The South Bend Museum of Art features a full spectrum of historical and contemporary art featured in five galleries. A wide range of artistic traditions are taught in our world-class art studios. Located inside the Century Center in downtown South Bend, Indiana, the SBMA is an architectural delight. Designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee, the museum occupies three levels in the northern wing of the building.
Mission
The South Bend Museum of Art affirms the enduring power of the visual arts to reflect and create community, engage minds, and nurture growth through exhibitions, collections and educational programs.
History
Since its founding in 1947, the SBMA has provided insight into the art, history and culture of the region and nation. Since 1987, SBMA has been recognized as achieving the highest level of professional standards in the field, awarded accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums. Accreditation status must be renewed every 10 years and, in March of 2011, SBMA was awarded ongoing accreditation. Accreditation inspires museums to achieve a higher standard. It strengthens the field as a whole, as well as the museums that receive accreditation. The rigorous process leads to sustained organizational improvement and a clearer sense of purpose. Of the estimated 17,500 museums in the U.S., only 750 are accredited.
EXHIBITION DATES: June 1 ‒ December 27, 2020
DEADLINE FOR ALL ENTRIES: Monday, April 27, 2020, 11:59 p.m. EST
The South Bend Museum of Art is looking for artists to feature in an online exhibition, Making A Way. The exhibition will highlight the varied ways the COVID-19 crisis has impacted the art-making practices of artists, and will remain a historical record for our time, as we all try to navigate something without a recent precedent.
Depending on how long the crisis lasts, there may be additional, subsequent installments of the exhibition as artists will continue to adapt their practices to this new challenge.
JUROR:
Selection of artists will be decided by the SBMA Exhibitions Committee.
ELIGIBILITY:
Making A Way is open to all artists, 18 years or older, living and working in the United States. All media are accepted, including performance and time-based practices.
TO APPLY, YOU WILL NEED THE FOLLOWING:
- 5–10 images of your work
- Title, year, media and scale for each image
- A BRIEF statement (150 words or less) about how you've had to adapt your practice to the ongoing crisis
- Artist resume
- Artist statement
- NO entry fee
CONDITIONS OF ACCEPTANCE:
- The SBMA Exhibition Committee will select artists for inclusion in the exhibition.
- Depending on how long the COVID crisis continues, future installments of the exhibition may also be released (following a new call for entries).
- SBMA staff is responsible for the design and layout of the exhibition web pages.
- Exhibition will exist on the SBMA web site (southbendart.org). While the exhibition has a closing date listed, it will remain on the web site in perpetuity as a record of these unprecedented times.
- SBMA will market the exhibition as if it were an exhibition within its physical gallery spaces — perhaps moreso, as staff will feature different artists at various times via social media.
- SBMA will host a reception for the exhibition (shared with other exhibitions) at a date TBD, whenever it seems safe to schedule a large gathering again.
- SBMA will direct any sale inquiries directly to the artist. SBMA does not take a percentage of sales.
REQUIRED MATERIALS FROM ACCEPTED ARTISTS:
Accepted artists will need to provide the following materials, due no later than May 18.
Required Materials:
- Bio (200 words or less)
- Artist statement (300 words or less)
- 4–6 high resolution images of your work
- Info for each artwork (title, year, media, scale)
- 1–5 images of the studio where you are currently working
- We will include 2 audio snippets in this exhibition for each artist. The web site for the exhibition will be set up in such a way that people can listen to the audio snippets while looking at the images of your work.
- The first audio snippet should be you speaking about your work: your process, ideas you find interesting, your inspiration. Anything you feel is important for viewers to know.
- The second audio snippet should address any of the following questions (or combination of them): How has the COVID-19 crisis impacted your art-making practice? What adaptations have you had to make? Has your income been affected? Have you lost access to facilities/equipment? Has it changed the content of your work (even temporarily)? If so, how?
- Audio snippets are best kept to 2–3 minutes each. We will send you some tips on making the recordings. You do NOT need expensive equipment to do this—the microphone on your phone or a digital audio recorder will work just fine.
Not Required, but Additional Preferred Materials:
- Where can people find you on social media (if applicable)?
- Your website address (if you have one).
- How can people purchase your work if it's for sale?
- Detail images of each work (if you have them), to give people a better sense of what it looks like in person
- Completely optional: You can submit a short (less than a minute) video. Perhaps a short tour of your studio? Or a video of a work in process? If your phone has the capability, perhaps a time lapse video of you working on something?
IMPORTANT DATES:
- April 27, 11:59 p.m. EST: Deadline for entry
- April 28–May 1: Jurying of entries
- May 4, 5:00 p.m. EST (no later than): E-mailed notification sent
- May 18: Deadline for the delivery of all required materials from the artists (as listed above)
- June 1: Exhibition opens
- TBD, 5:00–8:00 p.m. EST: Artists reception
- December 27: Exhibition closes
QUESTIONS MAY BE DIRECTED TO:
Mark Rospenda, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections
South Bend Museum of Art
southbendart.org
rospendam@southbendart.org