Umpqua Valley Arts Association (UVA) is proud to present an open Call for Artists to submit their work to our 2023 Artworks Northwest Biennial exhibit. The Artworks Northwest Biennial is a curated invitational for artists who reside in the Pacific Northwest and a critical show of the discourse, dialogue, and practices happening with contemporary artists in the region. It is open to all media except video, and creative approaches are welcome. 

Artworks for this exhibition are chosen by a curator who resides/works in the Pacific Northwest whom UVA invites to lend their eye and their voice in the broader Pacific Northwest art scene to the exhibition.

Our long list of esteemed curators include: Grace Kook-Anderson, Steven Hayes, Marie Watt, Andries Fourie and Scott Malbaurn. 

UVA is proud and honored to have Portland based artist Arvie Smith as our guest curator for the 2023 Artworks Northwest Biennial.

Curator Arvie Smith
Arvie Smith is a painter, educator, and visual storyteller with a long history of exhibiting in the Pacific Northwest. Awards for his paintings include the 2017 Oregon Governor's Award for the Arts, the 2018 Joan Mitchell Award, and the 2022 Hallie Ford Fellowship in the Visual Arts. He has exhibited his work nationally and internationally and his work can be found in public collections across the country.

Arvie Smith earned his BFA from the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in 1986 and in 1992 he earned his MFA from The Hoffberger School of Painting, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA). Smith then returned to Portland in 1994 to teach at PNCA, where he retired as Professor Emeritus and received an honorary doctorate in fine art. 

Cash Awards:

• 1st Place: $500
• 2nd Place: $250
• 3rd Place: $150
• J. Lynn Peterson Award: $100

Exhibition Calendar:

• Submission Deadline: April 14th, 
  IMPORTANT NOTE: Entries close at 11:59PM Mountain Time, or 10:59PM Pacific Time.
• Artist Notified: May 5th
• Art Delivery to UVA:  June 5th, 9am-5pm
• Opening Reception: Friday, June 9th, 4pm-7pm
• Exhibit Ends: August 18th
• Artwork Pick Up: August 21st, 9am-5pm
• Artwork Shipped: No later than September 1st

Application Requirements

All entries are digitally submitted with digital jpeg files through CaFE. If this is your first time using the CaFE system, we recommend allowing an hour to create a CaFE account, upload files, and complete your application. Entries and awards will be judged and selected by the curator from digital jpeg files. The link can be found at: https://uvarts.com/calls-to-artists/

Images must be uploaded into the Call for Entry system (CaFE). Submissions made using email, slides, links to websites, physical photographs, paper applications, or resume/CV will not be accepted for jurying. If this is your first time using the CaFE system, we recommend allowing at least an hour to create a CaFE account, upload files, and complete your application.  CaFE’s upload requirements are as follows: 

• File format: JPEG only
• File dimensions: No smaller than 1920 pixels on the longest side
• File resolution: 72 ppi/dpi (standard web resolution)
• File size: up to 5 MB maximum

Eligibility Criteria

All submissions must follow these guidelines to be eligible for entry:

• Eligible to all established, mid-career and emerging artists residing in Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Alaska, British Columbia, Western Montana, and Western Wyoming.
• Artwork must have been completed within the last three years and not been previously exhibited at UVA.
• Artists may submit up to (5) entries in all themes, genres, and media except video.
• Entries must be original works of art and entirely created by the entrant.
• No reproductions representing original artworks will be accepted. Fine art prints (including c-prints, digital prints, etchings, lithographs, woodblock, etc.) are eligible, but must be signed, numbered and in a limited edition of 125 or less.
• No work will be accepted into this show which is in violation of any copyright.
• All artwork must not exceed 60” on its longest side, fit through a standard 3-foot wide door, and weigh less than 50 lbs. If submitting a diptych or triptych, the combined measurements or weight of the work must follow these guidelines.
• Artists may not substitute their piece with another nor withdraw the work once it has been accepted.
• All work must be display-ready upon arrival and for sale unless otherwise stated by the artist. UVA commission rates are 30% for UVA members and 40% for non-members.

UVA reserves the right to refuse upon arrival any work that does not follow exhibitions guidelines, meet UVA’s hanging criteria, work that is of unacceptable quality, and/or work that was not originally proposed or accepted for the exhibition.

UVA reserves the right to reproduce artwork from digital images for publicity purposes.