Call Description

Drawing Rooms
We invite you to submit work for consideration in our Drawing Rooms exhibit, “Black White & Gray: an Achromatic Color Exhibition”.

In this show we are looking for exciting works which focus on graphic form, delicate abstraction, narrative works, and anything and everything in between using achromatic colors–black and white which sit on opposing ends of the grayscale–and works in gray too! 

Black, as with all achromatic colors, lacks hue and absorbs all light wavelengths. White combines and reflects all visible wavelengths, so while it contains all colors, it is still perceived as lacking hue. The contrast between white and black is the greatest of any color combination, providing a bold and dramatic look. 

Famous artworks using an achromatic color scheme—composed entirely of black, white, and grey—focus on form, contrast, and texture over color. Examples include Bridget Riley’s op-art piece White Disks, Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square, featuring a simple black square on a white background, Robert Motherwell’s Elegy to the Spanish Republic series, Vija Celmins’ gray-toned illustrations of oceans, deserts, and night skies, and Franz Kline’s large-scale, black-and-white abstract expressionist paintings, such as Black, White, and Gray.

Acceptable media includes painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, photography, sculpture or any other fine art medium. Monochromatic works are acceptable, as are works using two or three of these colors. 

In keeping with our love of music, “Black White & Gray: an Achromatic Color Exhibition” is dedicated to the song “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse, an English singer, songwriter, and musician, a global phenomena, who blended jazz, soul, R&B into her music. Known for her distinctive contralto vocals, beehive hairstyle and tattoo’s, Amy won five Grammys and was the first British woman to do so. "Back to Black" is a critically acclaimed 2006 song detailing intense emotional turmoil, heartbreak, and despair following a breakup and reclaiming her power while singing it. We loved Amy and this song, as well as so many of her other songs.

Artists chosen will also be considered for our other programs, such as The Art Project JC lobbies, and online Artsy.net exhibits throughout the year. Drawing Rooms will feature selected works from this exhibition for sale on Artsy.net
See: https://www.artsy.net/partner/drawing-rooms 

Artists included in any of our 2026 shows will have preferred status for our end-of-the-year holiday blow-out exhibition, The Big Small Show, replete with a full weekend Opening, wine, delicious holiday snacks, and a catalog. The Big Small Show is like a party in appreciation of the artists we work with throughout the year, along with new artists we hope will continue to be part of our community. 

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Drawing Rooms  is a nonprofit art space and gallery in the Topps Building on the Mana Complex in the Journal Square neighborhood in Jersey City. We show two and three-dimensional works by emerging and mid-career artists in NJ and the NY metropolitan area, as well as nationally and internationally. Since 2001, our innovative and exciting exhibitions, public programs, and publications have enriched the lives of our community through an appreciation of and involvement with contemporary art. 

About the Curator

Anne Trauben is the Curator and Gallery Director at Drawing Rooms. She began working with Victory Hall Inc. in 2009, and was a founding artist of Drawing Rooms in 2012. Since 2013, she has organized, curated and created programming for year-round exhibitions of multiple artists at Drawing Rooms in the former convent on Grand St. in Jersey City and, since 2018, at the new Drawing Rooms gallery on the Mana complex. In 2020, during the pandemic, she organized, curated, and created programming for Prayers for the Pandemic, a 4-part Drawing Rooms national public art exhibition, and solo / two-person exhibitions at Dvora Gallery. In 2022, after the pandemic, Drawing Rooms reopened in a newly expanded space where she has since been organizing, curating, and creating programming for gallery exhibitions and public art programs. Anne is the Founder, Publisher and Editor of Nieuw Art Blog since 2017.

Learn more about the call below.

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EVENTS
*Opening Reception Saturday, 6/13/26, 6-8p
*Meet The Artists Sundays, 6/21/26 and 6/28/26, 3-5p, 
*Closing Reception Sunday 7/11/26 4-6p  

ACCEPTABLE WORKS 

• Size: No size limit on dropped-off artwork..
• Media: painting or drawing on paper, canvas, or other media; collage or textiles, photography, prints, sculpture.
• Works must be original. No AI or reproductions of original works.
• All works in the exhibit must be for sale with 60% to artists and 40% to Drawing Rooms.

Submissions Due 5/14/26

ARTIST NOTIFICATION 5/18/26
Please remember to check your spam and promotions folder. If you haven't received a notification by 5/19/26, please check the status of your submission in CAFE. Accepted works will be listed as "invited."

DROP OFF 
*Fri 5/29/26,  5-7p, Sat, 5/30/26, 2-5p 
Sun 5/31/26 3-5p

MAIL-IN
Must ARRIVE by Monday, 6/1/26

SHIPPING REQUIREMENTS
2D: ONLY unframed 18” x 24” or less, works on paper or panel/canvas may be mailed in and must fit in a padded or cardboard shipping envelope, (stay flat photo envelope / rigid mailer), or a tube, and you MUST include a return label or postage. NO BOXES, please. Send to the Drawing Rooms location listed.

3D: Please pack well in a box 30" x 36" x 36" or less. Work not packed well may be rejected. (Drop-off preferred)

EXHIBITION LOCATION 
Drawing Rooms
926 Newark Ave. T101
Jersey City NJ, 07306
Closest PATH stop is Journal Sq
Free parking lot. Entrance is on Newark Avenue. 
Drivers: turn into Mana/Topps building driveway.

PICKUP
Sat, 7/11/26 6-7p, Sun, 7/12/26 4-7p

MAIL BACK
Starts Mon, 7/13/26

Application Requirements

JPGS

• You may submit up to 3 images of your work, unframed.
• Each jpg must measure at least 1200 pixels in any dimension and can be any resolution (pixels per inch).

Eligibility Criteria

You must be over 18