Art Calls Ancestral Futures
Opportunity Description
International Deadline: November 23, 2025 – This A.R.C. Gallery juried exhibition, curated by artist and ceramicist Donté K. Hayes, seeks works that meditate on wisdom, intentionality, and the responsibility of shaping a world that extends beyond ourselves.
What does it mean to be a good future ancestor? How might today’s personal, cultural, social, and or environmental actions become legacies for those who come after us? Ancestral Futures invites artists to reflect on these questions through their creative practice.
EXHIBITION
We hope to showcase a range of perspectives and styles that do service to the complex and multifaceted nature of this topic. Through this call for art, we hope to shine a light on the ethics of long-term thinking—what The Good Ancestor author Roman Krznaric calls “deep-time humility.”
Exhibition dates: February 5-27, 2026.
ELIGIBILITY
We invite artists of all backgrounds and mediums to submit artwork created within the last 5 years that explores the concept of the future ancestor though art.
Submissions can include painting, drawing, photography, digital art, sculpture, mixed media, textiles, ceramics, and video. We encourage artists to draw on personal experiences and observations in creating their work.
CURATOR
Donté K. Hayes is a research-based artist residing and working in Cliffwood, New Jersey. He graduated summa cum laude from Kennesaw State University in Georgia with a BFA in Ceramics and Printmaking with an Art History minor. Donté received his MA and MFA with honors from the University of Iowa and is the 2017 recipient of the University of Iowa Arts Fellowship. Donté has been awarded residencies at MacDowell, Bemis Center, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Penland, Township 10, Watershed, Hambidge Center for Creative Arts and Sciences and The Peninsula School of Art. His work is included in the permanent collections of the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Minnesota Museum of American Art, Wellin Museum, Newark Museum of Art, Museum of Fine Arts Houston… see more
APPLY ONLINE – Application Fee: $40
Visit us online for complete details and to Apply.
SALES
Works will be for sale unless noted as NFS (not for sale) on the entry form. ARC will act as a liaison for sales of the artists’ work. However, any work sold and paid for via Paypal will have the small fee deducted from the sale amount. ARC will deduct a 20% commission from the selling price of the work in group shows, with the artist retaining 80%.
DATES
- Deadline for Submission of Applications: Sunday November 23, 2025 at 11:59pm CST
- Notification of Acceptance: Will go out by email on January 6, 2026
- Delivery of work to ARC: Thursday & Friday, January 29 & 30, 2026, 2-6pm; Sat, January 31, 12-4pm
- Pick-Up Work at Gallery: Sat, February 28, 2026, 2:30-4pm
- Shipped Work Return Date: First two weeks of March (determined by the delivery method)
About:
ARC Gallery and Educational Foundation is a non-profit, woman-run cooperative gallery dedicated to providing alternative space exhibition opportunities for innovative artists outside the commercial gallery system. Since 1973 ARC has given exposure and support to artists, providing an atmosphere for the continued development of artistic potential and experimentation.
ARC is run entirely by its women artist members; as a non-profit exhibition space. ARC receives some support from outside funding sources but not enough to cover our operating expenses. Thus, to provide the space and services we offer to exhibiting artists, we defray our expenses by charging exhibition fees. Each of the rental spaces in the gallery actually costs twice as much as we charge the artists.
ARC Gallery & Educational Foundation
1463 W. Chicago Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60642
(773) 252-2232
