At the beginning of each year, the GAC opens the annual call for proposals to artists of all mediums to be considered for the next calendar year.

Dates

The 2026 Exhibition Season Proposals call opens on January 1, 2025, and is open through February 28, 2025. All artists will receive a notification in mid-April 2025.

Timeline

January 1, 2025 – February 28, 2025 – Proposals Received

March 15, 2025 – Panel completes review of submissions

March 17, 2025 – Recommendations sent to Exhibits Committee

March 25, 2025 – Finalists selected by Exhibits Committee

March 28, 2025 – Artists notified

March 31 - April 25, 2025 – Finalist Interviews

April 29, 2025 – Finalists Identified by Exhibits Committee

June 1, 2025 – Artist Agreements Due, along with Artist Bio’s/Exhibit Summary/and 1 Image (these items will be used for 2026 Exhibit Season promotion starting Fall 2025).

Honorarium & Artist Benefits

• Georgetown Art Center will host an opening reception and artist talk for exhibit artists, as well as providing the opportunity for additional artist income from teaching a masterclass during the exhibit period.
• Professional exhibit installation services and printed exhibit signage
• Printed rack cards and promotional signage, along with inclusion in Art Center Exhibit Season press releases throughout the year and season brochures
• Promotion through monthly newsletter, social media posts, and website features
• Each accepted exhibit for 2026 is offered a $500 honorarium to help artists with exhibit expenses, travel, and supplies. Artists outside of Texas are eligible for additional travel grants to be determined by the Exhibits Committee.
• Georgetown Art Center will handle all exhibit sales and retain 30% commission with remaining 70% of sales returned to the artist.

Curators

Each year, the Art Center will select a panel of curators, artists, gallery owners, and guest judges with considerable experience in the visual arts to review artist proposals. For the 2026 exhibit season, our judges are:

Lari Gibbons:  https://www.larigibbons.com/

Malina Cipleu:   https://www.malinacipleu.com/

Karen Maness:   https://www.karenmaness.com/

The panel recommends finalists to the GAC Exhibits Committee, where final selections are made. The Exhibits Committee is comprised of practicing visual artists, arts educators, and gallerists who must apply to be on the committee.

Eligibility

Artists who have submitted exhibit proposals recently but were not accepted are encouraged to resubmit a new proposal; artists who have been recently accepted are asked to wait three years before submitting a new proposal.

Submissions are open to artists who reside and create their work in the United States.  The majority of work used for your proposal must have been completed within the last 3 years.

Artworks may be in any media, providing the GAC exhibition space can accommodate the work. Installation or other work requiring special accommodations must be approved in writing prior to the exhibition.

The application requires an Artist’s Statement, CV, Images of Artwork, Proposal Statement, and Image List. All submissions are received via Submittable.com and require a $45 submission fee. Incomplete applications or applications which do not follow guidelines are subject to disqualification.  Submission fees are not refundable.

The Georgetown Art Center reserves the right to reject entries that contain any form of hate speech, gratuitous violence, or racism at its sole discretion.

Submitting a proposal confirms that the artist is the creator and copyright owner of the work.

Deadline

All submissions must be received before midnight CST, February 28, 2025.