Call For Art
Artists Call – Light Trails 2025/26
An open call for artists to propose works for major illuminated light trails across the UK and USA, including Christmas and Lightscape events at leading gardens, heritage sites, and cultural destinations.
Deadline: January 16, 2026
Deadline: 16 January 2026
Eligibility: Artists and creative practitioners interested in producing large-scale light-based artworks for outdoor trails. Open to international applicants.
About the call: An open call for artists to propose works for major illuminated light trails across the UK and USA, including Christmas and Lightscape events at leading gardens, heritage sites, and cultural destinations.
What you get: Opportunity to present work across high-profile UK and US light trails, reaching large public audiences. Selected artists will be commissioned under Culture Creative’s trail programmes.
Existing Outdoor Artwork for Light Up Kilburn 2026
Hive Curates and Camden Council invites artists, designers and architects working with outdoor light installations to submit existing artworks for Light Up Kilburn 2026. Applicants are encouraged to respond to the festival’s themes of biodiversity and women’s night-time safety, both with the aim of uniting communities. On Friday 27th and Saturday 28th of February, Light Up Kilburn 2026 will illuminate Kilburn Grange Park during some of the darkest winter nights, transforming it into a captivating immersive experience of light.
Deadline 05 January 2026
Deadline: 05 January 2026
Eligibility: Any artist with pre-existing artwork that matches the above themes, is available, is high quality and artistically innovative, and is suitable for an outdoor setting.
About the call: Hive Curates and Camden Council invites artists, designers and architects working with outdoor light installations to submit existing artworks for Light Up Kilburn 2026. Applicants are encouraged to respond to the festival’s themes of biodiversity and women’s night-time safety, both with the aim of uniting communities. On Friday 27th and Saturday 28th of February, Light Up Kilburn 2026 will illuminate Kilburn Grange Park during some of the darkest winter nights, transforming it into a captivating immersive experience of light.
What you get: There is an artist fee of £2500 (plus VAT). The fee must include hire fees, transport, install and de-install.
What Keeps Us Well? Open Call
“Woven into the days of stress, the golden threads of thankfulness.”
Inspired by A. F. Foreman’s 1921 poem, INYBB invites artists, writers, and filmmakers to explore what keeps us well.
We welcome visual art, film (up to 3 minutes), or writing (up to 500 words).
Between wandering and wondering lies opportunity—share how you navigate what keeps you well.
Deadline: January 18, 2026
Deadline: 18 January 2026
Eligibility: Open to all creatives aged 16 and over, regardless of nationality or experience. We welcome artists, writers, and filmmakers working in any medium. Submissions must be original and focused on the theme of wellbeing.
What you get: Selected applicants will have their work exhibited at the end of the project and may win a cash prize of up to £750. Other shortlisted applicants will also be featured in the exhibition.
About the call: “Woven into the days of stress, the golden threads of thankfulness.”
Inspired by A. F. Foreman’s 1921 poem, INYBB invites artists, writers, and filmmakers to explore what keeps us well.
We welcome visual art, film (up to 3 minutes), or writing (up to 500 words).
Between wandering and wondering lies opportunity—share how you navigate what keeps you well.
Creative Climate Awards 2026 - Collective Power Apr 2026 – May 2026
Our theme, Collective Power, calls on artists everywhere to explore how unity, solidarity, and shared vision fuel transformative change. Through a month-long series of public exhibitions, performances, and a film festival, the 2026 CCAs will showcase artworks that illuminate how people come together to create resilience in the face of the climate crisis. Use your creativity to celebrate collaboration, amplify frontline voices, and inspires collective action toward a more livable future.
Deadline: February 2, 2026
Deadline: 02 February 2026
Eligibility: Must be within the theme of climate change. We accept: 2D works (painting, photography, illustration, mixed media, etc.) Films (shorts and features) 3D works (sculpture, installation, environmental art) Performances (dance, theater, music, spoken word, etc.)
About the call: Our theme, Collective Power, calls on artists everywhere to explore how unity, solidarity, and shared vision fuel transformative change. Through a month-long series of public exhibitions, performances, and a film festival, the 2026 CCAs will showcase artworks that illuminate how people come together to create resilience in the face of the climate crisis. Use your creativity to celebrate collaboration, amplify frontline voices, and inspires collective action toward a more livable future.
What you get: Exhibit your work in NYC for one month, network with other artists, have your work amplified on social media and have it be seen by our judges, and through our website. There will be a cash prize for the first, second and third place winners. Several participating artists will be selected for an in-person artist residency at Foundation House in Greenwich, CT.
Lee Miller Open Call
An open call for photography and film responding to Lee Miller’s work and themes of community, resistance, surrealism, and activism. Selected works will be exhibited at Late at Tate Britain in February 2026
Deadline: January 7, 2026
Deadline: 07 January 2026
Eligibility: Women, trans+ and non-binary artists aged 16–25 who are members of Tate Collective. Open to emerging creatives working in photography or film
About the call: An open call for photography and film responding to Lee Miller’s work and themes of community, resistance, surrealism, and activism. Selected works will be exhibited at Late at Tate Britain in February 2026
What you get:
Selected works will be exhibited at Late at Tate Britain on 13 February 2026, offering public exposure within a major UK cultural institution.
Cambridge Art Association Call For Art: Blue
For 25 years, the Cambridge Art Association has hosted a fall exhibit, open to artists +18 from the New England states, centered around a color – RED or BLUE, depending on the year.
Deadline 6 February 2026
For 25 years, the Cambridge Art Association has hosted a fall exhibit, open to artists +18 from the New England states, centered around a color – RED or BLUE, depending on the year. Both the success of the exhibit series, and the challenge to participating artists, lies in channeling the varied meanings of a color like BLUE. With both positive (a blue bird sky) and negative (feeling blue), it is a color that evokes a range of emotions. BLUE is more than a color.
Past jurors for the RED & BLUE Biennials include: Joseph Ketner; Amy Sadao (Director, ICA Philadelphia); Howard Yezerski (Miller Yezerski Gallery); Carl Belz (Rose Art Museum); Jane Farver (MIT List Visual Arts Center); Vera Ingrid Grant (The Ethelbert Cooper Gallery of African & African-American Art); Nick Capasso (Fitchburg Art Museum); Sarah Montross (deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum); Dan Byers (Carpenter Center for Visual Arts); Layla Bermeo (Museum of Fine Arts, Boston); and Dina Deitsch (Tufts University Art Galleries).
Deadline: 6 February 2026
Call for Artists: Photomontage as Activist Practice
Are you an artist working with collage and/or photomontage to question or disrupt dominant narratives? We’re inviting artists who have a series of work (by which we mean 10 or more pieces) to share your work with us. Our panel of judges will select their favourite(s) and the successful applicants’ work will be featured in an online gallery on Autograph's website, and will receive a £400 fee as well as editorial support from Autograph's experienced staff.
Deadline: January 12, 2025
Deadline: 12 January 2026
Eligibility: This open call is for anyone working with collage or photomontage who wants to share their work questioning dominant narratives.
What You Get: The successful applicant/s of this open call will receive a £400 fee and an online exhibition on Autograph's website.
About the call: Are you an artist working with collage and/or photomontage to question or disrupt dominant narratives? We’re inviting artists who have a series of work (by which we mean 10 or more pieces) to share your work with us. Our panel of judges will select their favourite(s) and the successful applicants’ work will be featured in an online gallery on Autograph's website, and will receive a £400 fee as well as editorial support from Autograph's experienced staff.
Maguire Art Museum – Evolving Freedoms
How do we define freedom in the 21st century? How has the pursuit of happiness changed in the face of personal, political, and cultural transformation? This thought-provoking exhibition will bring together regional contemporary artists whose work reflects on the ever-shifting meaning of freedom in today’s world.
Evolving Freedoms invites contemporary artists to submit work that reflects on the shifting landscape of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This exhibition seeks to explore how these foundational ideals are interpreted, challenged, and reimagined through personal experience, social movements, and collective memory.
Deadline: December 22, 2025
Deadline: January 30, 2026
Submission Fee: Free
Eligibility: US Nationals - We are looking for photography and print-based works that engage critically, poetically, or personally with themes such as:
Identity and self-expression
Civil rights and social justice
Cultural heritage and collective memory
Environmental and economic freedoms
The cost and complexity of liberty
Reimagining happiness in contemporary society
Whether your work celebrates progress, confronts systems of oppression, or envisions new futures, we want to see how your creative voice contributes to the evolving conversation around freedom.
About the call: How do we define freedom in the 21st century? How has the pursuit of happiness changed in the face of personal, political, and cultural transformation? This thought-provoking exhibition will bring together regional contemporary artists whose work reflects on the ever-shifting meaning of freedom in today’s world.
Evolving Freedoms invites contemporary artists to submit work that reflects on the shifting landscape of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This exhibition seeks to explore how these foundational ideals are interpreted, challenged, and reimagined through personal experience, social movements, and collective memory.
Exhibition Dates: September 17 – December 13, 2026.
Accepting photography and print media only
Up to 10 pieces per artist may be submitted
All work must be original and completed within the past 10 years
Please include a brief artist statement (max 250 words) about how your work relates to the exhibition theme.
Chosen artists are responsible for shipping/transporting their art to and from the museum.
EMAF 2026: Call for Entries
Media artists from around the world can now enter their work to be considered for the 2026 European Media Art Festival.
Deadline: December 22, 2025
Deadline: 22 December 2025
About the call: Media artists from around the world can now enter their work to be considered for the 2026 European Media Art Festival.
Eligibility: We welcome current works in the categories Film (experimental short and feature films), Installation (installative, interactive, spatial or sculptural media art works), and Expanded (performances, live events, or workshops).
What you get: Exhibition opportunity and fees will be paid to all artists whose work is selected for the festival.
Flowing Light: Chongqing International Light Art Festival 2025
Deadline: October 8, 2025
Submission Fee: Free
Eligibility: Artists, designers, design agencies, creative agencies, universities faculties and students all over the world are welcomed. Entries should be light art works. Digital media technology, 3D Mapping animation technology can be employed to create non-interactive works.
About the call: The carrier design of the 4th Chongqing International Light Art Festival takes Sichuan opera facial masks as its stylistic element. Its structure, leveraging the unique layered lines of facial masks, enhances the visual depth of projections, expanding the expressive dimensions of digital light art for creators. It aims to deeply integrate the form and rhythm of Chongqing-style Sichuan opera with modern light art. In this feast of interwoven lights, every viewer will visually perceive the vibrant vitality of this city, stretching from the history towards the future.
What you get: Prizes range 10,000-80,000RMB and exhibition opportunity in Chongqing.
Open Call Mail Art: "Fragments of What Makes Us Alive"
Atelier Ghostbirds in Portugal invites artists, makers, and creative souls everywhere to our Mail-Art Exhibition. Send us the images, words, or objects that light up your world—and help us cover our gallery walls with the simple joys and profound treasures of life
Deadline: December 25, 2025
Deadline: 25 December 2025
About the opportunity: Atelier Ghostbirds in Portugal invites artists, makers, and creative souls everywhere to our Mail-Art Exhibition. Send us the images, words, or objects that light up your world—and help us cover our gallery walls with the simple joys and profound treasures of life
Eligibility: Artists, Maker, Crafter, and Creatives of all ages anywhere in the world
What you get: Exhibition opportunity at Atelier Ghostbirds in 2026. All the proceed will be donated to Global Fund for Human Rights
Kelly Wearstler Studio: Artist Open Call
The Kelly Wearstler studio is seeking California-based artists across all mediums to collaborate on an exciting legendary hotel project!
The Kelly Wearstler studio is seeking California-based artists across all mediums to collaborate on an exciting legendary hotel project! To submit portfolios, email artists@kellywearstler.com.
International Call for Artists - Critical Review Catalogue Publication & Online Exhibits
Deadline: Ongoing
Deadline: Ongoing
Submission Fee: Free
Online Only
About the call: Up to six best in show artists will have their work published with a critical review in the Artist Feature Catalogue. Artists participating in the online exhibit will have two works of art on display and links to their website and social media. Artists keep 100% sales of their work.
How to apply:
You can apply for the online exhibit by emailing us at curator@aedrafinearts.com
Email your resume, 3 image samples, and artist website.
Artist Feature Catalogue articles are published on our website at https://www.aedrafinearts.com/artist-feature and on our Substack page at https://aedrafinearts.substack.com
AFA does not accept applications of works made with artificial intelligence.
IHRAM Literary Magazine
We publish an ever-expanding collection of original works from lesser known and up-and-coming writers AND ARTISTS who seek to bring attention to urgent social justice issues around the world. We base our work on the values of beauty, sincerity, vulnerability, engagement and celebration of diversity. HRAM Publishes has presented work from 50 countries and 30 U.S. States.
Deadline: Ongoing
Deadline: Ongoing
Submission Fee: Free
Eligibility:
Please submit your ARTWORK, poem, short story, or essay (2500 words or less) to submit@humanrightsartmovement.org, along with the following information:
-Your full name and/or pen name.
-Your country of residence.
-A photograph of you (high-resolution with no filters)
-A brief third-person bio (2-5 sentences). If your bio includes references of your past work, feel free to provide links!
-A brief foreword to your piece, explaining your inspiration for writing the piece, background information, explanation of key characters, and any other key insight for the reader.
About the call:
We publish an ever-expanding collection of original works from lesser known and up-and-coming writers AND ARTISTS who seek to bring attention to urgent social justice issues around the world. We base our work on the values of beauty, sincerity, vulnerability, engagement and celebration of diversity. HRAM Publishes has presented work from 50 countries and 30 U.S. States.
We will be focusing on the following concerns:
FIRST AND FOURTH QUARTER: VOICE OF A REFUGEE: RESILIENCE AMIDST DISPLACEMENT.
According to the UNHCR, 117.2 million people will be forcibly displaced or stateless in 2023 — this is up nearly 100% in the past decade, and the most in recorded history. This issue will drive our literary magazine, bookending our publication year.
We are eager to publish firsthand experiences and factual, sensitive retellings of refugee experiences. We are not looking to publish fictional interpretations of the refugee experience at this time.
Themes: Journey, survival, identity, belonging, loss and resilience, hope, community, solidarity, cultural preservation, chosen family and blood relation, integration into new cultures, intersectionality, and global perspective.
SECOND QUARTER: FEMININE EMPOWERMENT.
Though women comprise more than 50% of the world's population, they only own 1% of the world's wealth. In some places, women still lack rights to own land or to inherit property, obtain access to credit, earn income, or to move up in their workplace, free from job discrimination. In legislatures around the world, women are outnumbered 4 to 1.
We are eager to publish firsthand experiences by women, factual retellings of stories told by women in the author's life, and reflections of the writer's personal experience with gendered inequality. We encourage submissions from, regardless of gender identity!
Themes: Economic empowerment, workplace equality, legal rights, women in leadership roles, educational opportunities, violence against women, health and wellbeing, comparison of historical and contemporary women's voices, solidarity, femininity, gender expression.
THIRD QUARTER: CHILDHOOD EDUCATION IN AFRICA.
Three out of four children do not attend any form of preschool in Central, West and sub-Saharan Africa. Over 20% of children between the ages of about 6 and 11 are out of school; followed by one-third of youth between the ages of about 12 and 14. Almost 60% of youth between the ages of about 15 and 17 are not in school.
We are eager to publish firsthand accounts from African Youth writers, reflections by adult writers on their youth experiences, and firsthand accounts from childhood educators, and factual retellings.
Themes: Access to education, barriers, early childhood development, childhood dreams and aspirations, value of the youth voice, role models, challenges faced by teachers.
Publish Your Creative Work in an Ivy League Magazine
The Penn Journal of Arts and Sciences (PJAS) is launching an Open Call for our upcoming issue, centered around the theme "How to Let Go." We invite submissions that explore this theme through creative articles, poetry, reviews, and art. Our goal is to provide a platform for diverse voices to express their unique perspectives on letting go, whether it be through personal experiences, philosophical reflections, or artistic interpretations.
Deadline: Ongoing
The Penn Journal of Arts and Sciences (PJAS) is launching an Open Call for our upcoming issue, centered around the theme "How to Let Go." We invite submissions that explore this theme through creative articles, poetry, reviews, and art. Our goal is to provide a platform for diverse voices to express their unique perspectives on letting go, whether it be through personal experiences, philosophical reflections, or artistic interpretations.
Award Info: Selected artists and writers will have their work featured in the Summer 2024 issue of PJAS, reaching a global audience of scholars, artists, and enthusiasts. Additionally, they will receive a certificate of recognition and a spotlight feature on our website and social media channels. Select artists will be featured on our magazine cover.
Deadline: Ongoing
Submission Fee: Free
Charles W. and Norma C. Carroll Gallery & Birke Art Gallery Artist Proposals
Marshall University’s School of Art & Design is home to two galleries: the Charles W. and Norma C. Carroll Gallery and the Birke Art Gallery. Our galleries are located in the Visual Arts Center in downtown Huntington, WV providing opportunities to view national and international artwork year round.
Deadline: Ongoing
Marshall University’s School of Art & Design is home to two galleries: the Charles W. and Norma C. Carroll Gallery and the Birke Art Gallery. Our galleries are located in the Visual Arts Center in downtown Huntington, WV providing opportunities to view national and international artwork year round.
REVIEW
Proposals are reviewed twice a year and accepted artists are notified via email. Once accepted, artists coordinate with the Gallery Director to finalize exhibition details.
Proposals for art exhibitions are accepted on an ongoing basis, but must be submitted at least eight months prior to the requested exhibition dates. Group proposals should be submitted as a single form with artist statements, biographies, CV, and sample images from each artist. If the proposal document exceeds 24MB, a link to sample images should be included in the proposal PDF.
SHIPPING
Artist(s) are responsible for the cost of delivery and return shipping for their work.
SALES
Artists provide a price list for works included in an exhibition for insurance purposes. If a gallery patron expresses interest in acquiring a work in an exhibition, sales will be directed to the artist. The artist may also elect to list works as Not for Sale (NFS) on the price list.
Submission Fee: Not applicable
Deadline: Ongoing