Grills Gallery Open Call

Description

The Arts Center in Orange, Virginia, is seeking proposals from artists in active practice for exhibition in our newly named Grills Gallery.
The Grills Gallery is specifically for artists who are curious, engaged, and attentive to their work. They have ambition for their discipline and a sense of direction. They explore, give form, and bring that work into view with care. The role of the Arts Center and the Grills Gallery in particular is to support that effort and help make it visible.
The Grills is a working gallery space designed to support the making and presentation of art with care and clarity. It is open to artists who are developing bodies of work, refining ideas, or bringing forward a focused direction in their practice.
The gallery is 21 ft by 15 ft with 13 ft steel-beamed ceilings. It has wood floors, a brick accent wall with a wire hanging system, and two sliding wooden barn doors at the entrance. The space includes pedestals and two 4 ft x 8 ft modular wire and wood partitions on wheels, allowing flexible configuration. The beams are accessible for light rigging and structural support. The entire space can be painted and repainted as needed for installations.
The track lighting is new and adaptable. A portable sound system and monitors are available for audio, video, and digital work, openings, and programming. There is space for on-site preparation and installation work. The gallery sits within a larger arts center that can accommodate receptions, live music, artist talks, and classes connected to an artist’s practice or discipline.
We welcome exhibitions that include painting, drawing, sculpture, installation, ceramics, mixed media, digital, and interdisciplinary work. We are equally open to work that is intimate in scale or immersive in experience.
Orange, Virginia, is a slower-paced, welcoming town. The surrounding Central Piedmont landscape—served by this center since 1997—is open, rural, and deeply rooted in craft, land, and community life.
Submission Guidelines:
Please include the following materials:
• 10–15 images of recent or representative work (JPEG or PDF preferred)
• Image list with title, medium, size, and year for each work
• Artist statement (up to 500 words) describing current direction or body of work
• CV or résumé (2 pages maximum)
• Optional: links to video, audio, or installation documentation if relevant
• Submit to submissions@artscenterinorange.com
• Please put Grills Gallery in the subject line.
Deadline: Ongoing
Notification: Ongoing
Exhibition timeline: Ten available month-long shows between October 2026 and July 2027.