Compete MFA Call for Artists: After Dark Online Juried Exhibition
Opportunity Description
International Deadline: August 27, 2025 – Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) invites all artists internationally to enter our After Dark Show 2025.
After Dark is a captivating art exhibition that delves into the quiet, mysterious, and evocative world that emerges when the sun goes down. Through a curated collection of paintings, photographs, installations, and mixed media works, After Dark invites viewers into a realm where light fades, shadows stretch, and the ordinary becomes infused with mood, ambiguity, and atmosphere.
Drawing inspiration from the tradition of nocturne painting, the exhibition explores the nuanced beauty of nighttime, from city streets bathed in artificial glow to remote landscapes under the hush of moonlight. Each piece captures the emotional resonance of night: its solitude, its secrets, and the heightened sense of presence that darkness often brings. The artists in After Dark use limited palettes, subtle contrasts, and softened forms to express the stillness and introspection that twilight and night inspire.
Whether it’s the gentle flicker of a single lamp in an open window or the vast, starlit silence of a rural field, After Dark reveals how night transforms the way we see, feel, and imagine. The exhibition invites visitors to slow down and attune to the subtleties of light and shadow, of sound and silence the work seeks offer a sensory experience that is both immersive and deeply reflective.
This exhibition is a meditation on the nocturnal, a celebration of the unseen, and a tribute to the artistry that arises when the world grows quiet and the light begins to fade.
Works selected by the juror will be exhibited in MFA’s Virtual Gallery from October 15 – November 30, 2025.
ELIGIBILITY
Entry is open to all artists internationally. All entries must be original and completed solely by the artist’s hand. A maximum of 6 original works created within the past 3 years may be entered. If artwork is part of a limited edition, please state total number in the edition. Work previously exhibited in MFA’s Virtual Gallery is not eligible for re-entry. There is no size limit for online exhibitions.
JUROR
John Hrehov holds an MFA from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art. He is a Professor and Head of the Department of Art and Design at Purdue University Fort Wayne (PFW). Hrehov has had numerous solo and group exhibitions throughout the country, including Wood Street Gallery, Chicago, IL; Fort Wayne Museum of Art, Fort Wayne, IN; Yvonne Rapp Gallery, Louisville, KY; Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL; and Denise Bibro Fine Art, NYC.
Awards include Gladys Emerson Cook Prize in the Area of Prints, Drawings and Pastel, 167th Annual Exhibition National Academy of Design, NYC and Eastman-Bolton Memorial Award, Cleveland Institute of Art. His work has been featured and reviewed in various publications including Art in America, American Artist Magazine, Louisville Courier-Journal, and The Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne, IN. He is exclusively represented by Denise Bibro Fine Arts, Inc. in New York City… see more
AWARDS
Awards designated by the juror total $500.
ENTRY FEE
1 or 2 entries $45 (MFA Members $30). Up to 4 additional entries are $6.75 each (MFA Members $4.50). Entry fees are non-refundable.
APPLY ONLINE
Visit us online for complete details.
SALES
Work must be for sale. Work may be set to Price on Request (POR). MFA’s Online Sales Gallery is provided to artists to sell their work. MFA will reimburse up to $35 in shipping costs to those artists for online sales shipments if a receipt is provided. All other artists must enter Price on Request (POR) and purchase inquiries will be referred by MFA to the artist.
Artists will retain 80% from sales (85% for MFA Members). MFA will retain 20% commission (15% for MFA Members) on any work sold through MFA.
DATES
- Aug 27 Entry Deadline @ 11:59 PM
- Sept 25 Notification @ 5 PM
- Oct 15 Exhibition Opens
- Nov 3 Awards Announced @ 5 PM
- Nov 30 Last Day of the Exhibition
About:
The MFA incorporated as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization in 1968 and, through the hard work of a growing and enthusiastic membership, opened the Circle Gallery located at 18 State Circle, just steps away from the State House in Annapolis. The gallery is located in a restored loft space in the heart of the Annapolis Historic District and has been operating continuously since opening its doors. The MFA has also reached out beyond its doors through its Alternate Space efforts, often bringing art to unexpected places.
Maryland Federation of Art
18 State Circle
Annapolis, MD 21401
t: 410 268 4566
