call for artists

Now Accepting Submissions for 3 Shows

Our next round of submissions is now live on SlideRoom.

Embark seeks work from artists currently enrolled in programs related to the arts at the following institutions: California College of the Arts, Mills College, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, San Jose University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and UC Davis. 

Students who have earned their degree in Spring of 2016 are also eligible to apply to this round of shows.

The deadline to apply is July 1, 2016 at midnight.

SlideRoom charges a $5 fee per application, which goes entirely to SlideRoom. Thank you for understanding. 

Humor Us

September 10th-October 22nd

Philosopher John Morreall famously defined humor as amusement that takes pleasure in a cognitive shift. The opening of this exhibition next fall presents a timely connection to the presidential elections and artists are encouraged to present works that reflect issues surrounding American citizen concerns in a new presidential tenure. How might emerging contemporary artists convey religious and race discrimination, or a crippling economy, or housing costs through humor?

The title of the exhibition is a play upon words that encompasses the word ‘humorous’, the phrase ‘humor me’, and ‘US’ as the abbreviation for the United States in order to incorporate the various roles that humor can play for a single individual. Humor Us intends to make hearts heavy with laughter and faces hurt from smiles, to approach conversations about critical issues artists in the US care about today.

Artworks of any medium, including large-scale installation and performance, will be considered. Artists are encouraged to keep in mind both themes of politics and humor when selecting and submitting work. Embark would also like to encourage artists to present a body of work rather than several disparate pieces, if applicable to your practice (singular works will still be considered).

This exhibition is curated by Tanya Gayer (CCA), whose proposal was selected in Embark's last call for curatorial proposals.

Required Dates for Artists:

Artist Meet up and Artwork Drop off: September 4th

Opening Reception: September 9th

Artwork Pickup: October 23rd


#simulacra

November 5th-December 17th

We live in a visual culture in which it is increasingly easy to participate. Images are all-important, and are no longer mere representations of truth. As Jean Baudrillard predicted, reality itself has begun to imitate what was once its model and now the model is all we care about. If no one Instagrams it...did it ever really happen?

Topics may include, but are not limited to: the role and influence of the media in contemporary life, representations of capitalist value systems (in which money is the universal equivalent for value), urban landscapes replacing natural environments, and/or the ways in which language, visual or otherwise, traps us in certain ideologies. The question being: How do these considerations of the current state of visual culture affect contemporary photography?

Submissions of photo sculpture, installation, books and performance that incorporates photography are all welcome. Embark would also like to encourage artists to present a body of work rather than several disparate pieces, if applicable to your practice (singular works will still be considered).

Required Dates for Artists

Artist Meet up and Artwork Drop off: October 30th

Opening Reception: November 4th

Artwork Pickup: December 18th


Not Never

January 28th- March 4th

Inspired by philosopher Herbert Marcuse’s notion of “the great refusal,” Not Never aims to showcase activist artworks that address oppression as it is related to the queer community. We are looking for artists whose work destabilizes, troubles, and/or challenges hegemonic systems by just saying “no.” We would like to explore queer refusal as an antagonistic force in contemporary art, and art that opts out of and/or fights back against the status quo.

All media will be considered, including activist projects and social practice work. Embark would also like to encourage artists to present a body of work rather than several disparate pieces, if applicable to your practice (singular works will still be considered).

Required Dates for Artists

Artist Meet up and Artwork Drop off: January 21st

Opening Reception: January 27th

Artwork Pickup: March 5th

Spring 2016 Call for Artists

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Embark Gallery seeks work by local MFA and MA students for 2 juried exhibitions and 1 curatorial proposal!

Any students currently enrolled in graduate programs related to the arts at the following institutions are eligible to apply for one or all calls: California College of the Arts, Mills College, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco State University, San Jose University, Stanford University, UC Berkeley and UC Davis.

Entry Requirements

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: January 4, 2016.

Selected artists will be notified by February 3, 2016.

Applicants will apply for each exhibition via the related SlideRoom link or visit our application portal HERE to apply to multiple shows.


 1. Encounters: Portraits and Identity

A response to the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition juried by Associate Curator of Painting and Sculpture, Dorothy Moss and Director of the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, Kim Sajet.

Call for artworks that capture an aspect of identity-- whether personal, familial, cultural, political or otherwise. Like the guidelines for the Competition, the subject of the artwork may be anyone: a friend, stranger, relative, yourself- but must be the result of the artist’s direct encounter with that person. Artists are invited to interpret the concept of portraiture broadly, and artworks of any medium will be considered, including performance.

This exhibition will run from March 18-April 30, 2016.


APPLY HERE FOR ENCOUNTERS: PORTRAITS AND IDENTITY

 2. CAMPUS: Interventions to Public Space

Embark Gallery partners with Fort Mason Center for Arts and Culture to present "CAMPUS: Interventions to Public Space." 

This exhibit takes Embark’s contemporary and cutting-edge programming outside of the gallery, and onto the Fort Mason campus. This call is for site-specific installations and/or performances that engage the public space of Fort Mason Center. Existing work and detailed project proposals will be accepted. Project proposals should include a detailed description with installation plan and a drawing and/or reference images of proposed or similar past artwork.

Priority will be given to artists who respond specifically to their location, and to work that encourages audience action and participation. Artwork may address the history, architecture or location of Fort Mason Center, a formal military port, as well as questions over public and private space, federal and civic entities (FMC is owned by the National Park Service), sociopolitical and cultural changes in San Francisco, the Bay, Pacific Ocean, or environmental issues-- as long as the installation and/or performance responds specifically to the site, all interpretations on the theme will be considered.

There are 3 available spaces and you may apply to 1 or more in the following sections.

The show will run from May 12, 2016-June 4, 2016, and coincides with the San Francisco International Arts Festival. 

APPLY HERE FOR CAMPUS: INTERVENTIONS TO PUBLIC SPACE

3. Call for Curatorial Proposals

Embark is excited to announce our first call for curatorial proposals! Open to both MFA and MA students with a focus on art history, curatorial or museum studies, or other similar programs.

Please submit a 250-500 word proposal for an exhibition to take place at Embark Gallery. Proposals should take into account past programming at Embark, and propose a novel exhibition. The call for artists may not exclude any individual on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, age or ability. The proposal must be broad enough that it is feasible for anyone to apply. Curators should plan to exhibit 4-10 artists from at least 3 different schools. Proposals broad enough to diversify the applicant pool will be given priority. Proposals already focused on specific artists cannot be considered.

We encourage proposals that consider current discourse surrounding contemporary art practices, theory or history, but take on a new perspective. As part of Embark’s mission to expand the audience for up and coming contemporary art, we advise against proposals that are so academic as to be inaccessible to the public.

Aside from these guidelines, proposals for a show of any medium, theme or subject matter will be considered. The winning proposal will be included in Embark’s mid-year call for artists and the show will be presented in the fall. The author of the winning proposal will join the Executive and Curatorial Directors of Embark in selecting artists after submissions for our next call are received, in July 2016. This meeting can be held both virtually or in person.

APPLY HERE WITH A CURATORIAL PROPOSAL

Please contact us at info@embarkgallery.com with any questions or concerns

As always, we look forward to your submissions!