Future Craft

Deadline: This call is now closed.

Exhibition dates: October 10–November 9, 2024

Marked by a history of resilience and rooted in traditions of storytelling and embodied knowledge, craft is materially connected to lineages of the past. Contemporary craft objects sustain this link while pushing the boundaries of function, adornment, tradition, and community engagement. Today’s craft-based artists draw from intersectional identities and social practices to reconsider and reinterpret the ‘handmade’ as a futuristic ideal.

Gallery 263 is pleased to invite artists based in the United States to submit to Future Craft, an exhibition highlighting the ingenuity and relevance of craft and design in contemporary art. All visual and performance media (2D, 3D, time-based) will be considered, including ceramics, metals, fibers, and other craft processes.


About the juror

A native of Bristol, Rhode Island, Kendall Reiss grew up exploring the rocky shoreline of Narragansett Bay. She attended Dickinson College in Carlisle, PA where she received a BS in Geology, which provided the visual training and hands-on approach she now uses as an artist and educator. After studying at several prominent institutions including the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Kendall returned to school to combine her fascination of the natural world with the study of jewelry. In 2011, she received a MFA in Jewelry + Metalsmithing from the Rhode Island School of Design.

International presentations of her work include: Finnish jewelry triennial, KORU8 with exhibitions at The Finnish Forest Museum Lusto in Punkaharju and The Oulu Art Museum, Finland in 2024 and 2025 respectively. Her work was exhibited in Jewelry & Nature at Tincal Lab in Porto, Portugal, as well as nationally for New York City Jewelry Week, at the Baltimore Jewelry Center, Greenville Center for Creative Arts, Bristol Art Museum, and Haskell Public Gardens. In February 2024, Kendall presented her ongoing research project, BEING [with] TREES at the College Art Association annual conference in a panel led by curator Martina Tanga; Learning from Trees: Artists & Climate Solutions.

As a gallerist, Kendall has worked both independently and collaboratively on curatorial projects on the East and West Coasts at Brooklyn Metal Works, The Hotel Wilshire, Velvet da Vinci, and Alloy Gallery. She has taught across New England and nationally including at the Rhode Island School of Design, Fuller Craft Museum, and with Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft. Kendall is currently a Professor of the Practice in Metals at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston, MA, where she serves as Chair of the 3D & Performance Department.


How to apply

Applications are submitted through the online form below. Up to 6 artworks, represented as jpg files or video/audio links, may be uploaded to the form for consideration. Payment is settled either as the final step of the online application form or by a follow-up payment method (mailed check). Selections for the exhibition are made by the guest juror. All communication and installation decisions are conducted by Gallery 263. Please read the full information below prior to applying.

Artwork size restrictions & shipping details

  • 2D (painting, drawing, photography, graphic design, etc.)
    Max dimensions: 108 inches H x 60 inches W (40 pounds max)
  • 3D (sculpture, assemblage, installation)
    Max dimensions: Must be self-supportive or mountable; may not exceed 108 inches H x 30 inches W x 30 inches D. Installations must be simple to assemble or installed by artist
  • Time media (video or audio)
    No length restrictions. Submit with links to streaming (YouTube or Vimeo). Artists will be required to provide a/v equipment with selected time-based works.
  • Size restrictions of artwork to be shipped
    Shipped artwork must fit in a box no larger than: 36 inches W  x  36 inches H x 8 inches D, 40 lbs.
  • Artwork must be shipped using UPS, with a return UPS shipping label included. Gallery 263 does not pay for return shipment. If your package does not include a UPS return label, it is the artist’s responsibility to make an arrangements with the gallery within 30 days of the conclusion of the show.

Eligibility

This is a national call, open to all US residents. Submitted work must have been created within the last five years, complete and presentation ready.

Submission

Online submissions only. Artists may submit up to 6 works. Work in all media is encouraged.

Entry fee

Payment of $25 for 1–3 submissions; $40 for 4–6.  Payment must be received by the submission deadline.

Gallery volunteers may be eligible to receive a discounted or waived submission. Learn more.

FAQs

Please review our page of FAQs for additional information.

Artwork Nudity Policy

Gallery 263 is located in a residential neighborhood with large storefront windows and is adjacent to a school bus stop. As such, the gallery is mindful about artwork that contains nudity or sexually suggestive imagery. Gallery 263 welcomes submissions of artwork containing nudity, and if selected to be included in an exhibition, the artist may have to collaborate with gallery staff to meet the needs of both the artist and the local Cambridge community. Possible precautions taken by the gallery may include the right to decide on the location of artwork in the gallery, frosting a bottom section of  glass in the main windows, and/or additional disclaimers located at the gallery entrance. Furthermore, the gallery reserves the right to use its discretion with the type of content it disseminates on its channels, including email, the website, and social media. If artists are unsure if their artwork would be suitable for presentation in the gallery, please contact the exhibitions director before submitting your artwork at [email protected].

Please be kind!

Gallery 263, a small nonprofit organization, operates on the generosity of volunteer board members, a few staff members, and local volunteers who are artists and art lovers, like you. We care deeply about what we do and appreciate your understanding that we are human, too.

As the gallery operates on a small budget, submission fees cannot be waived. These fees support the operating costs of our nonprofit, such as keeping the lights on. Thank you for your support!