Call Description

Drawn In
International Call for Art

Jurors: Sarah Hardesty and Amanda Jirón-Murphy 

Jan 10 // Submission Deadline
January 15 // Notifications sent
January 20 // Confirm participation
Feb 10 // Work delivered by
February 21 // Exhibition opens

It seems like the first thing we learned how to do as children is pick up something and draw. Of course, what we draw with when we’re little varies: a stick in the dirt, a crayon, our fingers on a frosty window pane, or perhaps the moisture-covered mirror of a steamy bathroom. Drawing can be a problem-solver, a way to understand how things work, or a way to record a fleeting moment. Drawing is innate to us: it is the way we communicated before language; after all, drawing existed before written language.

In the spirit of that impulse, Drawn In, the February 2026 Rhode Island Art League’s international juried exhibition, curated by Sarah Hardesty and Amanda Jirón-Murphy, invites artists to submit drawings with the broadest possible definition of the term. Fully finished drawings are welcome submissions, but so too are sketches. The mediums will vary, as will size and degree of finish. Perhaps the drawing is an excerpt from a sketchbook, or it could be the remnants of a performance that indicate where the body has been in space. Maybe the drawing is made with paint. 

In Drawn In, we invite a broad and inclusive understanding of drawing. We welcome works that might not be thought of as traditional drawing and that make use of unorthodox materials. We want to expand our definition of the term by including works that challenge our notions of what it can be, how it can be made, and what it could be made of.

AWARDS
First Place: $500
Second Place: $300
Third Place: $150
Honorable Mention (2)

Jurors:
Sarah Hardesty is an artist, curator, and educator. Recent curatorial projects include Foon Sham at Cody Gallery, Marymount University in Arlington, VA, and Intersections at the University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA. Her work has been exhibited at WaterFire Arts Center, Providence, RI; the Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, VA; VisArts, Rockville, MD; ISE Cultural Foundation, New York, NY; Davidson Contemporary, New York, NY; MPG Gallery, Boston, MA; Wheaton College, Norton, MA; and the Tucson Museum of Art, Tucson, AZ. She has been awarded residencies at MacDowell, Wassaic Project, Islip Art Museum, Santa Fe Art Institute, and Vermont Studio Center. Hardesty holds an MFA in Painting from the University of Arizona and a BS in Studio Art from Skidmore College. She is currently teaching in the Art Department at Rhode Island College, in the Arts and Creative Industries program at Bryant University, and is the Exhibition and Program Director at Art League RI. She was born in Strong, Maine, and is currently based in Pawtucket, RI.

Amanda Jirón-Murphy is the Curator & Resident Artist/Collector Liaison at Museum of Contemporary Art in Arlington, Virginia. In her role, Jirón-Murphy curates the resident artists’ exhibitions, manages the artist residency program, and the museum’s collectors’ program, a public program sharing knowledge about art collecting and supporting artists' careers. She has served as the Gallery Director at Hamiltonian and the Coordinator of Public Programs and Adult Interpretation at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC. She has served as a guest speaker and panel moderator at cultural institutions and schools around the Washington, DC area and has written for many publications, including The Rib and DIRT DMV. She holds a BA in Art History from John Cabot University in Rome, Italy, and an MA in Modern and Contemporary Art and Connoisseurship from Christie’s Education in London, England.

Application Requirements

Bio: (100 words)
Artist Statement: (200 words)
1 - 5 images of artwork, including Title, Year, Medium, Dimensions, Price (including ALRI commission - info below)
 

Submittal Fee:

Non-members: The 1st piece is $35, and each additional piece is $10, for a total of 5 pieces. All CaFE fees are non-refundable and must be paid by credit/debit card.

Payment of those fees indicates the acknowledgment of the terms and conditions of the exhibition.

Art League RI Members: The 1st piece is $20, and each additional piece is $10, for a total of 5 pieces. For the Art League Member Coupon Code, please contact office@artleagueri.org

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility: Any artist who is at least 18 years or older may participate to the extent that their participation is allowed by law.

Artwork: All 2D and 3D media are eligible. Artwork previously exhibited with ALRI is not permitted. All work must be original. Work found to be copied from copyrighted work will not be hung. Reprints are not permitted. All work must be exhibition-ready to install with the appropriate hardware. No saw-tooth hangers or clips. Work that does not adhere to the guidelines or is deemed not to be a faithful representation of the image submitted will not be exhibited. Artwork must be appropriate for viewers of all ages.