Artist/Mother Open Call 

THIS CALL IS NOW CLOSED! Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of our next Open Call. 


“You are not wonderful just because you are a mother.”

Seeking artwork of all mediums that speaks to unconventional thoughts around mothers and motherhood. This open call for art is based upon a statement expressed by Japanese photographer Ishiuchi Miyako (see link to watch her YouTube interview) when talking about her book, Mother’s, in which she photographed her deceased mother’s belongings. 

As an artist who never became a mother herself, Miyako emphatically proclaims, “You are not wonderful just because you are a mother.” She utters these words in defense of women who are childless (by choice or for other reasons) and for those of us who have complex feelings towards traditional definitions of the maternal.  

This call is open not just to artist mothers but also to artists who make work inspired by their (perhaps conflicted) relationship to their own mothers or long-held cultural beliefs and exalted definitions of motherhood.

 

Juror: Qiana Mestrich 

Juror’s bio:
Qiana Mestrich is a photography-focused, interdisciplinary artist whose work sheds light on the histories of class, race, social inequality, (post-)colonialism, and international migration. Born to parents from Panama and Croatia, Mestrich’s work often references Black, mixed-race experiences from her perspective as a first-generation American.
She has been exhibited worldwide including the London Art Fair’s Photo50 in 2018 and the BRIC Biennial Volume III in 2019. Mestrich’s work is held in the Peggy Cooper Cafritz collection of contemporary art and private collections in the United States.
Knowledge sharing and community building is a vital part of Mestrich’s practice. In 2007 she founded Dodge & Burn: Decolonizing Photography History (est. 2007), an arts initiative that aims to diversify the medium’s history by advocating for photographers of color. Dodge & Burn began as a blog and now functions as a monthly critique group that meets in person in New York City and virtually. Her forthcoming book based on the blog’s past interviews is to be published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Mestrich has written essays on photography for exhibition catalogs and published other critical writing in art journals such as Light Work’s Contact Sheet, En Foco’s Nueva Luz and SPE’s exposure. She is also co-editor of the book How We Do Both: Art and Motherhood (Secretary Press), a diverse collection of honest responses from contemporary artists who dare to engage in the creative endeavors of motherhood and making art.
A graduate of the ICP-Bard College MFA in Advanced Photographic Practice, Mestrich received her B.A. with a concentration in photography from Sarah Lawrence College. She is an adjunct faculty in photography and social media at the Fashion Institute of Technology (SUNY).

 

This exhibition is ONLINE ONLY. It will be published on the Artist/Mother Podcast website.

 

Submission terms:

1) Eligibility: 

Womxn artists, non-binary artists and genderqueer artists in any stage of their career are encouraged to submit to this exhibition. You do not have to be a mother to apply. The work must respond to the theme represented above and will be chosen based on the juror’s interpretation of the work and the way it connects with the theme. 

2) Media:
This show is open to any or all works made with traditional or non-traditional visual arts mediums. 

Dates:
November 23rd, 2020- Submissions due
December 8th, 2020 – Exhibitors notified 
December 11th, 2020 – High resolution images for selected artwork *must* be submitted 
December 14th, 2020 – virtual exhibition opens!!!
January (TBD), 2021 – artist takeovers and zoom panels curated from the show
January 31st, 2021 – virtual exhibition closes 

 

To submit:
Please email artistmotherexhibition@gmail.com with these items:
1. Submission photos of your artwork entries 
2. Image list with with Title, size, medium of each artwork submitted 
3. An accompanying description or artist statement for the submitted work
4. Your cv or resume in PDF format
5. Links to your website or IG account
6. Submit entry fee 

We will accept 1-5 entries from each artist. An “entry” is an individual work of art, regardless of the number of images used to represent it in the submission.

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.

Please send your images as an attachment to your email rather than a zip drive or google drive folder. You may use lower/web resolution images for the submission and we will collect high resolution images for the publication if your work is selected.

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: The entry fee can be completed below. One fee, per person submitting (not per entry). The fee is sliding scale between $10-25. Our juror will not see what fee was paid, and what you can pay will not influence inclusion in this show. You may pay $10, $20 or $25 depending on what you can afford right now.  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. If the name associated with your payment is not one we would recognize with your submission, please make a note of this in your submission entry. Please make sure “one time payment” is selected below. If you are unable to use this web payment or have any questions regarding the entry fee, please email artistmotherexhibition@gmail.com

Promotion and Social media:
We will be selecting a handful of artists to share IG takeovers on our feed @artistmotherpodcast from the show. We will be scheduling artists talks and zoom panels with artists selected from the show. It is possible artists who submit may be asked to be included on the Artist/Mother Podcast for an interview too! 🙂

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 promotion of the art work, designing the show site and exhibition catalogue and communication with the 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:
The Artist/Mother community will be facilitating the sale of the artwork for the duration of the show via the A/M website and IG. It is highly preferred that the artwork you submit for this show be for sale. The artist is responsible for shipping the work to the buyer within 2 weeks of show closing. The buyer will be responsible for paying shipping fees. 30% of the sale will go to Artist/Mother Podcast to support our programming. 70% 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 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.