Ode to Richmond Call For Entries

Theme: Ode to Richmond

Crossroads Art Center is delighted to extend an invitation for submissions that pay tribute to our beloved Hometown through our themed Members-Only exhibition: "Ode to Richmond." This unique show draws inspiration from the eloquent poem "Ode to Richmond" penned by Roscoe Burnems, RVA's esteemed First Poet Laureate of 2021. We eagerly anticipate the diverse and creative expressions that will emerge as artists explore and interpret the essence of Richmond through their artistic lenses.  

Call For Entry Dates: March 22, 2024 - April 19, 2024

• Entry fee is $15 per entry. You may enter up to 3 pieces
• No reproductions or giclee allowed unless approved by Owner Jennifer Kirby. Printed digital art is allowed. 
• All work must be for sale. All work must be available for sale by the artist until the end of the show. Commission for sales is 30%. 
• You must be a Gallery Member in good standing to enter the show. If you are not a gallery member, you may join now so you can enter.  Please go to our website. Click on "Just for Artists" and then "Gallery Membership”. https://www.crossroadsartcenter.com/pages/gallery-membership
• All pieces submitted will the show in the virtual exhibition online. Our goal is to also show all pieces LIVE in the Live exhibit at CAC.  We will notify you by April 28, 2024 to confirm that your piece or pieces will be also shown Live!

 You will enter online by clicking here  https://odetorichmondgallerymembersexhibit.artcall.org

Dates to Know - 

• Drop off date for work chosen to be shown live: Friday, May 3rd, 2024 - Thursday, May 9, 2024, by noon 
• Exhibition Open House Weekend: Friday, May 17, 5pm - 8pm, Saturday May 18, 10am – 5pm & Sunday, May 19, 2024, Noon - 4pm 
• Exhibition Dates: Friday May, 17, 2024 – Sunday, June 30, 2024

This Themed Members-Only show is inspired by the poem "Ode to Richmond" by Roscoe Burnems, RVA’s First Poet Laureate, 2021

One of the first poems Douglas Powell, aka Roscoe Burnems, published about his hometown was “Ode to Richmond.” “This was around the time when we were starting to see that Richmond had really turned into an art city. They redid the Arts District, and they were opening all these galleries down there, and there were all these beautiful murals that were being placed all across the city,” he says. “I love art. And that’s one of the things that really struck me about the city: how it embraces artists.”

Rainbows cascading across the ribs of Boulevard.
Lost lives on lips of 17th and Main.
Honey bees cycle upon the back of Cary
and Davis Ave dances in rain.
The skin of Jackson Ward’s buildings
tell the story of legacy.
When the mind does not fit upon the canvas
and thirsts for reach,
it is not James River that quenches an artist,
it is the hunger for feat.
Brick and mortar battle with bustling brushes,
hues slain across wall
This becomes a civil war for creative unrest,
another canvas falls.
A body of tattoos in abstraction and technicolor, of joy, of memories, of hurt.
Richmond is home to some of the greatest art on earth.
A reflection of its people. A tell-tale of its ghosts,
found in the heart of the music,
in poetry, and most
never truly appreciate the frame of thought,
when imagination cannot be caught in woven
cotton and needs space for anarchy
and chaos and craft and desires to be free.
That is when Richmond becomes a gallery.

Read more in Richmond Magazine: Click Here

Submission Details:

You will need an artist statement - 200 word limit in first person when you first register in ArtCall.

1. You do not have to create a portfolio site to enter the show.

2. The way you fill out the form is how it will be shown on the labels, awards, and publicity.

a. Name: Use Capital Letters for the first letters of your name.

b. Prices - DO NOT TYPE IN A COMMA. This produces the wrong price. ArtCall will add the comma automatically

c. Measurements - HEIGHT first, then Width then Depth (H x W x D)

3. Statement regarding the piece of art - The character limit is 300!! This is used for all publicity online and inhouse. Spellcheck it as well as word count it!

FYI - You can go back in and add/edit images and edit text until the call ends.

After submitting, please go back in and double check your information. Did you enter the required 2 or 3 photos? Is your price correct? Measurements? Is your statement complete? Too long?

VERY IMPORTANT: You can delete and change photos, and change text within each submission up until end-of-call. Do not delete an entire submission and then replace it with a new one--ArtCall will charge you for a new submission!

2D IMAGE REQUIREMENTS:

3 images of each piece are required, one of the art without frame, one with frame, and a close detail image (zoomed into a small section of interest). If the art is unframed, only 2 photos are required. 

NOTE: if the work is framed, we must have the outside measurements of the frame (H x W x D). Please do not guess. If we do not have the measurements for the art and/or the framed art, your piece will not be considered to jury. Walls and backgrounds SHOULD NOT SHOW in photos. When taking the digital image please make sure the photo is not at an angle or crooked.

3D IMAGE REQUIREMENTS:

For each 3D, installation, or wearable art entry, submit 3 images: one overall front, one overall rear or sideview, and one detail (zoomed into a small section of interest).

Detail images must show an important aspect of the artwork. Make sure that both the full-view and detail images are oriented correctly. Please keep backgrounds as unobtrusive as possible