VSA Emerging Young Artists Program: The Journey

VSA Emerging Young Artists Program: The Journey

A juried competition and national touring exhibition of work by emerging young visual artists with disabilities, ages 16-25.

Deadline: June 30, 2014 at midnight

Artists are invited to reflect on the theme The Journey—internal and external, personal and communal, human and technological - our journeys shape our aesthetic and environmental terrain and define our daily lives.

Share your journey.

Submitted artwork should illustrate these thematic ideas, which may be achieved through broad, abstracted references or detailed personal creations. Your submission might also reflect your experience of living with a disability and its role in shaping or transforming your art.

This exhibition is presented by the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ VSA & Accessibility Office and Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

To Apply: www.kennedy-center.org/emergingyoungartists



Awards and Exhibition

15 artists will be selected to travel to Washington, D.C. for professional development workshops and a reception on Capitol Hill. Selected work will tour nationally. With the generous support of Volkswagen, awards include a $20,000 grand prize, $10,000 for first place, $6,000 for second place, and 12 awards of excellence at $2,000 each.

Who can apply?
The call is open to artists ages 16–25 living in the United States who have a disability. As defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act, a disability is a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. Disability may be physical, developmental, mental, or learning. Previous award recipients are not eligible to apply.

Artwork
Submissions must be original work completed within the last three years and after the onset of disability.

Eligible media include, but are not limited to, paintings and drawings (oil, watercolor, acrylic, pencil, or charcoal); fine art prints; photography; computer-generated prints; digital art; and time-based media (video, film). All work must have a visual component. Two-dimensional artwork should not exceed 60 inches in either dimension. Sculpture should not exceed 24 inches in any dimension.

Fragile or precious materials that cannot withstand handling, storage, and transportation will not be accepted.

The Jury Process
A panel of distinguished practicing artists, curators, and arts administrators will determine work standards, review submitted materials, and select the 15 artists for the exhibition. The jury looks at the following qualities when selecting exhibit artists:
• Demonstration of original ideas in the work submitted
• Connection to exhibition theme
• Visual cohesion among the images submitted