Call for Entries: Art Optimism The 2021 Athenaeum Open

Deadline: August 25, 2021

Artist Notification Date: September 1, 2021
Exhibition Dates: September 23 — October 31, 2021
Click for full details and to submit

The Athenaeum Gallery invites DC, Virginia, and Maryland artists to explore concepts related to climate change. We are looking for a wide variety of topics and perspectives, but all work accepted into the exhibition will have a common leitmotif: optimism for improving our footprint on the planet. Works will inspire rather than threaten, celebrate solutions rather than scare, and explore new materials and techniques that help present a proactive message about climate change and productive ways we can meet the associated challenges.

$3,750 will be given in prizes, through four awards: Best in Show, Honorable Mention, Art Optimism, and Popular Choice.

Artists are encouraged to consider the theme broadly and creatively. Some of the works accepted into the show might:

• Reflect today’s opportunities to have a beneficial impact on the future.
• Inspire, motivate, or educate people to take action in response to climate change.
• Comment on the fragility or our world.
• Feature sustainable or repurposed materials, methods, or practices.
• Identify threats and propose solutions.
• Explore the philosophical, cultural, and ecological implications of our impact on the environment.

The Athenaeum Open is the current iteration of The Athenaeum Invitational. For a number of years we have selected a small number of artists who have exhibited at the Athenaeum Gallery to be ‘invited’ participants and join regional artists juried from an open call in an annual, theme-based exhibition with prizes.

Please refer to the call for eligibility and selection criteria.