Calls for Entry
Most Exchange Gallery shows include work by artists young and old, established and up-and-coming, professional and amateur, from throughout the Susquehanna River Valley -- everyone from Bloomsburg University art students and professors to regional high school students to pre-schoolers, people who have exhibited nationally to those showing their work for the first time. Please check here regularly for information on upcoming open-call shows.
"What I Did In Quarantine", 2021
​Unless noted, it costs nothing to enter our shows, and we have only one rule: The work must fit through the Gallery's front door. We encourage artists to put their work for sale; they receive 80% of the sale price and the Gallery retains 20% to help keep our light on.
When you bring your work to the Gallery, please have one of these forms filled out. (If you cannot print it ahead of time, we will have them here for you.)
​
We also occasionally make a video about the work in a show, and we would like to include artists speaking about their work. If you can make your own short video clip, please e-mail it to us at Exchange@ExchangeArts.org; you may also e-mail us a self-portrait/headshot and an artist's statement.
The Exchange coordinates rotating exhibits at other venues too: the Bloomsburg Public Library on Market Street and the Silk Mill Apartments on 6th Street; in both locations, work changes quarterly. For information about how you can show your artwork at either of them, contact us at 570-317-2596 or Exchange@ExchangeArts.org. See below for photos of some of the spaces available at the Library.
The Calls
​​
Coming in 2023:
“Food for Thought” open call
Work due Saturday, October 14th
Show runs Monday, October 16th, through Friday, November 17th
“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.” – Voltaire
​
As one of our basic life needs, food has been a popular subject matter throughout modern art and art history. Depictions of food can be found in Italian Renaissance paintings, on Roman mosaics, and inside the Egyptian pyramids. Food is the cornerstone of holidays, celebrations, and the Bloomsburg Fair! Everything from fruits and vegetables to delectable desserts, elegant cuisine to greasy diner platters – we love it all, and we want to see it all! The Exchange invites you to submit artwork on the delicious theme of food.
​
As always, we accept all media in every size up to that of our front door, and we encourage artists of all ages and levels of experience. Please, do not make your art out of food unless you can GUARANTEE that it will not go bad and/or attract flies during the length of the show.
Some of the artwork will go on display at the Exchange Gallery and some will go on display at Rohrbach's Farm in Catawissa, with whom we had the tremendously productive "Art Grows on the Farm" collaboration in 2021.
The Exchange asks artists and show-goers to donate non-perishable food items during the duration of this exhibition. At the end of the show, we will bring your donations to the Bloomsburg Food Cupboard.
​
Image by Jack Simonds
“Cash & Carry X” open call
​
We now have the panels, and in a few different sizes! This year we made about 250 8-inch squares, 125 7-by-9-inch rectangles, and 125 9-inch triangles (and we have a few odd-size smaller ones too). You can take up to three at a time; when you bring them back with art on them, take some more and make more art.
In addition, we have a challenge for you: Did you know that one traditionally gives tin and aluminum as tenth anniversary gifts? We encourage you to make holiday ornaments out of recycled food and beverage cans, and we will hang them on a tree here for customers to buy!
Every piece on a "full-size" panel will sell for $30, with the artist receiving $24; ornaments will sell for $20, with the artist receiving $16; small panels will sell for $10, with the artist receiving $8.
​
Work due Saturday, November 18th
Show runs Monday, November 20th, through Friday, December 29th
Sales will start at 6 p.m. on Friday, December 1st, during downtown Bloomsburg's "Coming
Home for Christmas" event; as usual, at the beginning, buyers will have to take numbers, and
each buyer will get to buy ONE AT A TIME at the beginning. (After buying one, take another
number and get back in line!) And of course you can take your piece(s) home right then and
there (the "carry" part). We do take checks and charge cards in addition to cash (we just like
the way "Cash & Carry" sounds).
2024 SHOWS
Open-call show: "Sanctuary"
​​
What does “sanctuary” mean to you? How can you depict it in artwork? As always, all media accepted, from all artists of every age and level of experience. One criterion: The work must fit through our front door.
​
We present “Sanctuary” in association with BTE/BUPlayers show“Sanctuary City”: Pulitzer Prize winner Martyna Majok delivers a powerful tale of two young DREAMers fighting for their place in the only home they've ever known. With poignant and timely storytelling, Majok’s play explores the profound sacrifices and unwavering friendship between these characters, highlighting the stakes they face when risking everything for each other.
​
The play comes to us as a collaboration with Bloomsburg University’s Conversations for the Common Good, an interdisciplinary, university- and community-wide movement linking students, staff, faculty, and administrators with community partners and the general public towards a single goal: to invest time, talent, and resources to promote dialogue that unites and bridges seemingly vast divides within our community.
​
The show runs January 8th through February 9th, 2024
Work due by Saturday, January 6th
Alex Frew solo show, February 12th through March 15th
Open-call show: "Face Value"
​
The show runs March 18th through April 26th
Work due by Saturday, March 16th
​
The Exchange Gallery's first portrait show: Portraiture has captivated viewers for centuries. In addition to likeness, portraits have the ability to convey mood, personality, and complex emotions. Whether you create art that is true to life, abstract, conceptual, or any variety in between, The Exchange would like to see your portrait art. All media and all styles from ALL artists welcome, with the usual rule: Your work has to fit through our front door.
Chris Stametz
Therapy on 2 Wheels
Open-call show: "Art of the Roaring Creek Valley"
​
Work due Saturday, April 27th
Show runs April 29th through June 7th
​
The 80-square-mile Roaring Creek watershed lies in Columbia, Montour, and Northumberland Counties; it includes the popular trails around the reservoirs in Weiser State Forest as well as the farm country surrounding Fisherdale, Mill Grove, Numidia, Slabtown -- and Knoebels. Just as we had done in the "SITEexchange" show, we want to see your artwork, in any medium, that celebrates this lovely part of our region.
This show marks the first collaboration between The Exchange and the Roaring Creek Valley Conservation Association, which seeks to conserve the natural resources of the basin and its rich culture through watershed stewardship, education, and monitoring. Find out more here.
Open-call show: "Train of Thought"
​
Show us your artwork about trains and railroading! As always, we accept all media in every size up to that of our front door, and we encourage artists of all ages and levels of experience.
The show runs June 10th through July 19th
Work due by Saturday, June 8th
​
Photo above by Oren B. Helbok
Susan Fulginiti solo show, July 22nd through August 30th
Open-call show: Looking Up"
​
Show runs September 3rd through October 11th
Work due by Saturday, August 31st
​
Show us your artwork about what makes you happy!
​
Helen Keller once said, “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
The Exchange would like to know: What gives you hope? What brings you happiness? The Exchange Gallery invites you to create artwork on the theme of happiness, optimism and/or hope. As always, we accept all media in every size up to that of our front door, and we encourage artists of all ages and levels of experience.
TBD show, October 14th through November 22nd
"Cash & Carry XI": November 25th through December 27th
​
We'll have more information to you closer to the time.
​Please submit this form with your work.
​
You as artist/lender bear sole responsibility for insuring your own work. Neither the Exchange nor its volunteers nor employees may be held liable for any loss or damage to the artwork on loan. Neither an exhibitor nor any representative(s) thereof shall be a party to any legal action against The Exchange, its board of directors, its employees, or its volunteers arising out of any such loss or damage to personal property or personal injury. When you drop off your work, you must sign a gallery loan agreement to this effect.
​
We use photographs of artwork for promoting the exhibitions here; on the form, you may choose to have your work not photographed.
​
The Exchange Gallery takes a 20% commission on sales, meaning the artist receives 80% of the sale price of a piece. You may choose to donate more than 20% -- and up to 100% -- of the sale price to the Gallery. All income from sales goes directly to keeping the lights on here.
Any work not picked up one month after the end on an exhibition will be considered abandoned and will be recycled.
​
Exhibition Agreement:
You must certify that all work offered for exhibition, for sale, and/or for display at the Exchange is original and designed and executed by you or legally represented by you. You understand that The Exchange reserves the right to accept or reject any work for public display.
We look forward to having your work at the Exchange Gallery.
