggestions, callforarts.org strongly recommends that individuals perform their own due diligence about each call and perhaps an attorney if needed to fully understand the responsibilities and expectations for any call. Many of our art calls are submitted by others and we are unable to verify the legitimacy or exact details of each call when posted.