Calling all writers! All ages!
We want to see your creative interpretations of Valencia Robin’s abstract paintings!
In this call for submissions, Second Street Gallery invites you to create and submit a poem, prose, short story, or essay in response to what you see when you look at Valencia Robin’s artwork featured in her current solo exhibition, Mother Tongue. We want to see your creative interpretations of abstract art. Submit your writing that is inspired by the shapes, colors, and feelings that Valencia Robin’s abstract paintings evoke.
Whether in language or in visual art, engaging with abstract forms of expression can be intimidating. This open call aims to connect words and painting by asking you to look at abstract art and use language to respond to what you see on the canvas.
Select submissions will appear in Second Street Gallery’s second official print zine, curated by artist Valencia Robin, which will be available within the gallery and online for download. All submitted written works will appear on the gallery’s website for viewing. Both the print zine and website will be released in mid to late March 2023.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE: All writing submissions are due by 11:59PM EST on Friday, March 10, 2023 by email to info@secondstreetgallery.org. Within this submission email, please include your name as you’d like it to appear online or in print (anonymous submissions are welcome). Your writing submission can take any form and should be under 500 words.
To fuel your creative writing, consider:
Narrowing your focus by selecting one or two specific artworks that catch your eye
What feelings or emotions come to mind when you look at Valencia Robin’s work?
Do the artwork titles stir up any ideas around the potential meaning of the work?
Are there any repeating colors or imagery in the works? How does this make you feel?
Visit the gallery in person during our open hours (Wednesday - Friday, 11-5PM and Saturday, 10-4PM) or view Valencia Robin’s works online through our website (www.secondstreetgallery.org). Learn more about the exhibition and the artist HERE.
We can’t wait to see what you create!
If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Second Street Gallery’s Outreach Coordinator, Stephen Haske: stephen@secondstreetgallery.org.
Valencia Robin: Mother Tongue and this Call for Submissions is made possible in part by grants from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts..
Valencia Robin’s interdisciplinary practice includes poetry, painting and sculpture. The recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, a Margaret Towsley Fellowship and a King-Chavez-Parks Fellowship, she holds an MFA in Art & Design from the University of Michigan and an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Virginia. She lives and works in Charlottesville, Virginia.
And read more about Valencia Robin and her current exhibition, Mother Tongue, on our website.