submission deadline
January 3, 2026
exhibition dates
February 20 – March 29, 2026
Often, our experiences are rendered within a neat rectangle: a canvas, screen, or mirror. Deviating from the structural confines of the frame leaves space to sprout life of its own. Gallery 263 invites artists from the United States to submit to A Garden Without a Gate, an national exhibition of art that embraces irregular forms, untamed surfaces, and unconstrained ideas that ask what lies beyond the rectangle’s edge. Artists of all experience levels and mediums are encouraged to apply.
About the jurors
Cicely Carew is a Boston-based artist, educator, and mind-body facilitator whose multimedia work centers radical joy and liberation. Her artistic practice spans immersive installations, collages, sculptural assemblages, painting, printmaking, and video/sound meditations, united by a vibrancy of color and multi-dimensional layering. Her pieces invite viewers to ease into a realm of healing and play. Carew’s recent installations and public art commissions include Ambrosia, 5,000 sq ft installation at the Prudential Center, the solo exhibition BeLOVEd at the Fuller Craft Museum, and a Foster Prize exhibit at ICA Boston. Locally, she has served as an Artist-in-Residence at the Shady Hill School, taught mixed media and printmaking for the New Art Center and Maud Morgan Arts, and taught screenprinting at Lesley University. Carew completed her MFA at Lesley Art + Design and her BFA at Massachusetts College of Art + Design.
Kate Holcomb Hale is an interdisciplinary artist and educator who lives and works in greater Boston, MA. Kate’s practice uses sculpture, painting, video and craft to reimagine how we can soften and modify our world to accommodate our most vulnerable members of society and ease the load of care work. Collapsing kitchen tables, knotted handrails and resting columns act as vehicles to consider vulnerability, futility and the invisible labor of caregiving that occurs in domestic and public spheres. This body of work was conceived after a period of intense caregiving in which she lost her mother, father and brother in quick succession. Her installations combine playful colors, softness, familiar forms and humor to create receptive spaces for empathy and healing. Kate received her MFA in critical theory and studio art from Maine College of Art. She has exhibited throughout the United States and internationally, including at The Danforth Art Museum, Zabludowicz Collection, Praise Shadows Art Gallery, LaiSun Keane Gallery, Spilt Milk Gallery, and the Portland ICA.
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
