Call for Artists: Expressions: Art & Verse Festival 2022

The Addison Center for the Arts is pleased to announce a Call for Artists for our second collaboration between visual artists and the Illinois State Poetry Society. In February of 2020, the ACA hosted the first Expressions: Art & Verse Festival in which ISPS poets chose artworks to inspire a poem. It was a wildly successful and fun mingling of creativity, art, and imagination.

This time we are doing it in reverse. The exhibit will open Wednesday, February 16, 2022. Participating artists will create and display original artworks inspired by a poem. Illinois poets will jury the prospective artists by choosing their favorite from the candidates’ three entry images. Once a poet has chosen an artist, they will submit one of their own poems that the artist will use as inspiration for a work of art.

Exhibition: The art will be on display at the ACA Gallery with text of the poems for a month starting February 16 until March 19, 2022. In addition to the gallery exhibition, the ACA will have an ongoing virtual archive of the exhibition for artists and poets to share. This web page will be our emergency backup in case COVID closures force us to pivot to a socially-distanced, virtual festival.

Festival: On Saturday, February 19, 2022, the Addison Center for the Arts will host the Expressions: Art & Verse Festival from 1 to 4 pm. During this event the public is invited to enjoy the art exhibit in the gallery and then attend the poetry recital by members of the ISPS in the adjacent studio theater.

Pandemic Contingency: If ACA facilities are shuttered for statewide pandemic isolation measures, we will take Expressions: Art & Verse online with a virtual festival program. 

Eligibility: The art exhibit is open to Illinois artists. The deadline to apply by email is October 29, 2021. To enter, artists will provide the following information and three images of previous work in one email with the subject heading: “EXPRESSIONS ENTRY”  to julie@addisoncenterfortheart.org:

Name

Address

Phone number

Email

Website and/or social media (if applicable)

The entry fee is $10 per artist. Are you paying by PayPal or check? 

Three .jpg images of your previous art work for poets to judge attached to the email.

If you are a current Addison Center for the Arts member, your entry fee is waived; otherwise it is $10 per artist.

Upon receipt of your entry email, artists will be sent a link to Paypal for credit card payments. You can choose the basic entry fee, but we encourage you to become a member of the ACA to take advantage of free or discounted opportunities with us in the future.

Write checks out to and mail to: 

Addison Center for the Arts

213 N. Lombard Rd.

Addison, IL 60101

Attn: Expressions

Members of the ISPS will select artists in early November. Candidate artists will be notified if they were accepted within a few days. Selected artists will receive a congratulatory email including a poem to work with, and drop-off or delivery information for the exhibit.

This will be fun! Good luck.

You can send questions to Julie Mars-- julie@addisoncenterforthearts.org .