East and West Kootenay youth* ages 15-29 are invited to submit visual or media art work to be considered for a professional juried exhibition at Oxygen Art Centre opening in June 2018.  We invite young artists to select finished work or produce new work that addresses the theme Wayfinding: Identity and the Kootenays. The deadline is April 15, 2018.

Wayfinding can be defined as the ways in which people (and animals) orient themselves in physical space and navigate from place to place. Questions to consider might include:How do you locate yourself as a young Kootenay artist, geographically, politically, historically or otherwise?  How does living in or originating from the Kootenay region influence your art practice? If you were to build or draw a map of your personal relationship to this region, how would that look, feel, and be read?

This exhibition will pay professional artist fees and is open to young artists submitting in all mediums: painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, installation, video, sound, crafts and performance art. We encourage artists to respond to this call in an innovative manner, from the context of their own practice and interests. Jurors include Maggie Shirley, curator at the Kootenay Art Gallery; Brian Kalbfleisch, local artist and director of Blue Night; Genevieve Robertson, Executive Director of Oxygen Art Centre; and Stephanie Kellet, local artist and recent solo exhibitor at Oxygen.  Oxygen Art Centre has been integral to the regional arts community as a steppingstone for professional artists; many Kootenay artists have had their first professional exhibitions here at Oxygen Art Centre. Canada council requires artists to have had a minimum of 3 professional exhibitions in order to receive funding, so this exhibition call is a wonderful opportunity to build professional experience!

* * To be eligible to apply, you must be enrolled in a Kootenay high school or homeschool, have graduated from a Kootenay high school or have lived in the Kootenays 3 of the last 5 years

Submissions Should Include:

• Curriculum Vitae (maximum two pages)
• Artist Bio including a statement about your connection to the Kootenays (maximum 2 paragraphs)
• 5 to 10 images (jpeg format with a resolution of 72 dpi) of the work intended for exhibition or related/recent work, or equivalent media files. For media or performance work submit direct links or DVD in .avi, .mov, .mpg, .mpeg format. Do not send video files electronically.
• Image List with image numbers, artist name, title of work, date, medium and dimensions.
• Artist’s Statement describing the proposed or completed work intended for the exhibition (max 500 words)

Submissions will be accepted by mail, email or hand delivery:

By email: info@oxygenartcentre.org Attention: Juried Youth Art Show Submission
By mail/drop off:  Oxygen Art Centre, #3A – 320 Vernon Street Nelson B.C.  V1L 4E4

Deadline: received by 5pm, April 30, 2018

Questions about Oxygen Art Centre’s Juried Youth Arts show submission guidelines or eligibility can be directed to: info@oxygenartcentre.org
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