Walking Prospectus and Application

Glen Arbor Arts Center [GAAC] Exhibition: April 1 – May 29, 2025
Application period: Through February 12, 2025 at 2 pm EST

Walking is an exhibit about ambling, rambling, wending one’s way. Why do you walk? Where do you walk? What do you see when you walk? What do you think about when you walk? Are you present or elsewhere?

Some thoughts on walking

Walkabout: “A time of reflection of the soul, a return to one’s roots and family ancestry, a joyous revisit to vistas, creek and waterholes.” [from Wikipedia]

Walk it back: “To withdraw, reverse, or retreat from one’s position or opinion, especially in a hasty or abrupt manner.” [from The Free Dictionary]

Then there’s: Walk on water. Walk on by. These boots were made for walkin’. Walk like an Egyptian. And, solvitar ambulado: A Latin phrase which means things are solved by walking.

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, 28” in total width, 65” in total length. 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 April 1 – May 29, 2025
Apply on-line: Through February 12, 2025 at 2 pm EST
Notification of acceptance: Late February
Shipped work deadline: March 17 – 20, 2025
Drop-off: Friday, March 21, 9 am – 2 pm; Saturday, March 22, 9 am – 2 pm
Reception: April 4, 2025, 5 – 7 pm

Juror

Shanna Robinson makes art inspired by the natural world. Working in textiles, sculpture, and printmaking, she creates a varied body of work connected by a love of nature. Concocting dyes and inks from plants, weaving with plant, animal, or reclaimed materials, and making prints based on signature marks such as tree rings and fingerprints, she seeks to work in ways that connect her with the more-than-human world. An inveterate walker, she incorporates walking, collecting and observing as part of her practice and process. Robinson is a retired Professor of Art from North Central Michigan College, where she taught art history, design, textiles, and ceramics. Robinson holds a BFA and an MFA from Eastern Michigan University

Awards

Three awards will be given: $500 Best of Show; and two, $160 Merit Awards. These awards are made possible by the Amy L. Clark-Carels Family Fund, and the Barbara and Victor Klein Art Fund.

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 Walking 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 2023 – 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

Walking 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?

For More Information

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