Keystone Progress Education Fund and Casey Droege Cultural Productions are thrilled to present a call for art for a series of exhibitions.
Consider submitting your work for a series of exhibitions in collaboration with Keystone Progress Education Fund. Taking place this Fall, the three exhibitions will create a dialogue around democracy and explore key voter issues such as reproductive rights and gun violence in our communities, particularly within our region as it prepares for the upcoming elections.
The exhibition series will take place across three sites:
Exhibition 1: October 16–November 2, 2024
Pittsburgh, PA
The Art of Democracy will feature a multitude of voices examining what a healthy democracy looks like in our direct communities, Pennsylvania, the broader US and beyond. We’re seeking art that creates a dialogue around democracy as a whole and the current political climate, especially in a year when we have an important election. We want to explore how democracy impacts things like censorship, reproductive rights and abortion access, worker’s rights, and economic justice. And, most importantly, what a healthy democracy should look like.
We welcome artists working in a myriad of mediums and artistic languages—from traditional to non-traditional art forms—including painting, printmaking, drawings, collage, sculpture, creative writing, photography, mixed media, metal, glass, fiber, ceramics, jewelry, installations, and time-based media. Please note: If your work was conceived as digital art, add all technicalities and procedures about the installation process, such as the need for outlets, speakers, and power cords, and whether you can provide these items.
Natalie Sweet, Executive Director of Brew House Arts, will serve as the curator.
Exhibition 2: A Satellite Venue (within a 100 mile radius of Pittsburgh)
Dates to be scheduled between August–November, 2024
Exhibition 2 (Title TBD) focuses specifically on reproductive rights and the impact on communities and individuals of having access to care. There is potential for the artworks to be additionally included within the larger Art of Democracy Show taking place at Brew House Arts in Pittsburgh in October.
We welcome artists working in a myriad of mediums and artistic languages—from traditional to non-traditional art forms—including painting, printmaking, drawings, collage, sculpture, creative writing, photography, mixed media, metal, glass, fiber, ceramics, jewelry, installations, and time-based media. Please note: If your work was conceived as digital art, add all technicalities and procedures about the installation process, such as the need for outlets, speakers, and power cords, and whether you can provide these items.
Michaela Blanc, independent curator and Wikimedian In Residence at the Pérez Art Museum Miami, will serve as the curator.
Exhibition 3: September 26 - October 19, 2024
Indiana, PA
Dates to be scheduled between August–November, 2024
In collaboration with CeaseFire PA, Exhibition 3 (Title TBD) will feature photography that highlights the impact of gun violence on people’s lives in Western Pennsylvania. The exhibited images will be further used in voter issue advertisement materials to encourage voter turn-out and votes addressing gun violence in this election season and beyond. There is potential for the artworks to be additionally included within the larger Art of Democracy Show taking place at Brew House Arts in Pittsburgh in October.
Only photography and other lens-based work (not including moving image) will be considered for this exhibition. Artists must sign a licensing agreement that allows the CeaseFire PA and Keystone Progress to use the images in voter issue advertisement materials beyond the exhibition. Compensation for this will be included in the artist fee.
Jillian Daniels, independent curator and Deputy Director of Operations at Silver Eye Center for Photography, will serve as the curator.
Overall Artist Eligibility:
Applicants must be 18 or over and living within approximately 100 miles of the city of Pittsburgh.
All 2D artwork must be ready to hang with wire or similar and cannot exceed roughly 20 pounds in weight per piece.
All sculptures must be roughly less than 20” x 20” x 20”.
All digital art must include specific instructions on required equipment and installation process procedures.
CDCP will work with artists to sell available works and artists will receive 60% of all sales in one payment at the end of the exhibition.
Artists will be required to drop off and pick up artwork at specific times and locations as provided by CDCP.
Each artist will receive a $200 stipend in recognition of their work. Artists exhibiting in Exhibition 3 will receive an additional fee of $100 to compensate for the required licensing agreement.
To Apply:
Fill out the form below. (We will also be asking for demographic data [e.g. race, gender, income level] that we collect for grant request purposes. If you do not feel comfortable sharing that information, please disregard those fields and continue with the rest of the application.)
Attach the following items for each artwork per exhibition for which you would like to be considered as a zipped file (Note: you are allowed to submit up to 3 artworks per show):
1–2 high-quality JPEGs per work. (If selected, we will be using the images as material for exhibition marketing.) PLEASE label each image file as “Firstname_lastname#.jpg” and zip them together before uploading.
Image list labeled with your name and contact information alongside objects details for each piece (title, medium, dimensions, and year work was completed). PLEASE label this doc or pdf file as “Firstname_lastname_imagelist” before uploading.
NOTE: Any unlabeled files will not be considered.
NOTE: Artworks must be available to be on site August–November 2024.
About the curators:
Natalie Sweet (she/her) is a cultural worker, curator, and community builder based in Pittsburgh, PA. She currently serves as Executive Director of Brew House Arts, a non-profit art center that hosts community driven fine art exhibitions, artist studios, and residency programs. Natalie’s work explores how inclusive spaces and networks can connect people to the arts, their surroundings, and to each other. Natalie earned a degree in the History of Art and Architecture at the University of Pittsburgh in 2009. Since then, she has collaborated with various organizations such as Contemporary Craft, Headcount, the Equity Impact Center, and Associated Artists of Pittsburgh.
Michaela Blanc is the Wikimedian in Residence at the Pérez Art Museum Miami and a Regional Ambassador at Art+Feminism. Previously, she was a Curatorial Fellow at the MassArt Art Museum (MAAM), a guest curator for the SMFA at Tufts on view at Tufts University Art Galleries in Medford and MassArt Low Residence MFA programs, a juror and Graduate Curatorial Fellow at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and a curatorial intern at the Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston. Blanc is an alumna of C& Critical Writing Workshop, Dallas (2023). She holds an MA in Museum Studies/Museum Education from Tufts University and a BA in Art History from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.
Jillian Daniels is a designer, curator, and mixed media artist interrogating social/political conditions and identity through historical narratives, visual culture, storytelling, and systems design. Jillian is currently the Deputy Director of Operations at Silver Eye Center for Photography and holds a BS in Industrial Design Studies + Systems Design and BA Studio Art from SUNY University at Buffalo and is a Ronald E. McNair Scholar.