This Color, This Echo – Artist Call & Author Call

This Color, This Echo

Artist Call & Author Call

Verse & Vision — Art and Poetry in Conversation

There is a color you can’t leave alone. It stops you in a museum, pulls you back to a particular room, a particular hour. You may not be able to explain it — but you recognize it when it finds you. This Color, This Echo is a show about that recognition: the way color carries memory, feeling, and meaning that belong entirely to the person experiencing it.

An echo is not the original sound. It is what comes back — altered by distance, shaped by what it passed through. Color works the same way. The blue of a childhood bedroom, the particular gold of late afternoon in a place you loved: these are not simply colors. They are echoes. This exhibition brings together visual artists and poets to explore what those echoes carry.

What We’re Looking For

Visual works in any 2D medium in which color — a specific hue, its tonal range, or quality of light — is the emotional and conceptual center of the piece. We are not looking for work about color theory. We are looking for work in which color means something personal: a color that haunts, insists, returns.

Written works — poetry, prose poetry, or short lyric essays — that explore a color or palette with the same personal intensity. Work that is spoken as readily as it is read is especially welcome.

Location & Key Dates

• Gallery: Firehouse Gallery — 81 Naugatuck Ave, Milford, CT
• Online Submission Deadline: Sunday, March 28, 2027, at midnight
• Submission deadline: Sunday, April 4, 2027, at midnight
• Acceptance notification: By April 1, 2027
• Works intake: Friday, April 9, 4–6pm and Saturday, April 10, 10am–12pm
• Installation: Tuesday, April 13, 9am–1pm
• Opening reception: Thursday, April 15, 6–8pm
• Gallery hours: April 16–25, Fri/Sat/Sun, 12–4pm
• Art pickup: Sunday, April 25, 4–6pm and Monday, April 26, 10am–12pm

About the Judges

Our April / Poetry month exhibit invites two judges – one for artwork and one for the written word.  We will be naming the judges as we get closer to the submission date.  We have been honored and awed for the last two years to have Elaine Nadal, Poet Laureate of Milford, Connecticut, as our poetry judge. 

Eligibility

• The subject is open to the artist’s choice.
• Artwork may be two- or three-dimensional.
• Submitted artworks should be limited to a single hue and its tonal range.
• Written works should explore a color, palette or shade as a theme, motif or subtext personally felt. 
• Submissions are open to all media including painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, and mixed media.
  • Three dimensional / sculpture works are accepted for this exhibit.

• Submissions are open to any artist at least 18 years old.
• Work must be original — your own concept and design.
• Work must have been created within the past three years and not previously exhibited at a Milford Arts Council gallery.
• Maximum size:  2D- 30” any  side.  3D- can be presented on a 20” square pedestal.  Contact us for any exceptions. 
• Maximum weight: 20 lbs.

Not Eligible

• Work created in a class or workshop
• Reproductions of another artist’s work
• AI-generated works
• Giclée prints
• Audio or video works

How to Submit

Entry limits and fees

• You may submit up to three (3) art works and one (1) written work for consideration.
• Artwork fees are $20 for the first work / $10 for each additional work
• Written Work is  $10 for each item – 1 work per submitter.
  • If you are entering both an artwork and a written work, pay for each type separately using the buttons below
• MAC member discounts apply — log in to the shopping cart to access your member rate.
• All entry fees are non-refundable.
• Only submissions with a paid entry fee received by the deadline are considered by the jury.

Submitting your work

All submissions are made through our online Google Form. Click the Submission Form button on the exhibit page to get started.

Google Forms requires you to be signed into a Google account to open the form. Once the form is open, you may enter any valid email address — it does not need to be a Gmail address. That email is how we will reach you about acceptance and exhibit details.

If you don’t have a Google account, you can create one free at gmail.com, or ask a trusted friend to open the form for you.

Section 1 — Your contact information

• Enter your name, email address, and mobile phone number.
• Double-check your email address — this is the only way we can reach you about acceptance.
• Include a mobile number. We may call or text if we need to reach you quickly.

Section 2 — Your artwork

• Upload one photo per artwork. The photo is used by the jury during the selection process.
• Photograph your work against a plain background. Include the entire piece — with frame if framed.
• Accepted file formats: JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WEBP
• Name your photo file: YourName_TitleOfWork
• Provide for each work: title, medium, dimensions (including frame), and price or NFS.
• Optional but helpful: include a brief artist statement about the work.

Section 3 — Terms of entry

• Read the Terms of Entry carefully before submitting.
• After you submit, a confirmation page will appear with payment links.
• You can also pay from the payment links at the bottom of the exhibit page — they are equivalent.

Jury & Acceptance

This is a juried exhibit. Works are selected by our juror based on the criteria described in this prospectus — theme, media, dimensions, and overall quality.

• All accepted and declined artists are notified by email within 2–3 days of the submission deadline.
• Notification emails come from visualarts@milfordarts.org — add this address to your contacts to make sure it doesn’t go to spam.
• The MAC reserves the right to decline work at intake if it does not meet the specifications in this prospectus.

Awards

Awards are presented at the opening reception and announced on the MAC website.

Artwork Awards:  First Place — $250  /  Second Place — $150  /  Third Place — $100

Written Work Award:   Best in Show  $100 

Award winners are notified by email before the opening reception.

Judges generally evaluate work based on how well it interprets the exhibit theme, as well as originality, craftsmanship, composition, and presentation. Framing and mounting are considered.

Sales

• All sales are handled by MAC staff during the exhibit.
• Connecticut state sales tax applies to all sales.
• The MAC receives a 30% commission on all sales — please price your work accordingly.
• Works may be listed as NFS (not for sale).

Preparing Your Work

A well-presented piece reflects on you and your work — and makes it more likely to sell. Please bring work that is clean, dry, and properly prepared for display before intake.

Work on paper

• Mount under glass or Plexiglas, matted and framed.
• Choose a frame and mat that complement your work.
• Make sure glass and mat are clean.

Work on canvas or panel

• May be submitted unframed.
• Edges should be finished — continue the painting around the edge, or paint the sides a solid black or complementary color.

Wiring your work

All 2D work must be wired with a twisted steel picture-hanging wire before intake. Work that is not properly wired will not be accepted.

• Use D-ring hardware attached to the frame (not the backing). Screw eyes are not accepted — they don’t lie flat on the wall.
• Attach wire approximately one-third of the frame height down from the top.
• Leave enough slack so the wire peaks about 2 inches below the top of the frame — this hides the picture hook.
• Use wire rated to hold the weight of your work securely.
• For more detail about wiring, see this best practices guide. 

Not accepted: clip frames, sawtooth hangers, French cleats, or brackets.

Labeling your work

• Permanently label the back of each work with your name, title, and contact information.
• Attach a temporary paper tag to the front so our curator can match your work to its wall label during installation.

Shipping artwork

• If shipping your work to the gallery, please contact us before sending.
• Include a prepaid return shipping label with insurance coverage.
• We will repack your work as carefully as possible in the original materials, unless other packaging is provided.

Online Submission Form / Instructions

• Start the Form – Click the button below to open the submission form.

  • We use Google Forms to capture the data for the entry form. Google requires that you sign-in to your Google account for security purposes.

  • This sign-in is just to access the form. Once the form is open for entry, you will be asked to enter an email address (does not have to be your Gmail address). This email address is the one we will use to contact you about acceptance or any other details about the exhibit that might come up.

• Section 1: Enter your contact information

  • Your email address is critical. Use one that you monitor often.
    Be sure you’ve spelled it correctly.

  • Include a mobile phone number. We may call or text if we need to reach you quickly, or email fails.

• Section 2: Upload images and details of your work

  • Note that photos are used for acceptance by the jury and the judge(s) may use them become familiar with the overall items in the show.  (Live judging takes place after the show is hung.)

  • Both the picture and and measurements should include the entire display(if 3-D) or 2-D as you expect it to be presented (with or without a frame).

  • File formats accepted: JPEG, PNG, HEIC, WEBP

  • Your photo files should be named in this format: YourName_Title of Work.

  • Provide details about the work.  Title, Medium, Height, Width (each including frame), Price (nsf is OK).  

  • Optional but very helpful to visitors, jury and judges is your Artist Statement about the work.

  • Submission photo hints – see this website for helpful information Here is a website.

• Section 3: Terms of Entry / Disclaimers

  • Please read the Terms of Entry and all disclaimers thoroughly and carefully before submitting the form.

  • Submit the form.

  • A submission confirmation page will appear with payment links

• You may use the links on the confirmation page to pay for your submission(s).

  • There are three links. Use the one corresponding to the number of entries submitted – 1, 2 or 3 works.

  • Or, use the payment links at the bottom of this page.  They are equivalent.
  • If you are submitting both artwork and a written work you must visit the shopping cart once for each type.

General Terms of Entry

• Selection. For juried exhibits, artwork is selected through a competitive process. Artists submit images and information for the artworks they hope will be selected by the juror.  A non-refundable fee, (required for many MAC exhibits), must be paid to be included in the jury selection process.
• Reasonable care and precautions are taken for the safe custody of works of art deposited at MAC galleries. Works of art can, however, only be received in the gallery on condition that neither the MAC nor its staff shall be liable for any loss or damage to works of art, which might occur while they are in the gallery or in transit.
• Delivery of Works. It is the responsibility of the artist to deliver accepted work(s) according to the specifications of the prospectus (media type, dimension limits, etc.) and to ensure that all works are properly and safely wired for hanging upon delivery to a MAC gallery. The MAC reserves the right to request complying changes or to reject the work(s) on delivery.
• Delivered artwork that is not picked up within 30 days of scheduled artist pickup date will become property of the MAC.
• Sales Commission. The Milford Arts Council receives a 30% commission fee on all work sold through exhibits, please price accordingly.

Submission Form and Payment Links

FORM –  Open and complete the submission form via the link below.

FEE PAYMENT – Use the payment button that matches the number of items you are submitting to the show.
   –   * If you are entering both an artwork and a written work, pay for each type separately using the buttons below.

Questions?

Contact our Visual Arts team — we’re happy to help.

• Email: visualarts@milfordarts.org
• Phone: 203-878-6647  (Tuesday – Friday, 12–4pm)

milfordarts.org  |  40 Railroad Ave South, Milford, CT

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