submission deadline
Sunday, September 7, 2025
exhibition dates
October 9 – November 8, 2025
From satirical irony to visual tricks, artists have long used humor in their practice to point towards layered intentions. Humor not only makes us crack a smile, but is a tool to challenge conventions and critique culture. Enlisting cheeky quips or juicy irony creates a different type of visual language, one which challenges perceptions of difficult topics and allows us to laugh in the face of it all. Gallery 263 invites artists from across the United States to submit their artwork that celebrates the subversive, satirical, and funny way of observing the world.
Artists will be notified of juror selections by September 19th.
About the juror
Libby Paloma (she/they, b. Santa Ana, CA) is an interdisciplinary artist working across sculpture, installation, and performance. Embracing maximal aesthetics, humor, and craft traditions, Paloma transforms familiar materials into representational forms imbued with layered meaning. Immersive and labor-intensive, Paloma’s soft sculptures draw on craft practices and traditional sewing techniques passed down by the women in her Mexican and Chicana lineage. Through the conceptual framework of “world-softening,” Paloma explores intersectional identity and the radical potential of softness. Often activated through sensory engagement or performance, their works invite interaction and play, creating spaces of interconnection and reimagination.
Paloma has been an artist-in-residence at The Clemente (NY, NY), SPACE (Portland, ME), the Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), and The Wassaic Project (Wassaic, NY), and will be an artist-in-residence at Velvet Park (Brooklyn, NY) in the Fall–Winter 2025 cycle. Paloma’s work has been shown at El Museo del Barrio (NY, NY), Burlington City Arts (Burlington, VT), SOMArts (San Francisco, CA), SPACE Gallery (Portland, ME), Geary Contemporary (Millerton, NY), Silvermine Gallery (New Canaan, CT), SPRING/BREAK Art Show (NY, NY), Unprofessional Variety Show (NY, NY), the University of Southern Maine (Gorham, ME), and the Dorsky Museum (New Paltz, NY), where they received the Artist Purchase Award. In 2025, she Co-Chaired a panel at the College Art Association (CAA) titled Crip Time: Disabled Spacemaking in the Work of Queercrip Artists and spoke on panels at The International Visual Sociology Association (IVSA), the College Art Association (CAA), and Tufts University’s symposium How Do You Throw a Brick Through the Window… Their work will be exhibited in upcoming shows at Tufts University (Medford, MA), Stephan Street Gallery (Brooklyn, NY), the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Sheboygan, WI), and Human Resources Gallery (Los Angeles, CA).
Before fully pursuing an art career, Paloma spent two decades working in education as a counselor, teacher, and Speech-Language Pathologist. Paloma holds a BA in Liberal Studies and an MS in Communicative Disorders from San Francisco State University, and an MFA from Parsons School of Design at The New School, where they received the President’s and University Full Scholarship.
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 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.
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!
Submission form
