calls for art

The Dayton Society of Artists (DSA) is pleased to present EYEWITNESS, a regional call for lens-based artwork. All artists, 18 years or older and living or working in Ohio, Indiana, or Kentucky are eligible for entry. Each piece must be lens-based (including but not limited to photography, computer edited photos, video, etc.) but may have other mediums or techniques incorporated into the work. Traditional and non-traditional approaches are welcome, and the medium may be interpreted broadly. Art should fit into the theme, Eyewitness. Debbie Le Clere, Benjamin Montague, and Chris Snyder will jury the entries and $1,000 will be awarded in prizes. Support for this exhibition is provided by FotoFocus.

Submit At: daytondsa.org/calls by August 7, 2022

More information:  PROSPECTUS

APPLY HERE

Submissions Due: Sun, August 7, 2022 by 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time

Notification of Jury Results: Sun, August 14

Delivery of Art - in Person: Fri, August 26, 3-8 PM & Saturday, August 27, 10-3pm
Delivery of Shipped Art: Please contact director@daytondsa.org if shipping work.

Reception: Fri, September 2, 6-9 PM & Fri, October 7, 6-9 PM

Exhibition Dates: Fri, September 2 – Saturday, October 29

Pick-up Dates - in Person: Mon, October 31, 3–8 & Tues, November 1, 12–5pm

Return of Shipped Art: Shipped out the week of October 31

ABOUT

Dayton Society of Artists: The DSA is a non-profit, member-based organization. It was founded in 1938 and acquired a Victorian house in the 1960s, which was converted into a gallery. The DSA’s mission is to “connect, support, and educate artists and the community.” The DSA hosts various workshops and events throughout the year to fulfill its mission as well as hosts a variety of exhibitions. For more information, visit daytondsa.org.

FotoFocus Biennial: The 2022 FotoFocus Biennial, now in its sixth iteration, activates over 100 projects at museums, galleries, universities, and public spaces throughout Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton and Columbus, Ohio in October 2022. Each Biennial is structured around a unifying theme; for 2022 that theme, World Record, considers photography’s extensive record of life on earth while exploring humankind’s impact on the natural world.

FotoFocus welcomes global artists, curators, critics, educators, and regional visitors to Cincinnati with exhibitions, talks, performances, screenings, and panel discussions during an expanded week of programming, September 29–October 8, 2022.

JURORS

Debbie Le Clere – Graduate of University of Dayton majoring in Art Education and a minor in Photography - 1977. Debbie started her own business, Leclere Photography, a couple of years after graduation as a wedding and portrait photographer. She worked for Lesko Photography and Mark Garber Photography between 1991-1999. She went back to being self-employed in 2000 and retired in 2015. Her photography career spanned 36 years. For 4 years, Debbie was the official photographer for the President of Wright State University documenting all the events he participated in. Commercial photography jobs also came her way during my time of being self-employed. When Debbie retired, she also retired her camera equipment as well. She now totally enjoys taking pictures with her iPhone of nature, flowers, family and wherever she may travel to.

Benjamin Montague is an Associate Professor in Photography at Wright State University. He received his MFA from the University of Delaware and his BA from Marlboro College. Mr. Montague has exhibited his work widely and is currently represented by Chiaroscuro Contemporary Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico and Works on Paper Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. He has won several grants, including an Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award in 2007. His work is included in the collections of the Columbus Museum of Art and the New Mexico Museum of Art in Santa Fe. www.benjaminmontague.com

Chris Snyder – I am one of two photographers at Wright State University. I’ve been a photographer for 30+ years and have been at Wright State for 22 years. There I manage the day-to-day operation of the marketing photography and video team. I help in scheduling photo and video shoots for our clients, shoot those photos and videos, edit together those videos, archive and maintain our database of tens of thousands of photos and videos, retouch and color correct those photos when they are requested for our marketing materials and/or for any other needs the Wright State community may have. I also do quite a bit of freelance photography where I provide photography services for publications including motor sports, cars and motorcycles, corporate and private events, and portraits. I provide additional services of retouching, image manipulation, printing, and color management for other local photographers and clients. Most of my freelance work consists of traveling with Fortune 500 companies that offer incentive trips to their associates. Those clients include Morgan Stanley, Microsoft, Citrix, Oracle, Legal Shield, Subaru, and the GE Board of Directors. My job is to document the trips by photographing speakers, business meetings, shooting portraits, dinner receptions, or any other activities planned for the attendees. These jobs always require some computer work such as retouching of portraits and making prints on site. This work has taken me all over the world including the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Eyewitness: The DSA, along with local photography club, Tripod Camera Club will be holding an open call for work with the theme Eyewitness: The Impact of Deindustrialization on our World, as seen through the lens of Hope, Despair, and Transition in the Miami Valley.

The Miami Valley is generally defined as the land area surrounding the Great Miami River in southwest Ohio, and includes the Little Miami, Mad, and Stillwater rivers as well. Geographically, it includes Dayton, Springfield, Middletown, Hamilton, and other communities.

Like much of the Midwest, the Miami Valley is considered part of the “rust belt,” having suffered economic decline due to deindustrialization.  Beginning in the 1970's, the Miami Valley lost 40% of its manufacturing jobs, and, since then, the city of Dayton has lost nearly half of its population. This decline brought with it urban decay: abandoned factories, declining neighborhoods, and economic hardship.

Dayton has watched some of its most beautiful neighborhoods deteriorate.  It has seen the near abandonment of its downtown.  A once-vibrant city center bustling with markets, retail activity, theaters, and pedestrian traffic became a lifeless space. Yet, the Dayton area is recovering. This recovery can be seen in the preservation of historical sites and neighborhoods, in environmental rehabilitation, in the redefinition of its downtown, and in the success of many arts venues.  We find ourselves in a state of upward transition: Having reconciled the losses of the past, we look forward to a hopeful future, one that recognizes what once was while embracing what might be.

Our symbol of hope is the American bald eagle, now nesting in several locations all along the Miami River.  Just as the eagle has come back after near extinction, so we, after a period of decline, embrace our home and look to a new vision for the Dayton area. This gallery exhibition, presented by the Dayton Society of Artists and Tripod Camera Club, seeks to explore the difficult past as well as the transition to a hopeful future for the Miami Valley.

Support for this 2022 FotoFocus Biennial exhibition was provided by FotoFocus.

ENTRY FEES

• $20 for the first image and $5/each additional image for up to 5 images total. (1 image: $20, 2 images: $25, 3 images: 30, 4 images: $35, 5 images: $40)
• Pay online by card when you submit your work.