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HIStory/HERstory: Whose Story? Prospectus and Application

Exhibition: August 15 – October 23, 2025
Application period: Through July 8, 2025 at 2 pm EST

In 1971 the late Linda Nochlin, pioneering feminist art historian, and professor emerita of Modern Art at New York University Institute of Fine arts, asked, “Why are there no great women artists?” The short answer: The system was rigged. For hundreds of years, women were prevented from accessing education, representation, venues in which their creative work would be recognized. According to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, it wasn’t until the 1980s that women artists were recognized in art history texts.

HIStory/HERstory: Whose Story? is an exhibition that asks applicants to visually explore the idea that the victors have written history, and it has often been told from one perspective — while other histories have been ignored, deleted, denied, left out of the official record. Whether it’s visual art, literature, film, sports, science, politics, education, animal, mineral, real or imagined history, this exhibition asks:

  • Who’s telling what stories?
  • How does this influence how we view and understand the world?
  • Who’s in charge of shaping/determining the human record of creativity?
  • What do the vanquished, the erased, the formerly invisible have to say that we should know?
  • Who’s included in the official record?
  • Who’s excluded? Omitted? Erased?
Washington Crossing The Delaware, Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1851

For example: Washington Crossing The Delaware, Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, 1851

Why did George Washington cross the Delaware River in December 1776?

To get to the other side — so he could roust a bunch of German mercenaries serving the British out of Trenton, New Jersey, and turn the tide of the revolution.

Washington’s troops were assisted by Native America warriors. In this painting there’s evidence of contact — Washington’s crew wear Native moccasins, leggings, and a shoulder pouch, which represents an Indigenous presence amongst Washington’s troops. But they’re missing from this painting, a solid part of the art historical canon.

Resurgence of the People, Kent Monkman, 2019

For example: Resurgence of the People, Kent Monkman, 2019

Kent Monkman is a Canadian First Nations artist of Cree + Irish ancestry. The focus of his practice has been, among other themes, violence visited upon native populations by waves of European colonizers.

Monkman “reinterprets the Euro-American tradition of history painting by inserting indigenous people and refugees in the place of conventional white male heroes.”

In Resurgence of the People, Monkman kicks George Washington into the Delaware, and installs, instead his gender-fluid mythological hero: Miss Chief Eagle Testickle.

Final Note

What’s up with “HERstory”? We have HIStory, which has mostly been the version written by the victors. And now we have HERstory, a word coined in the 1960s as a feminist critique of an array of delivered truths about whose creative work, whose story merits telling. It’s a term that extends beyond gender issues.

Looking For

Visual art in 2D + 3D, made by the applicant between 2023 – 2025.

Innovative, fresh responses that move beyond the easiest answer.

Open To

2D and 3D work including paper, clay, fiber, metal, wood, glass, drawing, painting, printmaking, furniture, mixed media, photography, weaving, sculpture, stitchery, and more.

Size Restrictions

  • 2D work should not exceed 48” in total width or 65” in total length.
  • 3D work must be freestanding and easily moved, not to exceed 35 pounds. Because of companion programs planned in conjunction with the exhibition, 3D work will be occasionally and temporarily relocated in the gallery and in the GAAC.

Application Fee

Applicants may enter up to two [2] submissions for the juror’s consideration. $25 GAAC member, $35 nonmember. This is a nonrefundable fee.

Exhibition Calendar

  • Exhibition runs August 15 – October 23, 2025
  • Apply on-line: Through July 8, 2025 at 2 pm EST
  • Notification of acceptance: mid-July
  • Shipped work deadline: August 4 – 7, 2025
  • Drop-off: Friday, August 8, 9 am – 2 pm; Saturday, January 9, 9 am – noon
  • Reception: August 15, 2025, 5 – 8 pm

Juror

Ann Arbor resident Jeri Rosenberg is an artist, community connector, teacher, and official GLOW enthusiast. She has served on the board of WonderFool Productions, the nonprofit that produced ypsiGLOW, FestiFools, and FoolMoon, since their beginning. Her GLOW Fashion is created from conventional materials revisioned in unconventional fashions. From Saran wrap, to plastic cups, to paper plates, zip ties, and latex gloves. Jeri uses everyday materials as the foundation for her creative work.

For over 16 years, Jeri designed and built sets for civic theater. In 2007, this set design work led to her helping midwife the inaugural FestiFools with Mark Tucker. Since then, she has served as a steering committee member, maker, instructor, financial supporter, and Board President of WonderFool Productions (Assembli).

Jeri has worked with all ages teaching art in public, private schools, and art associations, as well as worked with severely emotionally-impaired adolescents. She is certified in Motivational Interviewing, where she trained students, doctors, and other health practitioners. From 2024-2029 Jeri has been a member of the Original Ann Arbor Street Art Fair Jury Advisory Board.

Awards

Three awards will be given: $500 Best of Show; and two, $160 Merit Awards. Thanks to the Barbara and Victor Klein Art Fund for support of the Exhibitions Program.

Photographs

You may submit up to 2 works for the juror’s consideration.

You are required to submit an image of the overall work. You also have the option of providing 1 additional, detail image per work submitted. Please provide well-composed, focused images of your work. This is the work people will view online. Present your work as well as you possibly can. Do not photograph 2D work behind glass. If framed, please do not include the 2D artwork’s frame in your exhibition image unless it is part of the composition vs. a finishing detail.

The HIStory/HERstroy: Whose Story? exhibition will be installed in the GAAC gallery, and viewable as an on-line gallery on the GAAC website.

Requirements

  • Work submitted must be one-of-a-kind, innovative, and original in design. Work derivative of other artists, or work created in a workshop with the collaboration of an instructor is not accepted.
  • Images generated by artificial intelligence cannot be considered. The use of generative artificial intelligence, such as generative fill, to manipulate photos is also disallowed. All parts of the image must have been photographed by the artist who holds the copyright to the work submitted.
  • An entry may be comprised of multiple units [e.g. a diptych]; but may not exceed the maximum dimensions or weights described below. If offered for sale, a single entry comprised of multiple units must be sold for one price. The individual units may not be sold separately.
  • Work submitted must have been completed in the last two years [made from 2022 – present].
  • Work must be gallery ready, when submitted. Paintings and other wall works should be finished or framed. Please use gallery wire. No saw tooth hanging hardware is allowed. NOTE: Wet paintings, work submitted on warped canvases, work that has evidence of pet hair, food stains or other marks/detritus that are not an intended part of the composition will not be exhibited. Exhibitors will be asked to bring their accepted work up to gallery-ready standards before they are allowed to be part of the exhibit.
  • No work will be accepted after the dates and times for delivery listed on the prospectus.
  • The artist’s contact email provided on the application must remain active during the submissions and exhibition process. The artist is responsible for checking their email for exhibition acceptance and/or decline, and other information regarding the exhibition.

Artist’s Statement | REQUIRED

HIStory/HERstory applicants must submit a short [100 words max] statement that provides context for looking at the artwork. How does your work respond to, and answer the creative problem at the heart of this exhibit?

Sales

  • The sale price written on the application is the FINAL price if the work is accepted in the exhibition. Exhibitors may not change sale price after the work is accepted for exhibition.
  • The GAAC will retain a 40% commission on work sold during the exhibition. Artists receive 60% of the final selling price. Artists will receive payment following the close of the exhibition.

Note

The GAAC staff and Exhibitions Committee reserve the right to the final selection of work to be shown in the exhibition. Accepted work may not be removed before the close of the exhibition.

For More Information

Contact Sarah Bearup-Neal, GAAC Gallery Manager: (231) 334-6112.

Apply Here

Artist Information

Name(Required)
Address(Required)
example: http://glenarborart.org

Artwork 1

List multiple mediums by separating with a comma (e.g. oil, cold wax, sparkles).
Describe how you made this work, highlighting the hand processes involved.
Provide a brief [100 words max] statement that explains this work.
Is Artwork 1 Framed?(Required)
Use frame size if framed. Enter numerals only.
Use frame size if framed. Enter numerals only.
Enter numerals only.
Is Artwork 1 For Sale?(Required)
if for sale.
• You are required to submit an image of the overall work. You also have the option of providing 1 additional, detail image per artwork submitted.
• Please provide well-composed, focused images of your work with the highest quality possible.
• Image requirements are 1200 pixels minimum on the long side, 2 MB maximum file size and file types accepted are jpg, jpeg, gif & png. Visit the Photo Editing Resources page for tips and links to editing software if you need help.
• This is the work people will view online. Present your work as well as you possibly can.
• Do not photograph 2D work behind glass. If framed, please do not include the 2D artwork’s frame in your exhibition image.
Drop files here or
Accepted file types: jpg, jpeg, gif, png, Max. file size: 2 MB, Max. files: 2.

    Artwork 2

    List multiple mediums by separating with a comma (e.g. oil, cold wax, sparkles).
    Describe how you made this work, highlighting the hand processes involved.
    Provide a brief [100 words max] statement that explains this work.
    Is Artwork 2 Framed?
    Use frame size if framed. Enter numerals only.
    Use frame size if framed. Enter numerals only.
    Enter numerals only.
    Is Artwork 2 For Sale?
    if for sale.
    • You are required to submit an image of the overall work. You also have the option of providing 1 additional, detail image per artwork submitted.
    • Please provide well-composed, focused images of your work with the highest quality possible.
    • Image requirements are 1200 pixels minimum on the long side, 2 MB maximum file size and file types accepted are jpg, jpeg, gif & png. Visit the Photo Editing Resources page for tips and links to editing software if you need help.
    • This is the work people will view online. Present your work as well as you possibly can.
    • Do not photograph 2D work behind glass. If framed, please do not include the 2D artwork’s frame in your exhibition image.
    Drop files here or
    Accepted file types: jpg, jpeg, gif, png, Max. file size: 2 MB, Max. files: 2.

      Terms and Conditions Agreement



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