ART CALL

A Virtual Exhibition of Self-Reflection, Resilience, and Communal Beauty

Across generations and throughout the diaspora, people of African lineage have faced erasure, distorted imagery, limiting stories and untruths about who we are. Despite these struggles, we continue to create our own narratives, in our truth–written, played, painted–on our faces and in our bodies; with our language and style; in our group chats and on our timelines; on the frontlines; in real life. 

ART GAL: BLK IRL  is a digital exhibition centered on now: how we see ourselves, how we hold each other, and how we choose to live in this moment as Black folx, worldwide. This call invites artwork that affirms Black life as it is today: complex, everyday, sacred, tender, joyful, tired, healing, still redefining, still thriving.

ART GAL is seeking artworks that engage with:

• Self-reflection and honest self-portraiture (literal or symbolic)

• Personal resilience: how you keep going, adapt, rest, and restart

• Positive self-image and body image that honors real Black lives and features

• Communal image: how we see each other, uplift each other, and show up together

• Living in the present moment: groundedness, mindfulness, and being “here” now

• Everyday Black life: small rituals, routines, softness, laughter, care work

• Healing from internalized racism, colorism, texturism, and shame

• Joy, play, and imagination as forms of resistance and self-definition

Your work can be subtle, loud, abstract, figurative, spiritual, humorous, or deeply intimate, as long as it is in conversation with self-reflection, resilience, positive image, and the present realities of Black life.

Who Can Submit:

Accepted
Media:

All submissions must be:
Suitable for online presentation
Two Dimensional Artworks
Scanned or photographed at high resolution
No physical shipments. All work is presented in digital form

Submission
Guidelines:

While a minimum of 3 is required, each artist may submit up to 6 works for consideration.

Please include:

1. Artwork Files

• JPG / PNG
  
• 16x9, 9x16, and 1x1 / Minimum 1920px on the longest side
  
  

2. Artwork Details (for each piece)

• Filename "Artist-ArtTitle-Medium-Year-Size"
  
• Brief description (50–150 words)
  
  

3. Artist Info

• Name and/or artist name
• Location (City, Country)
• Artist Bio (150 word max)
• Email + Website and/or social media
  
  

4. Short Artist Statement

150–200 words on how your practice engages self-reflection, resilience, positive self/communal image, and/or living in the present moment as a Black person or within Black communities

Fee:

Art Shop:

Submission
Schedule:

• Call Opens: 12/3/25
• Submission Deadline: 12/21/25 11:59 PM / 23:59 PST
  

• Selected Artists will be notified by: January 15, 2026
• Opening Reception: February 19 2026
• Exhibit Runs: February-April 2026
  

How to
Submit: