CHI Memorial is partnering with the Association for Visual Arts on a new Open Call exhibit, How Are We Doing? A Pandemic Retrospective.
This exhibit is an invitation for artists who have been creating work about COVID-19 and the realities of the pandemic, as a response to process, to cope, to educate, to learn, to grieve, to vent, to research, to remember or to reach out. Have you been making work with the materials of the pandemic (masks, vaccine vials, hand sanitizer, stimulus checks, Zoom, takeout boxes, etc.)? Have you started a new practice or artistic rituals during quarantine? Have you made a memorial for a loved one or a tribute to first responders? Have you made hopeful, beautiful things with which to surround yourself? Have you been exploring imagery of new normals in your work, like the Zoom meeting screen?
“The last 18 months have been challenging for all of us with the realities of COVID-19. As the effects of the pandemic continue to impact rhythms of daily life, many across the world are asking the questions, ‘how am I/are you/are we doing right now?’,” said Tim Goldsmith, curator and education director at AVA. “This exhibit seeks to provide a space for all different kinds of work and processing and to serve as a reminder that we are all in this together.”
“Our hope is that this exhibit will provide a creative, artistic outlet for community members to process some of what we have collectively held over the last two years,” said Chyela Rowe, arts therapies & well-being program coordinator at CHI Memorial. “This could also provide a helpful outlet for local healthcare workers and first responders who are artists - to process some of their experiences through artwork and exhibition. I think it's going to be a really powerful exhibit.”
This call is open to AVA members and non-member artists within the Chattanooga metropolitan area and two-hour regional radius (Nashville, Knoxville, Atlanta and Birmingham). All mediums are allowed. There is no fee for AVA members to submit. There is a $10 fee for non-members to submit. The submission deadline is Wednesday, Dec. 15.
How Are We Doing? A Pandemic Retrospective will be displayed Jan. 7 - Feb. 18, 2022, in the AVA Main and Landis Galleries, with the possibility of expanding a portion of the exhibit to CHI Memorial Hospital Chattanooga.
For a full list of submission requirements, limitations, and restrictions, visit avarts.org/open-call-2022.