DESCRIPTION:

GNSI.org was founded in 1968 at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC by a group of science illustrators who wanted to connect and share knowledge across departments and disciplines. Today, GNSI boasts over 800 members across six continents and continues to be a hub for connecting professionals working at the intersection of art and science. Their annual juried members' exhibit showcases the best work being produced by visual science communicators today. This year's annual exhibit will be displayed both in person during the 2025 GNSI Visual SciComm Conference and online at GNSI.org. See past exhibits here.

Not a member? Join today and get 10% off any digital membership with coupon code 25WELCOME10.

EXHIBIT FORMAT:

Due to a limit on the number of works to be hung in the gallery, there are two formats for this exhibition. The In Person exhibit will be in the Great Ponds Gallery at the Lakeville Public Library in Lakeville, Massachusetts from June 1 - August 1, 2025. The Digital Only exhibit will be displayed during the 2025 GNSI Visual SciComm Conference on monitors at the Bridgewater State University campus. All accepted entries, whether in-person or digital, will also be displayed permanently on the GNSI website gallery https://www.gnsi.org/image-galleries later in the summer. During the submission process, artists may select whether they want to enter their work into the in-person exhibit or only the digital exhibit. There is no shipping or framing requirement for digital-only entries.

IMPORTANT DATES:

January 24 - March 8, 2025: Entries accepted

March 16 - April 5, 2025: Blind jury process

Week of April 6, 2025: Notifications emailed

April 13 - May 17, 2025: Accepted artists upload their work to a separate digital exhibit platform and frame and pack their artwork if shipping for the in-person exhibit.

May 18 - 24: Artwork accepted for in-person exhibit must be received.

May 31: In-person exhibit installation.

June 1 - August 1, 2025: In-person exhibit will be on display.

July 14, 2025: Reception for the in-person exhibit.

TBD : Digital exhibit goes live on gnsi.org

CATEGORY DESCRIPTIONS:

This year, in the spirit of the Great Ponds Gallery located at the Lakeville Public Library where our exhibition will be displayed, the focus of our exhibition will be Visual Storytelling. The gallery space is a public meeting area and hosts various public events from children's reading programs to many different activity groups. 

TRADITIONAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION

Artwork in the Traditional Science Illustration category represents all the natural sciences and covers topics such as visual descriptions of plants/animals, museum exhibit artwork, process descriptions, mechanical creations, chemical and genetic processes, academic presentation visuals, textbook art, and educational and interpretive visuals. Art in this category is created in the tradition of tightly rendered, descriptive illustrations that form the backbone of science illustration. Traditional techniques include line drawing, stipple, watercolor, scratchboard, colored pencil, carbon dust, as well as digital techniques such as digital painting, digital sculpting, rendering, and animation. These works are united in that they are made for journals, textbooks, educational resources, and institutions, where audiences expect to be taught and to learn. Traditional Science Illustration will be accepted in the following subcategories:

• Storytelling - Artwork that conveys a specific message or story to the audience.
• Engaging the Young Mind - Artwork that engages and educates the younger audience.
• Everyone Loves a Mystery! - Artwork that evokes curiosity, focusing on the who, what, where, when, and why of all things science.
• Go Down in History - Artwork focused on historical subject matter - archaeology, paleontology, paleobotany, geology, astronomy, evolution. From ancient history to more recent history and everything in between.
   

BROADER VISUAL SCICOMM

Broader Visual SciComm efforts can be in any visual arts medium, including, but not limited to: sculpture, painting, drawing, sequential illustration, comics, graphic novels, installations, murals, animations, fiber arts, ceramics, projects/collaborations, traditional materials in non-traditional applications, non-traditional materials, conceptual art, etc. Broader Visual SciComm acknowledges that visual science communication can take place outside of institutions where we traditionally encounter science illustration. Efforts at Broader Visual SciComm take science education outside the walls of classrooms and museums to audiences in ever more accessible ways.

WHAT COUNTS AS BROADER VISUAL SCICOMM?

Broader visual scicomm efforts still utilize many of the same tools that traditional science illustration employs: a deep understanding of the science at hand, a keen awareness of how people process visual information, highly refined visual arts skills, and a desire to educate and inform on a particular topic. But broader visual scicomm can do some things that would not fit (or be taught) in traditional science illustration paradigms. Most traditional illustration is rooted in realism – tightly rendered images leave no room for ambiguity in what’s being conveyed. Precision in our drawings translates to precision in communication. But broader visual scicomm allows for more concept-driven work that attempts to evoke reactions in viewers using tricks more often employed in fine art: surprise, disgust, awe, fear, humor. Rather than being purely descriptive or educational, it is often wrapped up with a call to action or designed to elicit an emotion. It may or may not include purely descriptive elements, and importantly, it rarely includes technical elements like graphs or diagrams that are not universally understood without prior training/knowledge. 

JURORS

TRADITIONAL SCIENCE ILLUSTRATION

Dr. Janine N. Caira received her M.Sc. from the University of British Columbia in 1981 and her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1985. She joined the University of Connecticut in 1985 and is currently a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at the University of Connecticut and Director of the Connecticut State Museum of Natural History. Dr. Caira is a parasitologist whose research focuses on the taxonomy, systematics and phylogenetic relationships of tapeworms and their elasmobranch (shark and stingray) hosts using both morphological and molecular approaches. Her work is global in scale having involved fieldwork in over 30 countries. That work has led to the discovery of more than 200 new species and 30 new genera, the reconfiguration of tapeworm ordinal-level relationships, and perhaps most surprisingly, little evidence of cospeciation between tapeworms and their elasmobranch hosts despite exhibiting extremely high levels of host specificity. 

Jay Block is an Associate Director of Collections and Exhibitions at Bridgewater State University where he has spent over ten years implementing a progressive arts program centered on the areas of diversity, collection development, exhibitions, conservation, and research. He has collaborated with community leaders in the development of a recognized Arts District and sought university and community partners in the development of grant funding sources. Jay mentors individual students in curatorial studies, business practices within the arts, exhibition design, and collection management practices. He has also developed and implemented strategic goals, policies, and objectives related to collection and exhibition management that adhere to the highest museum standards and best practices. Jay received his BA in Fine Arts from Sonoma State University, CA. His graduate studies were in printmaking and he received his MFA from the Pratt Institute in NY. He received his USPAP Certificate in Fine Art Appraisal Studies from New York University. Jay has worked as an Operations Manager and Collections Manager at the Whitney Museum. He has also been a Collections Manager and Exhibitions Designer at the Neuberger Museum as well as managed various Private Collections in New York City. Most recently Jay has been part of the Steering Committee for the Town Hall Art Center to restore the historical Town House Building, which served as the first Town Hall of Bridgewater, MA. He is helping develop a master plan that would provide the community with a full range of community-based arts programming.

BROADER VISUAL SCICOMM

Sharl Heller is the co-founder and president of the Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance, Inc. (SEMPBA), an all-volunteer organization committed to preserving the unique habitats within the globally rare Massachusetts Coastal Pine Barrens Ecoregion. SEMPBA operates a climate and nature center at the picturesque Center Hill Preserve on Cape Cod Bay in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Under Sharl’s leadership, SEMPBA has been at the forefront of conservation efforts, including organizing impactful community events like "The Horseshoe Crab: Against All Odds" art exhibition at the Plymouth Center for the Arts, where over 60 artists contributed to raising awareness about wildlife conservation.
 

Application Requirements

• Artists may submit up to 2 works created within the last 5 years and not accepted into previous Annual Conference Members Exhibits.
• If submitting 2 works, make sure they are both uploaded in the same application before you check out. You will not be able to add a second work once you have checked out. 
• Student work is accepted but must be of professional quality.
• No photography will be accepted.
• No AI images will be accepted.
• All 2D work for the in-person exhibit must be matted, framed with Plexiglass, and wired for hanging. No saw tooth or clip hangers. No works smaller than 8" x 10". Max dimensions 48" high by 48" wide.
• Small sculpture works accepted (maximum dimensions for display cabinets are 24” wide, 8” deep, and 18” tall)
• No sales are to be conducted during the exhibition.
• Digital images should be submitted at the highest resolution possible and not exhibit any pixelation or blurring from file compression.

Eligibility Criteria

The exhibition is open to members of the Guild of Natural Science Illustrators. Artists who are not already members are encouraged to join GNSI by visiting https://www.gnsi.org/membership. New members referred by this call get 10% off any digital membership with coupon code 25WELCOME10.