Glen Arbor Arts Center [GAAC]
Exhibition: August 16 – October 24, 2024
Application period: March 6 – July 9, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST
In the most conventional sense, a shrine is a holy place in which sacred relics are housed. An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of offerings [sometimes religious], sacrifices, or other ritualized presents. Both offer ways to create space for memory, reverence, reflection.
Shrines + Altars is an exhibition that explores what we hold sacred: To whom are we building shrines? At what altars are we worshipping?
Shrines aren’t necessarily religious structures. A shrine can hold ideas and expressions that are humorous, political, satirical, about family, home, the natural world. A shrine can be an old bathtub, flipped on its head, buried halfway down in the front yard with a revered figure housed inside it. Or, in the case of Imeda Marcos, an argument can be made that her shoe closet was a shrine.
Altars are concrete objects as well as ideas – e.g. worshipping at the altar of money, convenience, false idols, hipness, political correctness, technology, and more.
But what do these things become when visual artists take them on for interpretation? Two examples:
- Maya Lin’s What Is Missing project, the final installment in a series of memorial installations. https://www.mayalinstudio.com/memory-works
- A shrine built to playwright and poet Oscar Wilde by artists Peter McGough and David McDermott. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/t-magazine/oscar-wilde-temple-london.html
Looking For
- Visual art in 2D + 3D, made by the applicant between 2022 -2024.
- 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 16 – October 24, 2024
- Apply on-line: Through July 9, 2024 at 11:59 pm EST
- Notification of acceptance: Mid-July
- Shipped work deadline: August 5 – 8, 2024
- Drop-off: Friday, August 9, 9 am – 2 pm; Saturday, August 10, 9 am — NOON
- Pick-up: Friday, October 25, 9 am – 2 pm; Saturday, October 26, 9 am — NOON
- Reception: August 16, 5 – 8 pm
Juror
Mary Fortuna moved to Traverse City from the Detroit area, where she was active in the art community. She works in soft sculpture, needlework and textiles, collage, assemblage, painting, and mixed media. She has exhibited her work in museums and galleries all over Michigan, nationally and internationally. She has worked in the education department of the Detroit Institute of Arts and has conducted many classes and workshops. She has served as a curator and a juror for numerous exhibits and awards.
Awards
Three awards will be given: $500 Best of Show; and two, $160 Merit Awards. These awards are made possible by Amy L. Clark-Carels Family Fund, and Barbara and Victor Klein Art Fund. NOTE: GAAC employees and Board Members who are selected to exhibit are not eligible to be considered for exhibition award prizes.
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 Shrines + Altars 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.
- An entry may be comprised of multiple units [e.g. a diptych]; but may not exceed the maximum dimensions or weights described above. 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: Unacceptable work includes 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 allowed. 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
Shrines + Altars 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
The application period has ended.
