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Submission Guidelines for NeoRio 2020: HOME Online Exhibition

Welcome to the exhibition guidelines for participating in the online exhibition for NeoRio 2020: Home!

If you’re looking for the Participating Artist Contract, download here:
Artist Contract- Editable Word Doc
Artist Contract-PDF

NeoRio 2020 Overview
We each have a unique experience of the world and something valuable to express; EVERYONE is invited to create and reflect upon the theme of home during the global pandemic. We’re inviting you to be the artists for NeoRio 2020…from your home! 

Will you be one of the participating artists? Here’s how it works:

Starting Point: The Box
All participants will be provided with the same starting point material: a 7x7x7 inch wooden cube-box with a sliding lid. It can be added to, subtracted from, or modified in any way you like. The box invokes the idea of a time-capsule and also provides the basis for exploration of the exterior and interior metaphors of this year’s NeoRio theme, Home. These beautiful cubes, made especially for NeoRio in Maine, have half-inch pine sides and thin baltic birch bottom and slide top.

Cubes are available for pick-up after August 28. 

  • Questa Visitor Center: open Wednesday – Sunday, 10 am – 3 pm through September 13;  then Thursdays, 10 – 3 pm. 
  • Taos Public Library: open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8:30 – 4 pm. 
  • Receive by mail: for those who live further away or picking up your cube is prohibitive, we will mail it for you.

Pondering Home
What does home mean to you? Think inside and outside the box! Approach the theme of home with the broadest perspective: body as home, identity as home, garden as home, kitchen as home, family as home, traditions as home, Earth as home, home during the pandemic, home as refuge, safety, confinement….? Take the cube and the theme and run wherever they take you! 

Think of the cube as a raw material to work with in two-dimensional or three-dimensional ways. Will the cube-box function as a vessel to be opened and viewed or be sealed and secret? Will the exterior six sides work in unison or be separate? Will the interior relate to the exterior? The cube could be carved, collaged, painted, drawn or written on, covered, attached to, drilled, inlaid, quilted…..or destroyed? Just document the process and the outcome well!

Short Audio Reflection
Reflection helps us to make sense of and glean meaning from challenging times. Sharing stories connects us with one another and is an opportunity to be vulnerable and courageous. Artist Heather Williams says it well, “Sharing stories reminds us of our humanity and relieves feelings of isolation.” There is power in oral tradition; hearing a person’s story in their own voice deepens its significance and impact. Krista Tippet, host of On Being reminds us that “….the more particular you can get with your story, the more universally it can be received, that others can join their life and their imagination with what you have to share.” Again, we invite you to reflect on home in an expansive way and express this reflection in a brief audio story. These can be recorded on a smartphone, or we can make arrangements to record your brief story for you (by phone or Zoom).

Exhibition of Works
We foresee a poignant outcome with the combination of unique cube artworks and audio stories. These will be shown via a special NeoRio 2020 online exhibition at LEAPsite.org, “Home: Thinking Inside and Outside the Box” which will go live October 8. Friday, September 26 is the deadline for receiving digital documentation (artwork and story) for participation in the virtual art show. Works will also be included in an associated “daily feature” series on Instagram and Facebook. On October 9 and 10, we kick-off a dynamic series of NeoRio 2020: Home interactive, community roundtables on Zoom, during which artworks and stories will be shared. All are invited! The Home story-sharing and digital archiving is a collaboration with Questa Stories ~ Community Memory Project at QuestaStories.org.

We would love to organize a comprehensive physical exhibition of the cube works, to accompany the online show, and get to see them all together in one space, however this isn’t possible right now. We have plans for a street side windows exhibition and some other potential ideas as well.

Participating Artist Commitments
As a NeoRio 2020 contributing artist we ask that you:

  1. Download, fill out and email us your Artist Contract – Word Doc (editable) or PDF (printing)
  2. Pick-up your cube (or request it be mailed to you) – see details above
  3. September 25: Complete your artwork by this date or sooner
  4. September 26: Email these five items by this date or sooner: 1. High-quality, well-lit photos of artwork – overview and closeups, 2. short artist bio, 3. title of artwork, materials, and price, if for sale, 4. Short artwork statement, 5. Audio story, 5 minutes, reflecting on home and/or your experiences during pandemic – recorded on a smartphone, or we can record your short story by phone if needed
  5. October 9 or 10: Briefly share your artwork at one of the Zoom roundtable discussions

Optional:

  • Specify if you would like your work to be listed for sale in the online exhibition. Artists will handle sales and keep 100% of the profit.

You will be added as a confirmed contributing artist when we have received your filled-out and signed contract, either via mail or email. Download the contract here: Word (editable) or PDF (printing). You can type in your information and your signature on the word version and email that to us or you can print the PDF, fill it out by hand and then photograph or scan it and email it to us. Your name will be included in publicity as we proceed once we’ve received your commitment to participate.

Let’s come together and reflect on this poignant time and share our creations! 

If this looks like something you are interested in, please fill out the attached contract and get it back to us asap.

We hope you will consider participating in this art experiment!

Questions? Contact Claire: emailforleap@gmail.com (575) 224-9066 (call/text)

P.S. Are you a teacher (especially an art teacher!)? Do you know people who might want to make a cube artwork and submit a story? We would love your help involving others in this project! Let us know and we’ll be in touch with you about it!