The Mosaic of Christ

Call for Submissions

Call for Entry: Diverse depictions of Jesus, with an emphasis on cultural expression and/or historical accuracy. Jurors will not accept white depictions of Christ for this show. The goal of this show is to broaden the vision of how Christ, the Savior of the world, can be depicted and spotlight the religious artworks of people of color. 

Jurors: Rose Datoc Dall, Melissa Tshikamba Boggs, and Esther Hi’ilani Candari

Mediums: Pieces must be new (created no earlier than 2020), original pieces of art.  Mediums that will be accepted are painting, printmaking, drawing, mixed media work, photography, digital illustration, or small sculptures, installations, and assemblages. Installation and assemblage pieces will be considered on a case by case basis. Contact Esther at esther@writandvision.com with questions. Performance art, large sculpture, new media, and audio or video pieces will not be accepted due to exhibit objectives and space constraints. Two dimensional work should preferably be a maximum of 36 inches wide. Pieces larger than 36” will be considered on a case by case basis due to space constraints. Sculptures can be no more than 18 inches wide or deep and 20 inches tall. 

Work, and images used to create work, must be free of any copyright infringement and must be created by or properly licensed by the artist. 

Images created using stills from film productions such as The Bible videos or The Chosen series, even if licensed, will not be accepted.  

Compensation: All work that is shown must be for sale. The commission rate for the gallery, Writ & Vision, is a sliding scale of 35/65 for pieces $200 and below 40/60 for pieces $201-$2999 and 50/50 for pieces $3000 and above. International entries welcome. Scholarships or financial aid up to $300 per artist will be available for international shipping to and from the show. A need based scholarship of $100 dollars for domestic shipping is also available.  Selection of work is at the discretion of the jury and Writ and Vision Gallery. We reserve the right to reject any pieces submitted for this show. 

Prizes:

-$500 “My Jesus Project Scholarship”
– ARTBook Feature Award by Esther H. Candari
– solo show awarded by Writ and Vision
– artist residency awarded by Writ and Vision
 

Pieces shown elsewhere: We would like to encourage artists to make new work, or submit previously unexhibited work for this show. If a piece has been shown previously please note the dates and location on the form.

Guidelines
If you are depicting someone from a culture other than your own:
    1. Decenter yourself.
      Do your best to not include any stereotypes or implicit biases in your art. 
    2. Listen to the groups you are advocating for.
      Interact with and learn from those communities you are wanting to add to your art.
    3. Education is key- do your research!
      Google is everyone’s best friend! It’s a great way to learn from the culture/community you are wanting to portray.
      Put in the work to understand how a race/culture has been marginalized and what you can do to value this race/culture.
    4. Apologize when you get it wrong, listen to learn.
      Everyone gets it wrong at some point. If you are called out or called in, take it as an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve yourself.
    5. Look for ways to give back to the cultures/communities who are hurting or suffering.
      Too often, we feel we can take advantage of marginalized communities. We should make every effort to support, lift, and serve as much as we can.
    6. This is about more than adding different skin colors.
      It’s not enough to just add different skin tones and call it good. Respectfully study facial features, clothing and hairstyles, artifacts, etc. from the culture (try to learn directly from the culture/community!)

If you are wanting to depict a historically accurate Jesus Christ:
(Ideas gathered from this article: What Did Jesus Look Like)

    1. Forensic anthropologists and computer programmers created an image based on an Israeli skull dating to the first century A.D. Scholars consider the most accurate depictions to have darker skin, dark eyes, shorter, curlier hair, and stand about five feet tall.
    2. Joan Taylor (What Did Jesus Look Like?) “used archaeological remains, historical texts and ancient Egyptian funerary art to conclude that, like most people in Judea and Egypt around the time, Jesus most likely had brown eyes, dark brown to black hair and olive-brown skin. He may have stood about 5-ft.-5-in. (166 cm) tall, the average man’s height at the time.”
    3. There is no evidence that people at that time had blue eyes and blond hair.
    4. In the 1500-1600s, largely because of anti-semetism, artists began to remove Jewish features from Mary and Christ and gave them more European, Anglo-Saxon features. Those types of depictions have largely continued until now. When painting a historically accurate image of Christ, it is not sufficient to paint the features of a northern European man and simply put darker skin color on him.

Tips for taking professional pictures of art (click here)
Tips for framing work (click here)

Image Files must be titled “Lastname_Title.jpg”, for example “Sanchez_TheLamb.jpg”

Artists must submit entry information and hi-res images of each work using the submission button below.

Artists may submit a maximum of 3 original works. 

Key Dates

Call for submissions open:
International:   November 2022 – July 5th, 2023
US:  November 2022 – September 1st, 2023

Artists will be notified: no later than September 30th, 2023 if pieces have been accepted
Accepted pieces must be received by gallery:  January 5th, 2024
Artwork received after this date will not be included in the show.
Artwork must be ready to hang including d-rings and wire. Gallery staff will contact artists directly to make arrangements for 3-D work.

Gallery show: Feb 2nd, 2024 – Feb 27th, 2024
Artist round tables and other educational events hosted at the gallery in conjunction with the exhibit will be announced as they are scheduled. 

Please note:  gmail is required for submission.

Click here to submit your art

Sponsored by Meetinghouse Mosaic

For questions about the purpose and mission of this exhibit contact: meetinghousemosaic@gmail.com

For questions about delivery, display, installation, sales, and pick up of work, contact:  esther@writandvision.com

Writ and Vision
274 W Center Street
Provo, UT 84601
801-647-7383

brad@writandvision.com​808.726.1006

esther@writandvision.com

Donation link coming very soon. Thanks for your patience!

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