Call Description

Blue Sky, Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, is now accepting submissions for the 2026 Pacific Northwest Drawers

Photographic artists based in Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington are welcome to apply. There is no application fee to enter. 

Since 2007, with the establishment of the Pacific Northwest Drawers (PNW Drawers) program, Blue Sky has been showcasing the diverse photography coming out of the region. Annually, photographers from the Pacific Northwest are selected by an outside jury to exhibit 10 prints in accessible drawers for a year. The role of the juror is to determine from the submissions the strongest and the most evocative work representing a wide range of styles, subject matter, themes, and photographic processes. 

The PNW Drawers exhibition is the rare opportunity where visitors are encouraged to “handle the art." The PNW Drawers work attracts the attention of students, curators, collectors, and daily visitors eager to view a selection of regional photographers. Blue Sky also features all images of each PNW Drawers Artist on our website, along with a statement and bio for each artist. Gallery events throughout the year also support and celebrate our PNW Drawers Artists. 

About the 2026 Juror

Leo Hsu is the Executive Director of Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh. Silver Eye’s mission is to promote the power of contemporary photography as a fine art by supporting and sharing the work of emerging, mid-career, under-represented and underseen artists.  Leo has been a writer and editor for Fraction Magazine and Foto8/EI8HT and a news photographer.  He taught history, criticism, and studio photography courses at Carnegie Mellon University, and holds a PhD in Anthropology and New York State Certificate in Culture and Media from New York University.

Application Requirements

• Exactly 10 images (no watermarks) from a single series or body of work created within the last five years
• Details about each print: title, medium, dimensions (please use "0" for depth), price, date
• Artist CV
• Brief Artist Statement (not to exceed 200 words)

Submitting to this Call for Entry requires exactly 10 images (no watermarks) from a single series or body of work created within the last five years. If an applicant has previously been featured in the PNW Drawers, the submission must be of new or different work. Submitted images must be the same as the original prints intended for inclusion. Absolutely no substitutions will be permitted. 

Please include a concise artist statement (not to exceed 200 words), Artist CV, and details about each print including title, medium, dimensions, price, and date. 

If accepted, works must be delivered to the gallery matted and/or mounted. Due to the physical dimensions of each drawer, the matted or mounted sizes of accepted works must not exceed 20” x 24” x 1.5" when stacked together. Please ensure that you are listing the FINAL mounted/matted dimensions, NOT the size of the print area.

CaFÉ Submission FAQ

Join Blue Sky Staff for a Zoom Q&A to help answer submission questions on November 20th, 2025 at 6 PM. Register here. 

Sales Information

All prints selected for the PNW Drawers are eligible for sale with the artist's permission, with a 50% commission retained by Blue Sky. Artists who are currently represented by a gallery are asked to ensure that your entry does not infringe on any standing agreements before making a submission. Blue Sky will not be responsible for negotiating commissions with an artist’s representation or sending commission payments to an artist's gallery. Artists must plan to make separate payment arrangements with their gallery representation. 

Submission Deadline

The deadline for submissions is 10:59 PM (PT), Friday, December 19, 2025. There is no entry fee. Only one entry per artist is permitted. No deadline extensions. Blue Sky cannot respond to inquiries about the status of a submission, nor is the juror able to offer feedback or reasoning for rejected submissions.

Notification of Acceptance 

Accepted artists will be notified in early February, 2026. Works must be received at Blue Sky no later than 5:00 PM on March 28, 2026. Accepted works will debut to the public on First Thursday, April 2, 2026. 

Eligibility Criteria

Any photographic artist who is a current resident of Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington is invited to submit work for consideration. Please ensure that your CaFÉ profile reflects residency in one of these locations. Submissions received from outside the eligible region will be withdrawn.