COLOR SHIFTS: Call for Entry

How does color affect how we communicate? What perspectives and experiences are evoked through color? Can color shift and re-frame our viewpoints? This exhibition explores the role of color in communication in the arts, design, sciences, and humanities, and the way color can be used to shift our perspectives. We invite creative explorations of color from all directions. 

How does the materiality of light and color:

• shape or shift our perceptual experiences and communication?
• re-frame ideas?
• impact meaning in data visualization?
• enhance and shift perspectives in the field of marketing?
• affect cultural bias?

We invite submissions from all creatives at all levels, in all media: artists, scientists, designers, students, faculty, industry professionals, and anyone interested in creatively expressing color through physical and digital materials – all are welcome.

Sponsored by the Inter-Society Color Council (ISCC), COLOR SHIFTS is part of the Color Impact 2025: Color as Communication conference at the Rochester Institute of Technology in upstate New York. The ISCC advances the knowledge of color related to art, science, industry, and design. Each of these fields enriches the others, furthering the general objective of color education. This is a virtual exhibition. It will be displayed at the conference and on the website from June 17- November 30, 2025. 

Awards

A Best of Show will be awarded for each of these categories: Student, Amateur, Professional 

Jurying Process

To further our interdisciplinary approach, we have selected jurors: Jayanne English, Alteronce Gumby, and Anne Lindberg. Jurors are asked to consider design skills, technical elements, presentation; and the expressive, imaginative, conceptual, or innovative content of the work. Jurors will keep a balanced show in mind but are not required to select a specific quota in each medium or color focus. 

Jurors: 

Jayanne English
Jayanne English is a Senior Scholar in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manitoba, where she investigates galaxies’ structure and kinematics and how galaxies evolve; and does scientific visualization.  She was awarded the 2021 Qilak Award for Astronomy Communications, Public Education, and Outreach by the Canadian Astronomical Society/Société Canadienne d’Astronomie (CASCA). Although she is renowned for constructing astronomy outreach images for the public, which garner millions of hits on the internet, this award was in part for her engagement with artists and the collaborative works they have produced. She received membership in the Order of Canada in 2023 for interfacing artistic literacy and aesthetics with scientific visualization. As an Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba, she trained the next generation of experts and emphasized the links between art and science. She received her PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the Australian National University, a Bachelor of Science in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Toronto, and a diploma in General Studies from the Ontario College of Art and Design University.

http://www2.physics.umanitoba.ca/u/english/

Alteronce Gumby

Alteronce Gumby is an artist and resides in New York City. His artistic practice includes painting, ceramics, installation, performance, and film. Alteronce earned his BFA from Hunter College, and his MFA from Yale School of Art. Gumby's inspirations include the cosmos, and he is an active member of the Amateur Astronomers Association and the Planetary Society. 

His most recent exhibitions include Dark Matter at Allentown Art Museum and The Color of Everything at Nicola Vassell Gallery. He has participated in numerous residencies such as the Rauschenberg Residency (2019) and was the 2016 recipient of the Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship at the Fondation des Étas-Unis in Paris. Alteronce’s work has been featured in publications such as ARTnews, Artnet, Artsy, BOMB, Brooklyn Rail, Cultured, DAZED, Frieze, Surface and Vogue. Gumby recently completed his first documentary, COLOR, with John Campbell, exploring the nature of color globally. He is currently preparing for his next solo exhibition at Nicola Vassell Gallery in November 2024.

https://www.alteroncegumby.com

Anne Lindberg

Anne Lindberg is a visual artist working in sculpture, drawing, and dimensional textiles. Recent work includes graphite and colored pencil drawings on mat board and architecturally scaled, site-responsive sculptural installations created with volumes of fine chromatic thread. 
Her process involves optics, ideas, a paced and daily conversation with place, and how she negotiates physicality.  Her goal is to encourage a fluid state of perceptions, contemplate place, affect change, adapt, and inform decisions in the making of her work.  She has shown her work extensively. Recent solo and group exhibitions include Hangar Y (Paris), Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, The Textile Museum at George Washington University Museums, Everson Museum of Art, Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Figge Art Museum, and The Museum of Arts and Design. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Miami University, Oxford,  Ohio, and an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield MI. Grants received include Omni International Residency, Painters and Sculptors Joan Mitchel Foundation, and Mid-America National Endowment for Arts fellowship.

http://www.annelindberg.com

Application Requirements

Entry Materials

We are seeking creative expressions from across the spectrum of media and professions. We encourage creatives to submit art in any style as well as the visual expression of scientific exploration. There are no size limitations. For 3D work, consider uploading video documentation to better represent your submission in the round.There is a three-minute time limit for audio and visual files

Examples, but not limited to:

Digital Media: All forms of new media including animation, video, and photography

Arts: Visual arts, crafts, dance, performance, poetry, music, light installations, graphic or industrial design

Environmental Design and Architecture: Including Interior Design, Textile Design, Visual Marketing, Product Design,

Visual Representations of Research Data: A 3D output of data or algorithm, a graphic representation of color data, or novel use of color in data visualization

Please follow the directions below for slides because that file will be used for the catalog and exhibition for the show.

Image Size: Photos must be in a JPG format, total size not to exceed 5MB, not less than 1920 pixels on the longest side and a resolution of 300 pixels per inch.

Each image must be professionally presented; no blur, no glare, no frames, no background (unless it is a sculpture). The inclusion of your artwork is dependent upon the quality of the image submission.  

Image File Names: The image file names must include the following fields with each field separated by an underscore. Images that do not have the proper file name will be returned.

Fields: 

Artist first name 

Artist last name 

Artwork title 

Image  full or detail 

Examples:

Jane _Smith_Moonlight_Full 

Jane_Smith_Moonlight_Detail 

Artwork Label: Information about your piece should be included in this order: 

Name of piece 

Date created 

Size 

Technique and Materials (be brief) 

Example:

Moonlight 

2023

12” x 24” (H X W) 

Mixed media, textile 

General Information  can be found at: https://www.callforentry.org/artist-help-cafe/uploading-media/

Eligibility Criteria

We invite submissions from all creatives at all levels, in all media: artists, scientists, designers, students, faculty, industry professionals, and anyone interested in creatively expressing color through physical and digital materials – all are welcome.

Entry Categories

Student, Amateur, Professional

Everyone working at all levels in art, design, or science disciplines are encouraged to apply for this competition. Entrants must be 18 years of age or older to apply. Enter works according to your level of experience – Student, Amateur, or Professional. Jurors will choose artworks for the exhibition from each division and works will be juried against each other withinin the same division. The divisions are competitive. The number chosen for display is limited and depends on the volume of applications.  Invited participants will be asked to submit a  two minute video statement about their work