Call for Submissions: Ontario Biennial Juried Exhibition 2025

Thames Art Gallery

Ontario Biennial Juried Exhibition 2023 (Thames Art Gallery, 2023)

Call for Submissions
Ontario Biennial Juried Exhibition 2025

Submission Deadline: August 17, 2025

The Thames Art Gallery invites emerging artists living in Ontario and working across disciplines to submit work for the biennial juried exhibition. From traditional and material-based work to digital installation, TAG is committed to promoting professional art and artists across the province.

All artists juried into the Ontario Biennial Juried Exhibition will receive a CARFAC regulated artist fee for their participation. Artists are responsible for shipping their work. One thousand five hundred dollars in award money will be distributed for Juror’s Choice Awards at the juror’s discretion which will be announced at the opening reception.

Important Dates

All submissions must include an application form.

August 17: Deadline for submissions Sunday at midnight. All submissions must include an application form
August 25: Notification by phone or email of works accepted into the exhibition
September 15: Selected works must be received by the Thames Art Gallery on or before this date
October 17: Exhibition opens with reception and awards presentation 7:00 pm
January 4: Last day of exhibition
January 5-10: Artists must arrange for return of artwork during this week

Eligibility

• Open to all artists living in Ontario
• All media accepted
• All works must be original and completed within the last two years
• Works previously exhibited at the Thames Art Gallery are not eligible
• Professional artists only. Work done in class or under supervision is not eligible
• A maximum of three works may be submitted by each artist
• All work must be gallery ready with appropriate hanging devices in place. Special installation requests must be clearly noted within your digital submission. Inadequate or inaccurate installation, preparation or specification requirements may result in the work being disqualified

Administrative Fee

A non-refundable handling fee of $35.00 per artist must be paid before the deadline. Payment can be made online here.

Ontario Biennial Juried Exhibition 2023 (Thames Art Gallery, 2023)

Compensation

Applicable CARFAC group show fees will be paid to each selected artist.
Juror’s Award(s) in the sum of $1,500.00 will be presented to the selected artist(s) at the opening reception with increments determined at the juror’s discretion.

Works sold are subject to 30% commission to the Thames Art Gallery.

Selection Process

Jurying

Jurying will be a single stage process conducted through digital documentation only. Links to artists sites or social media are encouraged. Selected artists will be notified by email. All artists are responsible for shipping for delivery of their artwork to the Thames Art Gallery.

About the Juror

Matt Bahen is an artist living and working in Toronto. Bahen’s primary influence is literature. Using an impasto technique of thick oil paint, he strives to interpret the power of metaphor and allegory with paint. The textured surfaces of the works and stark compositions are at once unsettling and highly engaging.

Using various including water, fire and animals, Bahen constructs individual narratives that remain in a state of perpetual tension. Most recently Bahen has been working on series of landscape paintings utilizing the literary device of the enchanted forest as metaphor for our changing climate.

Matt Bahen was born in 1979 in Toronto. He received his BFA from the Ontario College of Art and Design University in 2002. In 2013 his exhibition Gravity’s Faith was held at the MacLaren Art Centre in Barrie Ontario; in 2022 his exhibition There is Something Happening in the Valley was held at the Glenhyrst Art Gallery of Brant in Ontario, and in 2024 his exhibition Coming Down the Mountain was held at the MacIntosh Gallery at Western University in London Ontario. Bahen is represented in Toronto by Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Edmonton by Peter Robertson Gallery and by Claire Oliver Gallery in New York.

Juror Matt Bahen

Submission Requirements and How To Submit

The following should be submitted via WeTransfer to ckartgallery@chatham-kent.ca:

• Completed Application
• Artist Statement (200 Words, file type PDF or DOC)
• Your website or Social Media information
• Images of your submissions

Maximum number of images for 2-D work: two per work (JPEG only)
Maximum number of images for 3-D work: three per work (JPEG only)

All jpegs should not exceed 5 MB in size.
Video / documentation of a performance: Please do not exceed three-minute viewing time (MP4 files or Vimeo/Youtube links are accepted formats for the application process. Please indicate start and stop times (i.e. 2:15 – 3:15)) if needed.

Transportation and Insurance

All shipping arrangements and costs are the responsibility of the submitting artist. The Thames Art Gallery will not accept collect shipments. The Thames Art Gallery will not be responsible for insuring the works while in transit. All works will be insured by the Thames Art Gallery while on the premises.

Submission Deadline: August 17, 2025

The Thames Art Gallery is on the lands of the Anishinaabeg Nation. This is the traditional land of the Three Fires Confederacy: the Odawa, Potawatomi, and Ojibwe. We also recognize that this land is now home to the Delaware Nation. This land was settled through the McKee Purchase Treaty of 1790 and we, as beneficiaries of that treaty, must recognize our responsibilities including our collective responsibilities to the land and water.

The Thames Art Gallery is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11:00am to 4:00pm, Saturdays from 10:00am to 6:00pm.

For additional information or questions, please contact:
Vanessa Cornell at vanessac@chatham-kent.ca or 226-312-2025 x 3265

Thames Art Gallery
75 William Street North
Chatham, ON N7M 4L4
www.tagartspace.com
ckartgallery@chatham-kent.ca
226 312 2023 ext. 4425

Facebook @tagck
Instagram @thamesartgallery
Twitter @TAG_CK

Accessibility:
The Thames Art Gallery is accessible. For more information, visit here