ABOUT
This fall (Sept. 1 to Oct 10, 2020) Opalka Gallery will mount a large group exhibition showcasing work from regional artists made during or in response to the current global pandemic and social and political unrest. The exhibition will be installed in the gallery, as well as posted online if Opalka is not able to open to the public or if viewing is limited. The work chosen for the exhibition will be available for sale, with 60% of the sale price directly benefiting the artist. The exhibition will be juried by regional artists and curators Sharon Bates, Stacey Robinson, Ellen Letcher and Julie Torres and Opalka Gallery staff, Judie Gilmore and Amy Griffin. Participating artists are also encouraged to submit proposals for performances and events (most likely virtual) such as artist lectures, panel discussions, and virtual studio visits in September and October. Concurrently, artist Daesha Devón Harris will use collected images and writing from hundreds of Capital Region residents to create a site-specific community portrait at Opalka Gallery that provides insight into what this moment in time has meant for the community.

GOALS
Through Infinite Uncertainty, we are interested in representing the full range of artistic response to our current moment: new projects instigated, old ones revisited, creative bursts and detours in your practice. We hope to offer insight into how the unprecedented global disruption, looming economic fallout, pain surrounding the country’s glaring social injustices, and persistent uncertainty have affected regional artists and their work. Our exhibition will offer an opportunity for sales and a chance for artists to reach our large, public audience both in person and online. In addition to an exhibition in the gallery, we will be programming a concurrent lineup of outdoor and/or virtual events and performances related to the exhibition’s theme. Part of our long-term vision is to eliminate barriers and increase access to our contemporary art space and we encourage BIPOC artists to submit.

CALL FOR ART
Infinite Uncertainty is open to all artists of all media to participate in a group exhibition. Artists selected will receive a $200 exhibition stipend. The gallery will also cover costs of shipping or pick up and delivery. For this call, we are defining “regional” as anyone living or working within a 100 mile radius from Albany, New York.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: VISUAL ARTS
To submit work, we require the following materials. Each artist may submit up to 5 individual pieces. Documents should be compiled into one PDF document; please include the last and first name of the artist in the name of the attachment. If you are submitting more than one piece, please send only one PDF, but include info from items 4-6 below for each piece.

1) Name of artist
2) Home or studio address, including county
3) Statement of Purpose or Artist Statement (approximately 300 words or less)
4) Description of artwork submitted: One paragraph (approximately 300 word) description of your proposed work and how it relates to the exhibition’s goals
5) Caption info for each piece submitted: Title, year created, medium, dimensions, sale price
6) Images. Please include images of finished work. If you are submitting work in progress, please include enough representative images to give us an idea of the finished work. If you are submitting video work, please include live links in the PDF. (Please note the preferred time stamp for jurors to start a 30-second preview).

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS: EVENTS & PERFORMANCES
To submit an event or performance, we require the following materials. Each artist may submit up to 2 proposed events/performances. Documents should be compiled into one PDF document; please include the last and first name of the artist in the name of the attachment. If you are submitting more than one eve

1) Name of artist
2) Home or studio address, including county.
3) Statement of Purpose or Artist Statement
4) Description of proposed event/performance: One paragraph (approximately 300 word) description of your proposed event/performance and how it relates to the exhibition’s goals. Please include proposed dates and times (between Sept. 1 and Oct. 10, 2020) as well as any resources your event/proposal would require (e.g. audio/visual equipment, lighting, stage, etc.)
5) List of past events/performances or a paragraph (approximately 300 words) explaining your experience creating/producing similar events. If you are submitting video samples, please include live links in the PDF. (Please note the preferred time stamp for jurors to start a 30-second preview).

***Submissions should be sent in a SINGLE PDF (Please include artist name in file name) to: [email protected] by Monday, July 13th, 2020 at 11:59 p.m.
Incomplete or late submissions WILL NOT be considered***

INSTALLATION & SCHEDULING
Artwork must be received at Opalka Gallery by Wednesday, August 19th, 2020. Installation will begin August 24, 2020. If an artist must install their own work, the gallery and its staff will be made available operating within the college’s guidelines at the time for social distancing and safe procedures.

JUROR BIOS
Sharon Bates is a visual artist, an independent curator, and the Founding Director of the Albany International Airport Art & Culture Program, which has become a national model for public art. As an artist, Bates has exhibited site-specific installations and mixed media work in Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; and throughout the Northeast. In 2018, Opalka Gallery presented a solo exhibition of her work titled Sharon Bates: Exhibit B. Recent awards include 2019 Skidmore Summer Studio Art Program, Visiting Artist Residency; 2018 Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency, Granville, NY and 2017 Lillian Heller Artist Residency, at Chesterwood, Stockbridge.

Stacey Robinson, is a visual artist and Assistant Professor of graphic design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a Arthur A. Schomburg fellow, he completed his Masters of Fine Art at the University at Buffalo. He was a 2019-2020 Nasir Jones Hip-Hop Fellow at the Hutchins Center for African & African-American Research, at Harvard University where he researched hip-hop’s multimodal performance practice as activism. His multimedia work discusses ideas of “Black Utopias” as decolonized spaces of peace by considering Black affluent, self-sustaining communities, Black protest movements, and the arts that document(ed) them.

Artists and partners Ellen Letcher and Julie Torres have been curating independently and together for the past 10 years. They met in 2010 at Famous Accountants, the Ridgewood NY gallery that Letcher co-founded in 2009, and moved together to Hudson NY in 2016. They enjoy collaborating as both artists and curators, as well as making their own work and organizing their own projects. In 2018, Letcher and Torres took the reins at LABspace gallery in Hillsdale NY, founded by artist Susan Jennings. They are deeply engaged in the Hudson Valley, Berkshire, Capital Region, and greater NY art communities by connecting artists at LABspace, attending area exhibitions and studios, exhibiting their own artwork, and guest-curating in other spaces. Their projects have been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Hyperallergic, Brooklyn Rail, Chronogram and Two Coats of Paint. Their current show, Space Case at LABspace, features artists who run exhibition spaces throughout VA, NC and TN. They welcome safe, masked visits by appointment.