Call Description

There. A sudden movement, like vapor that disappears as quickly as it appears. Or a shadow, seen out of the corner of your eye. These faint shadows, these luminous apparitions - are they faint traces, remnants, memories that we conjure in a moment, when a door creaks, when lightning flashes, when the room goes cold, or are they supernatural entities unwilling to release their connection to a place or a person?

In stories and folktales, ghosts are harbingers, haints, and often horror-inducing specters tied to places and sometimes people. In modern times, being “ghosted” refers to the sudden disappearance from social media or digital connections. Unlike the phantoms of old returning because they refuse to break connection to the physical world, people now retreat from contact, disappearing instantly, or fading away. 

The Book As Art: Ghosted is the fourteenth edition of an art show celebrating books: objects that, in an increasingly digital world, stubbornly survive.

The book is a medium of practical expression and also a vessel for creative interpretation. Artists are invited to explore the limitless possibilities of the form and its impact. What is physical and phantom? What line is walked between folklore and figment? How do we transform language to fit the digital age?

The objects in this exhibition should interpret the concept of the book and invite the viewer to look beyond the printed page to where ideas, words, and symbols are transformed and transfigured. Artists are challenged to embrace the dualities and paradoxes of communication—to celebrate the macabre and the mysterious, the familiar and the fantastic, the clear and the cryptic.

The Book As Art series seeks to showcase beautifully made volumes, sculptural and conceptual interpretations, mixed-media, and one-of-a-kind approaches to the book format. Artists are encouraged to submit wall-hung and digital interpretations of the book as well. 

PLEASE NOTE: Shipping artwork may be more expensive than anticipated, take longer than expected, or may not be accessible to some artists. We encourage all artists to acquire estimates of shipping costs before submitting artwork for consideration.  If your artwork is juried into the show, it is expected that you will showcase the work.  By rescinding your application after the jurying process, you steal another artist’s opportunity to participate.  No waitlist is maintained for this show,  so drop-out slots remain unfilled and diminish the quality of the exhibition.  Please be considerate and only apply if you’re certain you’ll be able to participate.

EVENTS

Several events are planned throughout the run of the show. The Georgia Center for the Book inaugurated a series of artist talks and discussions in 2020 that will be continued in 2026. Through these presentations, artists were able to talk in depth about their books, and lead us on virtual tours through their volumes. You can review these presentations at bookasart.com, and on the Georgia Center for the Book’s YouTube channel. We encourage exhibiting artists to volunteer for these opportunities to showcase their work. Ally StoneWright will be in touch about these opportunities with artists accepted into the show.

SALE OF ART
Sales are encouraged. The DAA handles all sales and collects a 25% commission on all artwork sold as a result of this exhibition. All artwork for sale must be priced by the artist and so stated in the online entry. Please be sure to include the 25% commission for the DAA in your price. The Georgia sales tax will be added at the point of sale.

AWARDS
First Place Award -                             $1,000
Second Place Award -                         $700
Third Place Award -                             $500

Dorothy Moye Memorial Award

The Jurors:

TBA

The Organizers:
Decatur Arts Alliance (DAA) connects residents, businesses, tourists, and artists to increase arts access and engagement in the city of Decatur, GA. Founded in 1989, the nonprofit produces the annual Decatur Arts Festival, numerous city-wide public art programs, and in 2025 continues the success of The Book As Art that began as an event of the book festival. The DAA provides a collaborative environment to coordinate the interests of artists, gallery owners, theater groups, dance groups and performance venues within the city - helping to make Decatur home to a strong arts community. The Decatur Arts Alliance is supported by membership and sponsorship, along with proceeds from the Decatur Arts Festival and the Decatur Wine Festival. To contact the Decatur Arts Alliance call 404-371-9583, email BookArt@decaturartsalliance.org, or visit www.decaturartsalliance.org.

The Decatur Branch of the DeKalb County Public Library and the Georgia Center for the Book are located at 215 Sycamore Street, Decatur, Georgia 30030. For information, visit http://dekalblibrary.org/branches/deca, and https://georgiacenterforthebook.org/, or call 404.370.3070, ext. 2225.

The Location:
The City of Decatur, Georgia is located just east of and adjacent to the city of Atlanta’s in-town communities and near the metro area suburbs. With more than 200 shops and restaurants in commercial districts around the Square and in historic Oakhurst Village, Decatur is a popular shopping, dining, entertainment, and arts destination. Twenty-four thousand residents live in Decatur’s quiet, tree-lined neighborhoods and downtown condominiums, and as the DeKalb County seat, this thriving commercial community is the epicenter of county business. www.Decaturga.com

Application Requirements

HOW TO ENTER:
All entries will be submitted digitally through www.callforentry.org (CaFÉ).

All entries are to be submitted digitally through www.callforentry.org (CaFÉ). Please retain a copy of the information you provide on the entry form. 

If you have not registered previously with CaFÉ, setting up your portfolio is free.  For one fee of $30, artists may enter to The Book as Art up to three artworks, each on a separate entry form, and each may include up to five images. After completing the entry information, a credit card number or PayPal account will be required to confirm the entry process for the first submission. If second and third artworks (optional) are entered for consideration, the entry fee can be waived if the artist inputs a coupon code provided in the application.  Please read the application carefully for detailed instructions.

Entries will be active on the CaFÉ website beginning May 1, 2026, and must be completed by 11:59PM EST on June 17, 2026.

Each entry will receive the jury’s decision via a separate CaFÉ email, no later than Friday, July 17, 2026. It is the artist’s responsibility to monitor their CaFÉ account where all submissions will be listed and marked either invited or not under “My CaFÉ Entries.”

Therefore, applicants should keep a record of each artwork's application number, as this identifier will be used to announce the accepted works. Please retain a copy of the information you provide on the entry form.

CaFÉ requires that all images conform to a specific format. Before you begin the entry process, review CaFÉ’s instructions and tutorials.

For technical assistance with your entry, please see https://www.callforentry.org/cafehelp.phtml, or contact cafe@westaf.org. 

For questions about exhibition guidelines, please contact bookart@decaturartsalliance.org.

EACH SUBMISSION MUST INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

• Contact information including mailing address, telephone number, email address, and website address (if applicable)

• Title of work submitted and year the work was completed

• Brief statement about the work.  Limit to 75 words.

• Up to five images of the work submitted for jurying. The five images may include one video. If the work is in standard book format, it must include an image of the book closed and one of the book opened. If applicable, it should include an image of how the work is presented. Other detailed images are optional, but all submitted images must be formatted to the specifications outlined on the CaFÉ website. (https://www.callforentry.org/artist-help-cafe/uploading-media/). *

• *By submitting images of your work, you give permission to the Decatur Arts Alliance to use the images for publicity in the organizations’ websites, digital publications, press releases, DAA publications (both print and electronic), and an online catalogue of the exhibition.

• Information on size of the edition (i.e., whether this is a one-of-a-kind piece or one of a limited edition)

• Image list titled to correspond to the portfolio images submitted. Please include full photography credits as well as title, dimensions, and description of each work.

• Presentation/installation requirements for the work submitted, including any special fixtures required.

NOTIFICATION OF ACCEPTANCE
Each entry will receive the jury’s decision via a separate CaFÉ email, no later than Friday, July 17, 2026. At the same time, jury decisions will also be posted on CaFÉ under “My CaFÉ Entries.” Therefore, artists must monitor their CaFÉ account where entries will be listed and marked as either invited or not invited.  It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to confirm the correct corresponding application number, if multiple applications were submitted.  Applicants not chosen will also be notified. We do not provide feedback or comments on the art, both selected or rejected. No phone calls, please. Images of accepted work will be retained by the DAA for archival purposes.

Instructions for the delivery and return shipment of artwork will be included with the acceptance notifications sent via CaFÉ.  An electronic consignment form will be sent from the Decatur Arts Alliance using Adobe to the email address associated with the CaFÉ account.

Shipped artwork must be received no later than Friday, September 4, 2026. If a local artist would like to arrange an in-person drop-off of their artwork, they must coordinate a date and time directly with the gallery staff.  More information will be provided to those accepted.

Please note: All works must be delivered with all hardware/stands necessary for secure and stable display in the gallery space. In some cases, artists may be asked to personally install 3D works for display security.

Eligibility Criteria

ELIGIBILITY
Artists are invited to enter original, limited edition original, or altered books. Participating items will be selected from submitted entries by a panel of three jurors on the basis of creative excellence and quality of execution. The sponsors are the final authority on eligibility. All works must be the work of the entering artist. Artwork previously showcased in this exhibition is ineligible for inclusion again. Collaborative projects are eligible, with the names of all participating artists included in the statement or description of the work.

Artists are invited to participate in a juried exhibition of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional works. Artwork will be chosen from submitted entries by a panel of three jurors on the basis of creative excellence and quality of execution.

• All works must be original and completed within the last five years.
• Works to be hung must be ready for hanging with any necessary hardware in place.
• Two-dimensional artwork should be no larger than 4 ft. tall and 5.5 ft. wide. Three-dimensional work should be no taller than 6 ft. tall and 6.5 ft. wide. NO WORK should weigh more than 50 lbs.