Call for Miniature Art: Messages to the Outside

The Angelica Kauffman Gallery, in cooperation with the Oak Park Art League is calling for art by currently or formerly incarcerated folks, on the theme, "Messages to the Outside."

Those who are unaffected by the carceral system tend to not think about it. Art can draw attention to the system and the people in the system. What do you want people on the outside to know? About life on the inside? Your access (or lack of access) to education, art supplies and ? What about issues of work and payment?

What do you wish folks on the outside knew? What should they care about? What change do you wish they were advocating for?

All submitted works that meet requirements will be shown online. A selection of works will be shown inside the miniature art gallery that is located inside the Oak Park Art League in Oak Park, IL. Art must be family friendly, AKG and OPAL reserve the right to not show art for any reason.

Size restriction: the Angelica Kauffman Gallery is a miniature art gallery, the scale is like that of a dollhouse, or 1:12. Art cannot be more than 4" x 4" in size. It does not have to be square, but it cannot be larger than that. On the upside, this makes the work easier to mail.

Mail your artwork, along with your name, the title of the piece, year completed, and price, if the work is for sale. If the work is not for sale, write NFS.
Mail art to the Oak Park Art League, 720 Chicago Ave., Oak Park, IL 60302.
OPAL will also collect books during the run of this show to donate to not for profits that donate books to incarcerated folks. If there's a book you'd like to be donated, please write that down as well.

How we hang the works in the miniature gallery

We mostly use 3M Command Strips to hang the art. Artists do not need to add any hanging devices to the art. We may need to add a piece of acid free book tape to the back of your art in order to hang the work without damaging it.

Miniature art does not have to be mounted on any kind of substrate, or framed. You may do so, but it is not required. Weight is also a concern, if you do choose to add a backing or a miniature frame, these must be very lightweight.

For works that sell, OPAL will charge a commission of 20%. OPAL will remit payment for sold work to the person you indicate who is on the outside, or will contribute money in that amount to your commissary account, as you indicate.

Deadline: Art must be received by May 24, 2024

Dates of show: May 31 - June 28, 2024