Art gallery guidelines and call for submissions

Submissions due November 30, 2015 for May 6, 2016 opening reception

 Benedictine Women of Madison at Holy Wisdom Monastery sponsors a rotating art exhibit as part of their mission. This exhibit will hang in the Gathering Area of the LEED-certified monastery building. Selected artwork is in keeping with the monastic environment and reflects the Benedictine values of beauty, balance, simplicity, contemplation, and reverence for creation.

Exhibits at Holy Wisdom Monastery seek to:

• Highlight creativity as an aspect of our spiritual lives
• Encourage a ‘new way of seeing’ by the viewer
• Open our space to the creative gifts of others and give them an opportunity to share their work with all guests
• Bring a representation of contemporary artistic expression to the monastery
• Provide an additional opportunity for guests to experience Holy Wisdom Monastery

Holy Wisdom Monastery will host a reception on Friday, May 6, 2016 from 5:00-8:00 pm. Exhibit hours are Monday-Friday from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm and weekend hours when the building is open (call ahead).

Information for Artists

We feature a revolving exhibit beginning on the first Friday of May and first Friday of October each year that is on display for about two months. We work with each selected artist to set the specific dates for hanging and taking down each exhibit. The gallery has approximately 42.75 lineal feet of exhibit space with enough equipment to hang 16 sets of artwork.

A jury meets once each year to select art that has a harmonious fit for exhibit in the gallery. Submissions for the exhibit opening on Friday, May 6, 2016 are due by Monday, November 30, 2016 at 4:30 pm, and will be reviewed by the middle of December 2016. Artists will be notified by early January 2016 as to whether their work was accepted.

Artists wishing to submit their work for our annual review are asked to send the following by 4:30 pm on Monday, November 30, 2015:

• An artist’s statement. (A resume is optional.)
• A narrative explaining the focus and content of the exhibit.
• A minimum of 8 and a maximum of 16 images (slides, photographs or jpegs are acceptable) of your work that reflect the content/theme/materials for the proposed exhibit, submitted on a disc, USB flash drive, attached to an email or shared electronically via DropBox.
• Please indicate the size of the proposed artwork.
• A self-addressed stamped envelope, if you want your materials returned.

Send proposals to: 
Art Gallery
Holy Wisdom Monastery
4200 County Road M
Middleton, WI 53562

Email proposals to: nsandleback@benedictinewomen.org with Gallery submission in the subject line.

Artists (or their designee) are responsible for getting their exhibit to the monastery, hanging their exhibit and taking down their exhibit. Exhibits must be hung and removed on the agreed-upon dates.

Artists may sell their work on display at the monastery, with 30% of all sales going to benefit Holy Wisdom Monastery. Artists are required to manage sales. Artists may also choose not to have their artwork sold at the monastery.

Due to the structure of the gallery, we can only accept wall-hung art. We use a Gallery System Art Displays, Inc. hanging system. Artists must have enough material to exhibit in 42.75 linear feet of wall space. The monastery has 16 lights to arrange for displaying the work. If you would like to visit the space, the monastery is open Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 4:30 pm.

Please note we do not have facilities to store your exhibit before or after the exhibit dates.

Artwork on display at Holy Wisdom Monastery would need to be insured by the artist. Holy Wisdom Monastery cannot assume responsibility for damage or theft to the artwork on display.

Holy Wisdom Monastery will provide the following to the artists:

• Gallery space with 42.75 linear feet of wall space and a Gallery System Art Displays, Inc. hanging system.
• Postcard invitations will be mailed to our mailing list to announce the exhibit and opening reception, and 75 additional invitations will be provided to the artist.
• The exhibit and reception will be promoted widely to various websites, public event calendars, Facebook and newspapers in the area by the monastery staff.
• A flyer (8.5 inches by 11 inches) will also be created for easy distribution electronically with a PDF file.
• Food prepared by our monastery chef will be provided at the opening reception, as well as some additional refreshments.
• One 24 inch x 36 inch poster for the exhibit will be created and displayed on an easel in the Gathering Area next to the exhibit space. Additional posters will need to be paid for by the artists.

We reserve the right to reject any work that is not in keeping with the agreed-upon theme or is in conflict with Holy Wisdom Monastery’s mission/purpose.

If you have questions, please contact Nancy Sandleback, collections manager, at nsandleback@benedictinewomen.org or 608-836-1631, x105.