Call Description

Press Play: Collage in Print

• Exhibition Dates: August 8 – October 11, 2026
• Location: Spiva Center for the Arts, 212 West 7th
• Opening Reception: Friday, August 7, 2026

Spiva Center for the Arts invites artists to submit work for a juried exhibition exploring the rich and evolving intersection of collage and printmaking. This exhibition highlights the tactile, layered, and process-driven nature of print-based practices, encouraging artists to push the boundaries of traditional techniques while honoring their material roots.

Printmaking has long been a medium grounded in repetition, transfer, and transformation—whether through relief, intaglio, lithography, screenprint, or experimental hybrid processes. Collage, with its emphasis on layering, fragmentation, and recontextualization, offers a natural extension of these ideas. Together, they create opportunities for visual complexity, narrative depth, and material exploration. Artists are encouraged to consider how printmaking processes—inking, pressing, transferring, and constructing—can intersect with collage methodologies to produce innovative and compelling work.

ARTWORK GUIDELINES

Presentation Restriction: Accepted work must not be presented behind glass, unless it is hand-delivered. 

Focus: Submitted works must include at least one collage element incorporating any of the following techniques: hand-pulled prints, artist-made paper, and/or hand-binding techniques such as gluing, chine-collé, or stitching. Works that demonstrate a strong integration of these elements will be prioritized. Preference will be given to work created within the last two years.

AWARDS

• 1ST Place | $250
• 2ND Place | $150
• 3RD Place | $100

All entrants will be informed of acceptance or declination via email no later than June 26, 2026. Please contact Spiva at exhibits@spivaarts.org if you have questions or concerns.

Application Requirements

WORK REQUIREMENTS

Deadline for Submissions: June 22, 2026

Submission Format: Please submit high-quality images of your work (minimum 300 DPI) in JPEG or PNG format. If accepted, a higher-resolution file will be requested for printing purposes.

Artist Statement: Include a brief artist statement (200–300 words) describing your creative process and approach to printmaking and collage.

Size Limitations:

• 2D artwork: Maximum 48" x 48"
• Sculpture: Must not exceed 6 feet in height or width

ENTRY FEE

A $25 fee is required to enter three works. You must enter 3 images and no less (you can enter the same work 3 times if you do not have additional works). If you wish to submit more than 3 images, each additional entry is $5. All images must be entered in the same application at one time.

Eligibility Criteria

ELIGIBILITY

This exhibition is open to any artist living and working in the United States or its territories. Submitted images must be the artist’s own work, and it is the sole responsibility of the artist to obtain written releases from any recognizable person(s) depicted. All work is eligible as long as the work is original and has never been exhibited at George A. Spiva Center for the Arts.