UMW Galleries is now accepting submissions for our upcoming juried exhibition, the 2024 Mid-Atlantic New Painting Biennial. This biannual celebration of contemporary painting showcases artists from Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Begun in 1997, MANP is celebrating its twelfth iteration.

This year’s juror is Heather Hakimzadeh, senior curator and special projects manager at Virginia MOCA. Hakimzadeh has organized over 80 exhibitions ranging from local to internationally recognized artists. Some of her recent exhibitions include LaToya Hobbes: Flourish and Todd Schorr: Atomic Cocktail. She has contributed to Inka Essenhigh's monograph and the catalogue that accompanied the seminal group exhibition, Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose.

The intention of the Mid-Atlantic New Painting exhibition is to highlight new developments in painting within our region. Awards include First, Second, and Third place awards decided by the juror, and a single Purchase Award decided by UMW representatives. This will be the twelfth juried biennial of contemporary painting organized by the University of Mary Washington, and a welcome return to the biennial after a COVID-based hiatus since 2018.

Several awards accompany this exhibition: three Best In Show awards ($1000, $500, $250); and one UMW Collections Purchase Award. Awards will be announced at the opening reception. This exhibition and awards are made possible by the generosity of Alfred Levitt. Levitt was a New York artist and intellectual with an abiding interest in encouraging painters.

Timeline:

• Entry Deadline: Wednesday, May 15, 2024
• Notification to artists: June 10, 2024
• Works due to gallery: October 17, 2024
• Exhibition Opening Reception and Awards: November 7, 2024
• Exhibition on Display: November 7, 2024, to January 19, 2025

Application Requirements

Applications must include: 

• Images, title, dimensions, and material list for each entry (up to three)
• Brief artist's statement (no more than 150 words)

Eligibility Criteria

Open to artists 18 years of age and older who live in Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Paintings in any medium are eligible, but may not exceed 80" in any dimension.