call to artists

Above: Jump!, Louisa Bertman, digital illustration

NATIONAL CALL FOR ENTRIES

Social change starts with the individual. One gay teenager jumps off a bridge and thousands are motivated to share their coming-out stories.

One person can also serve as a positive symbol to effect social change. A woman keeps her seat on the bus and a social revolution is born.

By working to better the world, you actually make things better for yourself. Studies of collective action have shown that when people identify with a particular cause, and work towards social change, the change often occurs within—people feel legitimized. Empowerment is not necessarily even reliant on the movement's success: victory occurs in the very struggle of self-expression and self-empowerment.

Entries for It Gets Better/Make It Better should explore this theme of how the individual exists within and can affect the community. One is many.

Source: Drury & Reicher, 2005, Explaining enduring empowerment: A comparative study of collective action and psychological outcomes

Submission deadline: January 26, 2011
Exhibit Dates: Feb 17 - April 1, 2011
Work delivery date: Feb 9, 2011 ready-to-hang
Title: It Gets Better/Make It Better
Venue: 13FOREST Gallery, 167A Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, Mass.  02474
Juror: Paula Tognarelli, Executive Director, Griffin Museum, Winchester, Mass.
Eligibility: Artists 18 yrs old or older from all of the United States, figurative or abstract two-dimensional art
Fee: $15 per application WAIVED
Commission: 45% to artist, 10% to benefit P-FLAG: Parents, Families, & Friends of Lesbians and Gays
E-mail: info@13FOREST.com
Phone: 781.641.3333

Submissions should include:

• Resume and/or Artist’s Bio
• Up to eight images of work on cd, as e-mail attachments, links, or printouts. - NO ORIGINAL ARTWORK WILL BE ACCEPTED
• Brief description of submission
• If you would like your materials to be returned to you, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope with your submission