CALL FOR ENTRY

Metaphors of Recent Times
A Dialogue of the Personal, the Political and the Cultural

Exhibition at San Francisco City Hall
Presented by PhotoAlliance in partnership with San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

PhotoAlliance 20th Anniversary Portfolio:
INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20

Metaphors of Recent Times | A Dialogue of the Personal, the Political and the Cultural will feature a multitude of incisive visual perspectives based on diverse identities and backgrounds. We invite photo-based artists whose work raises awareness and provokes dialogue in alignment with the themes in PhotoAlliance’s INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 portfolio to submit, using the common ground of image as a tool for reflecting, sharing, and learning about issues faced in contemporary culture. We encourage submissions that are not just a historical view, but a portrayal of our times seen through individual perspectives.

Curated by PhotoAlliance founder and creative director Linda Connor, the portfolio INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 serves as the paradigm for this exhibition, which will be held at City Hall. Presented as 20 limited edition prints by local, regional, and international photographers, Connor envisioned INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 as a distillation of the creative responses artists have made to the upheaval seen in our political, cultural, environmental, and personal spheres in recent years. The works in INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 speak to the challenges, hope, and resilience that humanity faces as we grapple with profound issues ranging from Covid-19 to Black Lives Matter, from climate change to the new “culture wars,” and from ongoing struggles with ageism and sexism to mass migration. Nearly five years later, these themes remain urgent, making this call for entry a vital extension of the dialogue initiated by INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20.

ABOUT San Francisco Arts Commission

SFAC Main Gallery Exhibition: Carlos Villa: Roots and Reinvention, 2022. Photo by Aaron Wojack.

The San Francisco Arts Commission is the City agency that champions the arts as essential to daily life by investing in a vibrant arts community, enlivening the urban environment and shaping innovative cultural policy.

The San Francisco Arts Commission is committed to creating a city where all artists and cultural workers have the freedom, resources and platform to share their stories, art and culture and where race does not predetermine one’s success in life. We also acknowledge that we occupy traditional and unceded Ohlone land. Fueled by these beliefs, we commit to addressing the systemic inequities within our agency, the City and County of San Francisco and the broader arts and culture sector. This work requires that we focus on race as we confront inequities of the past, reveal inequities of the present and develop effective strategies to move all of us towards an equitable future.

The San Francisco Arts Commission envisions a San Francisco where the transformative power of art is critical to strengthening neighborhoods, building infrastructure and fostering positive social change. We believe the arts create inspiring personal experiences, illuminate the human condition and offer meaningful ways to engage with each other and the world around us. We imagine a vibrant San Francisco where creativity, prosperity and progress go hand in hand. We advance artists’ ideas to improve the quality of life for everyone through a united cultural sector whose contributions are vital and valued.

JURORS

Linda Connor
Artist, Educator
PhotoAlliance Creative Director

Beth Davila Waldman
Artist, Curator & Educator
PhotoAlliance Board of Director

Lewis Watts
Artist/Professor Emeritus of Art
University of California Santa Cruz

TIMELINE

CALL FOR ENTRY OPEN
Sunday, August 25, 2024
|
CALL FOR ENTRY CLOSE
Saturday, November 2, 2024
|
ACCEPTANCE ANNOUNCEMENT
Sunday, November 17, 2024
|
ACCEPTED ART WORK DELIVERY
Tuesday, January 7 and Wednesday, January 8, 2025 | At SFAC Gallery, San Francisco City Hall
|
EXHIBITION OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, January, 16, 2025, 5:00 P.M.
|
EXHIBITION CLOSE
Sunday, June 13, 2025

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Please review the INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 portfolio and submit a trio of 3 images for consideration, relating to each other and to the high level theme(s) of the portfolio. Jurors will select submissions that can be installed as a trio of images, in dialogue with work(s) from the INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 portfolio. We ask that you submit a brief statement, along with artwork information (title, year, media, artwork size, framed size, and retail price/NFS) for each image. Artwork must be delivered ready to hang with wire or D-ring hardware. Work does not need to be framed as a triptych. You are welcome to reference any particular image(s) from INSIGHT/INCITE 20/20 in your submission statement. Submissions of fewer than 3 images will not be considered.

Submission to this call is free of charge through the generosity of the San Francisco Arts Commission.

 

SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

• SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Saturday, November 2, 2024.
• IMAGES: 3 individual images.
• FILES: 3 individual images; Files to be named as: LastName_FirstName_1/2/3; 2400px as longside, 300 ppi .jpg files only.
• Please email exhibitions@photoalliance.org if you have any questions.

TERMS

• Each artist may only submit one set of 3 images.
• Artists whose work are selected will be exhibited as a set of 3 images.
• By submitting to this call, the artist acknowledges that they are the creator of the submitted images.
• Artist retains copyright to their artwork.
• Artists whose work is chosen for exhibition grant PhotoAlliance and San Francisco Arts Commission the right to use submitted images in promotional materials for this exhibition without additional compensation.

 
 
 

ABOUT EXHIBITION GALLERY

 

The San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries makes contemporary art accessible to broad audiences through curated exhibitions that both reflect our regional diversity and position Bay Area visual art production within an international art landscape.

The Arts Commission founded its exhibitions program in 1970 with the opening of Capricorn Asunder, a gallery space located across from City Hall at 155 Grove Street. Over the years, the gallery has evolved into the SFAC Galleries, a dynamic contemporary art program that has shown more than 4,400 local, national and international artists in over 480 exhibitions at two unique Civic Center locations. By commissioning new works, collaborating with arts and community organizations and supporting artist’s projects, the SFAC Galleries provides new and challenging opportunities for contemporary art to engage with a civic dialog.

San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl, San Francisco, CA 94102
Hours: Wednesday - Saturday, 12:00 P.M. - 5:00 P.M.