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Giertz Gallery Exhibition Proposals (Champaign, IL) – Call For Artists

Giertz Gallery Exhibition Proposals (Champaign, IL) – Call For Artists

Giertz Gallery at Parkland College announces a call for artists for exhibition proposals in all genres of contemporary art making by solo artists, collaborative groups, or curators. Exhibits are scheduled for approximately six weeks.

Click here for the application / registration

Deadline: 15 May 2020

Submit 20 images; an identifying list of titles, sizes, dates, and media; a resume; and an artist statement related to this body of work. Applications are accepted on an on-going basis for future review. However, application materials must be received by May 15, 2020, to be included in the next review cycle.

The artist is responsible for expenses and insurance while the artwork is being transported to the gallery. Giertz Gallery provides return shipping or an honorarium to defray return travel expenses.

Artist Benefits

Honorariums are provided for solo and two person exhibitions as well as for participating in visiting artist activities including lectures, gallery talks, and/or workshops. Every exhibition features an announcement card and poster and social media promotion including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. The gallery provides email blasts for all exhibitions. For many large group exhibitions, they feature a catalog with essay by guest curator.

About Giertz Gallery

Located in Champaign, Illinois, Giertz Gallery is a professionally designed gallery devoted primarily to education through contemporary art. Giertz Gallery hosts seven exhibitions per year including two student exhibitions, one Art and Design Faculty Show, and a National Invitational. Other shows vary depending on applications and the vision of the Art Gallery Advisory Board.

Giertz Gallery is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution providing access to exhibitions, arts and education programs, and employment without regard to age, race, color, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, veteran’s status, political affiliation, or disability. They are a section 504/ADA-compliant institution and are free and open to the public.

Open to the public and free of charge, the Donna Hyland Giertz Gallery is a teaching gallery, striving to serve the educational and cultural needs of a diverse community. Each year through its exhibitions and programming, the gallery seeks to promote the development of artists’ talent and aesthetic awareness while at the same time expanding the audience’s appreciation of various art forms. The gallery presents exhibitions by contemporary artists of regional and national status whom are selected to illustrate a wide range of traditional and innovative work of all media.

Giertz Gallery History

In 1981, Parkland’s Art Gallery officially opened its doors through the foresight, interest, and enthusiasm of the college faculty, administration, students, and the community. It was known as Parkland Art Gallery. In 2014, the gallery was named The Donna Hyland Giertz Gallery in recognition of college trustee and former faculty member Donna Giertz after she and her husband, Fred Giertz, provided a generous gift to support Parkland’s Art Gallery. In recognition of this gift and Giertz’s 20+ years of service to Parkland, the college named the existing gallery The Donna Hyland Giertz Gallery also known as The Giertz Gallery at Parkland College.

Centrally located in the main building on the north side of the beautifully landscaped campus, the Donna Hyland Giertz Gallery overlooks an outdoor fountain on the exterior and faces a main thoroughfare of foot traffic. It can be viewed through floor to ceiling windows on the interior with easy access from inside the building. Parkland College was established in 1967. The permanent campus, built in 1973, was designed by the award-winning California-based architect Ernest Kump, It was featured in an exhibit at the New York Museum of Modern Art to highlight outstanding architectural designs.

Born of the concept that the campus was an educational village, it was designed to welcome the community and provide a relaxed feeling and easily accessible resources. The Giertz Gallery features a professionally designed space but maintains the feeling of the original architectural intent. Situated in the main part of campus, it remains central to student life. It is readily available to the community.

Giertz Gallery Programming

Open year round, the Gallery has an extensive exhibition calendar that includes seven exhibitions per year and includes solo and group exhibitions. The Gallery hosts the State of the Art: National Biennial Ceramics Invitational on alternating years. It engages a guest curator so that the exhibitions continue to reflect current viewpoints from many different perspectives. An exhibition catalog accompanies the biennial exhibit that includes background information on the participating artists and a scholarly essay by the guest curator.

To complement and support the educational mission of the Fine Arts Program, an annual Art and Design Faculty Exhibition takes place to highlight the talent of the Faculty at Parkland College in Art and Visual Communication Design. Two juried exhibitions of work by Parkland College students in the Art and Design program and the Visual Communication Design Program are part of the yearly schedule. They provide practical professional experience to students and allow the community to see the talents and efforts of these emerging artists.

Artist receptions, gallery talks, For Art’s Sake,  and videotaped interviews with artists aired on Parkland College Television Station are presented to interpret many exhibitions including the  High School Art Seminar, Gallery Tours, and High Noon with the Artist lecture series. Programs are offered to school groups between kindergarten and twelfth grade, college classes, teachers, and community members. Class tours encourage students to develop critical thinking and communication skills while expanding their understanding of art in the gallery.

In the studio, students learn to prepare their work and understand the professional requirements of exhibiting their work in a professional space. The unique location on the Parkland College Campus allows students the opportunity to visualize college life and imagine a possible career in the arts beyond school. The gallery completes the circle by teaching college students to become educators in the arts. By introducing significant visual arts close to home in the Parkland Community, these programs can lay the foundation for a lifelong interest in the arts.

For more information, contact giertzgallery@parkland.edu.

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