Exhibition Title: Painting at Night – Artist/Mother Community Group Exhibition
Location: Fort Houston Gallery, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
Date: Show opening March 7th, closing March 28th, 2020
Call to artists: As part of the Artist/Mother Podcast Community’s ongoing work to bring exposure to and provide opportunities for artists who are also mothers, the A/MP is now seeking submissions for their very first group show! The theme for this show was accumulated during episode 28 of the A/M Podcast, a conversation between host, Kaylan Buteyn, and artist Allison Reimus. In the episode, Allison recalls the time she read a statement in a New York Times article about how “You can’t paint at night in your kitchen and hope to be a good artist. It doesn’t work that way.”
In true Artist/Mother fashion, this seemed like a great statement to respond to for a group show, as an act of resistance and rejection. To imply that good art cannot be made in domestic spaces, or that a person cannot claim the title of artist without meeting arbitrary requirements is a patriarchal myth, one that artists who are mothers have been resisting for decades. For this show, we would like you to offer a response, addressing the ways you are making excellent and inspiring work while also navigating your role as a mother. The work may respond to thematic obstacles such as domestic duties, lack of childcare, restraints on time, limited support, lack of space or resources. Show us, through the work, how you are “Painting at Night”- making art as an Artist/Mother.
The exhibition has no defined expectation for type or style of work that will be considered or selected. Kaylan will be considering all submissions to the group show for artists to feature on the A/MP social media feed and for future podcast interviews. She will also be publishing a show catalogue, which your work will appear in.
Link to the episode: https://artistmotherpodcast.com/podcast/28-breaking-down-barriers-and-growing-your-confidence-with-allison-reimus/
This concept was further explored in a conversation Allison Reiumus had with Erika Hess on the I Like Your Work Podcast (listen here). The NY Times article Allison references can be found here.
Juror: Allison Reimus – Allison Reimus’s paintings explore her relationship with motherhood, femininity and domesticity through abstraction. Her work has been featured in numerous exhibitions in the U.S. and abroad. Recent solo and two-person exhibitions include Tiger Strikes Asteroid (Chicago, IL), Knox College (Galesburg, IL), and The Mission (Chicago, IL). Recent group exhibitions include Yellow Door Gallery (Des Moines, IA), Kirk Hopper Fine Art (Dallas, TX), No Place Gallery (Columbus, OH) and Left Field (Los Osos, CA). Her work has been included in ArtMaze Magazine, Maake Magazine and New American Paintings (#88, #113, #125), where she was highlighted as both an “Editor’s Selection” and a “Noteworthy Artist”. Reviews include The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and NPR. Her next exhibition opens December 6th at Massey Klein Gallery in New York City, with artists Kevin Francis and Matthew Larson. Reimus lives with her husband and three kids in northern New Jersey by way of Brooklyn, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Michigan. She earned her BFA from Michigan State University in 2005 and her MFA from American University in 2009.
Submission terms:
1) Eligibility: Artists at any stage in their career are invited to submit to this exhibition. You are required to be a mother or lifelong caregiver to participate, and the work must respond to the theme represented above.
2) Media: This show is open to any or all works made with traditional or non-traditional visual arts mediums.
Submission requirements:
Please keep in mind the importance of very good photographic documentation of the work being submitted. Detailed images should convey the actual physical nature of the work as it will be displayed in the exhibition. If you are submitting photographic works, it would be ideal to submit with your framing option in mind, as framing varies widely and can affect the presentation of the work.
Dates:
January 3rd – Submissions close
January 31st – Exhibitors notified
February 21st – Work *must* be received by Kaylan
March 7th – exhibition opening night! Fort Houston, Nashville, TN
March 28th – exhibition closes
To submit: Please email artistmotherexhibition@gmail.com with attachments or a zip file containing images of your submission, your cv or resume, and a link to your website. The subject of your email should include your first and last name. Your image files should be titled: Lastname_Firstname_Title. After submitting please complete your entry fee payment. The payment must be completed within 24 hours of your submission.
All video or interactive submissions should be in the form of a link to a viewable online copy of the work. Please include an image still with your submission. Content should not require a download, password or login to view.
Entry fee: $20 for 2 entries, $25 for 3 or 4 entries. For the purposes of this process an “entry” is an individual work of art, regardless of the number of images used to represent it in the submission. Fees are non-refundable. Entry fees must be paid using Paypal. Please use the paypal link provided below. If the name associated with your paypal payment is not one we would recognize with your submission, please make a note of this in your submission entry. If you are unable to use Paypal as a method of payment or have any questions regarding the entry fee, please email artistmotherexhibition@gmail.com
What is my fee used for? Your fee will be put toward the planning, promotion and organization of this show, including but not limited to the collection and installation of the art work, designing an exhibition catalogue and communication with the gallery, juror, and all artists selected. It will provide the juror with a stipend. Your support enables the Artist/Mother leadership to continue their work in creating a social platform and tangible spaces for artists who are also mothers to be supported.
Sale of the artwork: Kaylan and the gallery will be facilitating the sale of the artwork for the duration of the show. It is highly preferred that the artwork you submit for this show be for sale. 30% of the sale will go back to the gallery, as per our agreement with the space. 10% will be donated to the Artist/Mother Childcare Fund. 60% of the sale will go back to the artist. You will receive a paypal payment within 2 weeks of the show closing.
Agreement to Participate: Your submission to this show indicates that you agree with the expectations and conditions of this exhibition as outlined in this document. You are reserving spots for our juror to spend time reviewing your work and for the curator to process your submission. Please make sure that the work you submit will be available for the show and that if it is selected you will ship/deliver it to the gallery by the date specified. Please do not double book your work, commit it to other conflicting exhibitions or sell it without securing its availability for our exhibition.
By agreement of your submission to this show, you are also agreeing to the publication of your work in an exhibition catalogue. This catalogue will be for sale on the Artist/Mother podcast website and during the show open hours.
Delivery and Return of Work: Any unsold work will be returned to you within 3 weeks of the show closing. You are responsible for the cost associated with shipping your work back. Kaylan or the gallery will send an invoice for you to reimburse the shipping cost. Please pack your work in a way that will make it easy to re-use the same packaging.