Aspiring artists have a special frame in which to show their talents this summer.
Omineca Arts Centre is hosting a group exhibition in July called Unfold. All the artists in this show will be emerging artists who "must be beginning their artist career" and no prior gallery or exhibition experience is required, said organizers.
"We want to support emerging artists by providing them with the opportunity to gain exposure, build on experience through the group gallery exhibition, add to their CV (curriculum vitae) and network, as well as encourage them to continue their practice and get paid for their work," said arts centre chair Jennifer Pighin.
Artists of any genre or working with any medium are encouraged to apply for the show. It was also pointed out that an artist can be starting out in thier creative pursuits but be of any age as well.
"Submissions will be vetted to ensure the artists are in the early stages of their career and that the content meets our vision of 'a safe place for creativity to flourish,'" Pighin said. "At the same time, we encourage artists not to hold back, as often times art can spark the challenging conversations that need to be had to reach the safe space in society."
The application deadline is the end of June but organizers were confident that participation would be robust since, by definition, emerging artists were just learning their way through their processes and would have artwork at the ready.
"Unfolding ourselves through art can be scary, challenging, stressful, but most of all fulfilling," said Pighin, touching on the title of the show. "We are excited to see this exhibition and emerging artists in our community Unfold. To Unfold is to open up, unravel, expose and reveal while at the same time the audience gets the opportunity to receive and explore. We want it to be open ended so that each artist can express themselves freely. We hope that our audience and community will untangle their own understandings from each piece between the spaces of their lived experience and the intent of the work by the artist."
To apply, please send an email to [email protected]. The email must contain contact details for the artist, a short artist bio, a short artist statement and up to five images of proposed art.
