Oakton’s Annual Women’s Exhibition, in its 15th year, is drawn to respond to what’s happening in the world and to our communities. 

For this year’s annual juried exhibition, Oakton College invites professional artists of all media, including performance artists, to submit a single work that provides social commentary and inspiration on the ways that marginalized communities create courageous spaces, empower each other, and change the world. Submissions may focus on women, and/or other gender and sexual minorities, in the United States or globally, may have either a contemporary or historical context, and may focus on either the public or private sphere. Entries will be judged on artistic quality and adherence to the exhibition theme Don’t “Drag” Me Down: Today’s Battle for Liberation. Note: Submissions that do not directly relate to the exhibit theme will not be considered.

Submission Deadline and Guidelines:
*Please complete the ART SUBMISSION FORM and attach the following documents listed below by Friday, August 11, 2023.*
1) Image or Video of Work: The image should be a JPEG (.jpg) of at least 300 dpi. (at least 1 MB). Label all work with the artist’s name, title of work, date, and medium.

2) Artist Statement and Biography: The artist statement and biography should be a Microsoft Word document only (no PDFs or JPEGs) and should not exceed 150 words (no résumés). Please be aware that statements and biographies will be edited for spelling, grammar, and context.
3) Media: All media considered. Performance works will be considered if appropriate to the space. Installations and work that the artist determines to be delicate must be installed and removed by the artist. The Museum manager will determine if works should be installed and removed by the artist.
4) Insurance: All work will be insured while in the museum.
5) Delivery of Accepted Work: All work, hand-delivered or shipped, must arrive at the museum between 11 am - 4 pm on Saturday, September 23, or 10 am - 6 pm on Monday, September 25, 2023. Shipped work must include a prepaid return shipping label for the artist’s preferred carrier. (Postage stamps are not accepted.)
6) Pickup of Work: Saturday, Nov 4, 2023, 11 am - 4 pm, or Monday, Nov 6, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. If the indicated times for delivery or pickup are not convenient, contact Nathan Harpaz, Ph.D., manager of the Koehnline Museum of Art, 847.635.2633, to arrange a more convenient time and date.
7) Other Information: On the back of each piece, please place the artist’s name and phone number, title of work, year completed, medium, and insurance value. The Koehnline Museum does not take commissions on sales. Artists will be placed in contact with interested buyers. 

Questions? Call Nathan Harpaz at 847.635.2633 or email nharpaz@oakton.edu.

Exhibition Details:

Where: Koehnline Museum of Art, Oakton College, 1600 E. Golf Rd, Des Plaines, IL 60016, 847-635-2633.
When: The exhibit runs Oct 5 - Nov 3, 2023. A public reception will be held Thursday, October 5, from 5 to 8 p.m. Artists are encouraged to attend this special event and discuss their work with students and other attendees. 
Who: Women, non-binary, and/or queer artists. Submissions must be from professional artists who have a record of professional exhibitions and are 18 years of age or older.
Jury/Entry Fee: No entry fee. 
Catalog: The College will produce an exhibition catalog. 
Submission of Work: Each artist may submit one original work for consideration. Work should relate to the theme of Don’t “Drag” Me Down: Today’s Battle for Liberation. There are no size limitations.

Don’t “Drag” Me Down: Today’s Battle for Liberation: There have been many changes in U.S. legislation in the last year that threaten our bodily autonomy, our gender identities, our sexualities, and our intellectual freedoms. Alongside the shifts in law and policy have been a culture of exclusion and violence at the local, state, national, and corporate levels. What undergirds this legislation? Why have women and pregnant persons across our country lost access to vital reproductive healthcare services? Why are transgender youth the targets of increasingly discriminatory laws? Why are book bans and censorship threatening our public libraries and schools? And what kind of society do we live in when a drag queen story hour becomes the site of politicized violence and state control?  As history reveals time and time again, the fight for justice and equity is never finished. We have witnessed renewed attacks on reproductive justice, bans on life-affirming care for transgender and non-binary youth, attacks on the freedom of ideas and teaching accurate history in education, book bans and censorship, racialized terror and gun violence, and environmental threats to indigenous communities and ecosystems. We are in the fight of our lives and we refuse to go backwards. How can we work together to create a more just and liberatory society for ALL of us?