The Allegany Arts Council is pleased to announce a call for entry for The 21st Annual Wills Creek Exhibition (WCE) in its Saville and Schwab Galleries in downtown Cumberland, Maryland. This event is a juried competition with $4000 in cash prizes. 

COVID 19 Alert: At this time, we are scheduling both an online and a physical exhibition for the WCE in our Saville and Schwab Galleries. If this is not possible due to social distancing requirements in August, artists will be notified and we will have the online gallery exhibition, only.  In either case, artists will be able to list their work for sale and $4,000 in prizes will be awarded. 

 THEME:  “Shelter”

Shelter can be defined as an establishment that affords protection, cover, food and safety for the homeless, orphaned, or abandoned. Shelter can also be synonymous with home--space to seek refuge from the erratic elements of mother nature, to raise a family or to create personal, private space. Shelter too can be found abstractly through intimacy, such as the familial bonds of a child finding safety in a mother’s arms or the warmth and reassurance of a lover’s embrace. 

Climate change, public health crises, migration, have all undermined our collective sense of permanence and shelter. Once understood to be a fixed physical structure, the definition of shelter now feels precarious, subject to change, and boundaries of our private spaces have now become blurred as homes are becoming multifunctional spaces for living, working, schooling, and caring for immediate and extended family members. The habits, functions and fundamental conception of shelter—how we create shelter it, understand it and see it—is now more than ever being redefined. This exhibition will offer various perspectives on shelter by straddling both physical realms of refuge and protection, and the psychological, emotional bonds constituted by human connection. 

Juror: Jessica Beck is the Milton Fine Curator of Art at The Andy Warhol Museum. She has curated many projects including: Andy Warhol: My Perfect Body in 2016 and Devan Shimoyama: Cry, Baby in 2018—the artist’s first solo museum exhibition, which debuted at The Andy Warhol Museum to great acclaim from The New York Times and The Burlington Contemporary. In 2019, she co-curated Kim Gorodn’s first museum solo exhibition in North America, Kim Gordon: Lo-Fi Glamour. Beck has published widely with The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Cantor Center for the Arts, Gagosian Quarterly, and Burlington Magazine. In 2017 and 2018, Beck served as the visiting scholar at Carnegie Mellon School of Art, where she taught critical studies and thesis writing seminars. She completed her MA with distinction from the Courtauld Institute of Art.

Artists of all mediums and genres are encouraged to apply. Accepted media categories include: ceramics, digital art, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, new genres, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, video and wood. We are looking for innovative, creative and unique work. Your work should be completed in the last three years and not previously shown in the Saville Gallery. Work must not exceed 48” in any direction including the frame. For additional information visit www.alleganyartscouncil.org or 301-777-ARTS (2787)

Awards: $4,000 ($1,500 Best of Show)

Entry deadline:  Wednesday, July 15, 2020 midnight EST

An opening reception will be held in the Allegany Arts Council's Saville Gallery, Cumberland, MD on Saturday, August 29, from 6-8 pm. Awards will be presented by the juror at 7 pm.

Application Requirements

Eligibility Criteria