2025-10-01 02:34:47
Say you visit a highly anticipated exhibition one Saturday afternoon and find yourself in a crowded gallery, shoulder-to-shoulder with a pack of rabid art goers. As you stealthily maneuver toward your viewing target, an over-stimulated (or, depending on the show, perhaps under-stimulated) child begins to melt down. You suddenly overhear an unreasonably heated conversation about brunch plans. Your heartbeat quickens, and soon, art gallery panic sets in. How do you return to the piece in front of you while also reclaiming your peace of mind?
A collaborative film by animator Gaia Alari and therapist Emily Price visualizes how art can help us get in tune with our senses and emotions. Paired with Alari’s dynamic drawings, Price guides viewers through an exercise designed to focus our attention even in the most anxious or gloomy of situations. Put your hands on your heart and stomach, she suggests, or imagine yourself protected in a cloche or invisibility cape, allowing yourself to feel calm and safe.
“How does your body react to art?” is produced by MoMA, which also released a long-form interview with Price that dives into the psychology of a museum visit. For more from Alari, visit Vimeo.
You also might enjoy a similarly meditative project by Bryana Bibbs, which invites viewers to contribute to a collective weaving as a response to an exhibition about mental health and wellness.
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2025-10-01 00:51:53
The result of more than a year of planning and about a week of in-person scouting along the coast of Sinaloa, Mexico, a precisely timed portrait of a Magnificent frigatebird flying in front of a total solar eclipse was captured by Canadian photographer Liron Gertsman. Winner of the 2025 Bird Photographer of the Year competition, Gertsman’s image demonstrates the effort and time that goes into documenting some of the world’s most remarkable birds.
This year’s contest saw more than 33,000 entries from photographers all over the world, including three youth categories. With conservation at the heart of its mission, the competition also donated more than £5,000 to Birds on the Brink, a charity that funds grassroots efforts to benefit avians.
Categories like Urban Birds, Best Portrait, and Birds in the Environment showcase a wide range of the feathered creatures’ behaviors and habitats. Steffen Foerster’s portrayal of a bloody-faced Southern giant petrel, for example, gets up-close-and-personal with the tube-nosed seabird after it’s enjoyed a hearty meal. And Luca Lorenz focuses on the beady eye of a tough Alpine chough in the middle of a snowstorm in the Swiss Alps. Benoit Henrion peeks back at a trio of Western barn owls that have staked out niches in a church in France, and Baiju Patil captures a group of Barn swallows darting above vibrant marigolds in India.
Explore the winners’ gallery on the contest’s website, where you can also purchase a book of this year’s top photos, published by Princeton University Press. The 2026 competition is also now open for entries.
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2025-09-30 04:05:00
Every month, we share opportunities for artists and designers, including open calls, grants, fellowships, and residencies. Make sure you never miss out by joining our monthly Opportunities Newsletter.
$4,500 Artist GrantsFeatured
The Hopper Prize is accepting submissions for $4,500 and $1,000 artist grants. For this open call, they have increased awards to $4,500 and will be providing 6 grants totaling $13,000 USD. 2 artists will each receive $4,500, and 4 artists will each receive $1,000. This is an international open call, and all visual media is eligible. This open call provides a direct path to get your work in front of an international community of curators, artists, gallerists, and arts administrators. Additional exposure is available via a 30-artist shortlist, online journal, and Instagram currently reaching over 150k.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. PST on November 11, 2025.
Open Calls
The Abbey Harris Mural Fund (U.K.)
This grant supports artists creating semi-permanent or permanent public murals or site-specific works on walls in any medium. Funding of up to £7,000 is available for an artist or organization producing a public mural.
Deadline: October 10, 2025.
2026 Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition (U.S.)
The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry invites submissions for the 2026 Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition. This annual show presents works from professional and emerging Black artists from across the U.S., as well as works by Black teen artists from the Chicagoland area. There is a $10 application fee; submissions to the teen category are free.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. CDT on October 12, 2025.
Contemporary Reflection Art Exhibition (International)
Artists from all disciplines are invited to submit artworks for the Contemporary Reflection exhibition, a curated showcase exploring the complexities of modern life, identity, and cultural transformation. The exhibition will run from December 1 to 7 at Cornerstone Studios in London. There is a £20 application fee.
Deadline: November 1, 2025.
Open Call for 2027-29 Exhibitions at Municipal Gallery, dlr LexIcon (Ireland)
This open call is an opportunity to share work that’s new to the audience in Dublin and the general M50 area (i.e. North Wicklow, South Dublin, Fingal, and Kildare). Selected artists will receive a fee—€6,500 for established artists or €4,300 for emerging artists—and an exhibition at the Municipal Gallery, dlr LexIcon, Dún Laoghaire.
Deadline: 2 p.m. IST on November 3, 2025.
Glen Arbor Arts Center Open Call for INteriors (International)
The INteriors exhibition is an exploration of inner spaces, both real and imagined. The show will run from January 9 to March 12, 2026, and feature work made in the past three years. There is a $35 application fee ($25 for GAAC members).
Deadline: 2 p.m. EST on November 5, 2025.
Sight/Geist: Film & Performance Open Call (New York City)
The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation is seeking submissions for its sixth season of Sight/Geist, a series that supports emerging film and performance artists. The artist fee for participation in a one-night group screening is $300, and the stipend for a one-night solo performance is $1,000.
Deadline: November 15, 2025.
Creative Commission for Sycamore Gap Tree (International)
The National Trust invites artists, organizations, and creative agencies to submit proposals that will breathe life into the wood saved from the felled Sycamore Gap tree. This opportunity will see up to five shortlisted artists receive funding to develop their ideas, with one final concept selected in early 2026. The shortlisted artists or collaborations will each receive £5,000 to develop their proposals.
Deadline: 5 p.m. GMT on November 17, 2025.
Open Call for Discovery Art Fair Frankfurt (International)
International galleries, project groups, and individual artists have the opportunity to showcase their work at this art fair in Germany, profiting from the high density of capital and collectors in the business metropolis of Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main-Area. Discovery Art Fair Frankfurt runs from November 6 to 9.
Deadline: Rolling.
Grants
Verdant Fund Project Grants (Alabama)
Verdant Fund supports individual artists, artist-curators, collectives, or collaboratives based in Alabama. Project grants of up to $7,000 prioritize perspectives from women artists, artists of color, artists with disabilities, Alabama artists living and/or working in rural communities, and LGBTQ artists.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 10, 2025.
The Supporting Act Foundation Artist Grants (Belgium, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the U.K.)
The Supporting Act Foundation, by WeTransfer, has designed the Artist Grant to help emerging artists from underrepresented groups whose practices involve some form of collaborative, collective, or creative process that benefits their community. Ten artists will be awarded unrestricted grants of €10,000.
Deadline: 11 a.m. CET on October 13, 2025.
Dutch Talent Project Grants (The Netherlands)
Rotterdam Photo, in collaboration with Amarte Fonds, presents the Dutch Talent Project Grants 2026. This initiative offers emerging photographers the opportunity to develop new work around the festival theme, Echoes of Silence – War in the Artist’s Soul. Selected artists will receive financial support, curatorial guidance, and a platform to exhibit their projects during Rotterdam Photo 2026.
Deadline: October 15, 2025.
Craft Research Fund Grant (U.S.)
The Center for Craft awards grants from $5,000 to $15,000 annually to support new and interdisciplinary research.
Deadline: October 17, 2025.
GLEAN Portland Artist Stipends (Portland, Oregon)
GLEAN is a juried program that gives five selected artists from the Portland area (Multnomah, Washington, and Clackamas counties) access to the Metro Central transfer station (a.k.a. “the dump”) to source materials to use to create art. The GLEAN program will provide studio visits, marketing support, a stipend of $3,000, and group critiques with GLEAN artists and partners, culminating in an exhibition.
Deadline: October 17, 2025.
Artadia Awards (Houston)
The Artadia Awards provide financial support, exposure, and recognition to artists. The $15,000 awards are unrestricted, allowing artists to use the funds in any way they choose.
Deadline: November 1, 2025.
MAKE Thesis Grants (International)
The MAKE Thesis Grant champions and spotlights emerging talent by directly funding original animated thesis projects (short films). Senior BFA/BA and MFA/MA animation students (and teams) are welcome to apply. Prizes available include $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place, and $1,000 for third place.
Deadline: 12 a.m. EST on November 4, 2025.
Booooooom Illustration Awards (U.S.)
Five winners across five categories, in addition to 20 shortlisted illustrators, will be featured in a special print publication, created exclusively to showcase award winners’ work. In addition to special product award bundles, the prize includes a cash pool of $7,500. Everyone can submit one image for free; Booooooom members can submit an unlimited number of entries.
Deadline: 11.59 p.m. PT on November 7, 2025.
Bobby Anspach Studio Foundation Grant Program (International)
The Bobby Anspach Studios Foundation launches its inaugural grant program to support creatives and researchers whose work deepens dialogue on meditation, psychology, creativity, and collective engagement as vital pathways to harmony and health. The foundation will award two grants of $50,000 and three grants of $8,000.
Deadline: December 30, 2025.
The Adolf and Esther Gottlieb Emergency Grant (International)
This program provides one-time financial assistance to qualified painters, printmakers, and sculptors whose needs resulted from an unforeseen catastrophic incident and who lack the resources to meet that situation. Awardees typically receive $5,000 and up to $15,000.
Deadline: Rolling.
Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant (International)
The foundation welcomes applications from painters, sculptors, and artists working on paper, including printmakers. Grants are intended for one year and range up to $50,000. The artist’s circumstances determine the size of the grant, and professional exhibition history will be considered.
Deadline: Rolling.
Residencies, Fellowships, & More
Morgan Conservatory Art of Papermaking 2026 Residencies (International)
The Morgan’s Artist in Residence (AiR) Program is funded by the Windgate Foundation to offer emerging and established artists from around the world who work with papermaking, book arts, and printing the opportunity to explore focused projects. Artists accepted into the program will receive a stipend, 24-hour access to Morgan facilities, and more.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 15, 2025.
2026 Art Omi Residencies (International)
Through a competitive jury process, residents are invited to attend Art Omi’s residencies at no cost to themselves, except travel expenses. Art Omi offers residents the time and space to hone their own craft in the Hudson Valley while cultivating a vibrant community of artists from around the globe. Residencies are open to practitioners of architecture, visual art, writing, and music, and a number of fellowships are available.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET on October 15, 2025.
Quinn Emanuel Artists-in-Residence Program (Greater Los Angeles)
This residency is open to emerging and mid-career artists working in all disciplines. For four months, the artist-in-residence will be given a studio in the Quinn Emanuel Los Angeles office to support their existing practice or a new project as appropriate. At the end of the residency, an exhibition will be held, and at least one work will be incorporated into the permanent collection. A supporting stipend will be provided, as well as a materials allowance.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. PT on October 16, 2025.
bEam Arts Residency Winter/Spring 2026 (International)
Located in Thessaloniki, Greece, bEam Arts hosts an international residency program to support artists’ vibrant studio practices. The organization hosts monthly activities and provides artists with opportunities to connect, engage with one another, and expand their professional networks. There is a monthly fee to attend.
Deadline: October 17, 2025.
The Center for Art and Advocacy Fellowship 2026 (U.S.)
Formerly known as Right to Return, the Center for Art and Advocacy believes there is an abundance of uncultivated talent and exceptional creativity among individuals who share the lived experience of incarceration. The Center’s fellowship offers an annual award of $10,000 in unrestricted funds and $10,000 in project development funds to formerly incarcerated artists. Fellows are invited to an annual retreat to network with previous fellows, advocates, industry leaders, and funders.
Deadline: 11 p.m. ET on October 26, 2025.
Project Row Houses Artist Studio Residency (Houston)
Project Row Houses occupies a significant footprint in Houston’s Historic Third Ward, one of the city’s oldest African-American neighborhoods. The organization offers an artist residency program that provides subsidized studio space for up to three years on-site. This residency supports artists by giving them affordable space to create, experiment, and grow their practice while being part of the vibrant Third Ward community.
Deadline: October 28, 2025.
Between Bridges Residency (International)
Between Bridges’ next residency for visual artists will take place from July to December 2026 and includes a working phase as well as a one-month exhibition or public presentation. The residency is open to professional individual artists, artist duos, or small groups working collaboratively. The residency provides access to the organization’s facilities in Berlin Schöneberg and offers a monthly stipend of €1,500 (regardless of the number of participants) and the opportunity for studio visits. An additional budget of €5,000 is allocated specifically for the exhibition or presentation.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. CET on November 2, 2025.
If you’d like to list an opportunity, please contact [email protected].
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article October 2025 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists appeared first on Colossal.
2025-09-30 01:39:00
If you were to have visited the 3600 Block of Heidelberg Street in Detroit around 1986, you would have likely encountered a young artist beginning the project of a lifetime. Found object assemblages and painted patterns were quickly transforming a neighborhood that had experienced mass disinvestment, turning grassy lots and abandoned homes into an enclave of creativity.
Soon, an immersive, vernacular art environment emerged and was at once an amalgamation of everyday materials and what seemed to be a mystical translation from another realm. The creator behind the sprawling installation—which continues today—is artist Tyree Guyton, who dubbed what would become his most famous work in his home neighborhood of McDougall Hunt, The Heidelberg Project.
Spanning nearly four decades and several blocks, the ever-evolving environment has become a destination for tourists and locals alike as Guyton’s spiritual philosophies reach every inch of the property. There’s the iconic polka-dot house, another covered in long paintings of shoes, a collection of portraits on car hoods, and countless sculptures and assemblages that seem to take on a life of their own. Because the works are exposed to the elements, maintenance and upcycling occur regularly at the project, as the artist adds to an existing piece or transforms materials anew.
Several of Guyton’s standalone works are on view at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A large-scale presentation of the artist’s decades-long outdoor and studio projects, Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now? is rooted in what the museum describes as “the study of discarded material incorporated into the fabric and structure of a community and the effects on the community.”
Guyton, on the other hand, is much more abstract, offering the following in a phone conversation from Detroit. “That’s what this show is about, magic. Two plus two equals eight, Heidelbergology…There are people there that have not been here, and I came there to give them a reason to come. It’s an invitation.”
While exhibiting in a traditional white-cube gallery space, Guyton brings his community focus to Sheboygan. He invited locals to paint his beloved polka dots on the walls, providing a vivid and expressive backdrop for his expansive works. Looming in the entrance is Guyton’s version of Noah’s Ark, composed of crowd-sourced stuffed animals and children’s toys piled high atop a painted fishing boat.
Guyton makes an explicit connection to the divine—and Yahweh, in particular—throughout the exhibition and his work, more broadly. He considers The Heidelberg Project to be both a mirror to society and also a conduit to a higher power, one whose messages he translates and shares with anyone who might encounter the work.
“What I see happening in the world? I put it on those TV sets, put it in a museum, turn it into works of art, to give it back to the public and to say to them, look at what’s happening,” he says. “Like, can we see it? I see it through me.”
The exhibition also nods to the artist’s own history and his grandfather, Sam Mackey, who first introduced Guyton to art as a child. A collection of Mackey’s drawings made at the end of his life is suspended in a house-shaped structure at the center of the museum. These familial works aren’t typically on view in Detroit and offer special, often-unseen insight into the artist’s background.
As Guyton and the project’s team prepare for the future, they intend to transfer The Heidelberg Project to the community, who they hope will steward the enormous effort and further invest in the neighborhood. “I’m here to do something that when I die, it’s going to live on,” the artist says. “I believe that what I have done here is so philosophical, it’s teaching me, and I love making mistakes.”
While hoping to secure support for the project, Guyton isn’t precious about his work and easily embraces change. When the exhibition in Sheboygan wraps, for example, the sculptures and paintings that have been so meticulously cared for in a museum setting will be returned outdoors, although they might find themselves in a new spot if the artist filled the previous location with something new.
In this way, The Heidelberg Project is always in motion, presenting new messages for Guyton to learn and share through a graffiti-covered television set or a collaged work on panel. When asked how he feels a piece is complete, he answers clearly: “My work is finished when I’m dead.”
See Heidelbergology: Is It Art Now? through February 15, 2026. And while you’re in the area, be sure to check out the truly impeccable environments at the Art Preserve just a few miles away. You can find more about the project on the website and Instagram.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Detroit’s Heidelberg Project in Wisconsin? Tyree Guyton Transports His Magic appeared first on Colossal.
2025-09-29 21:41:14
Around 10,000 years ago, a paradigm shift in human history began to unfold. Prior to this transitional period, which archaeologists refer to as the Neolithic Revolution—the final phase of the Stone Age—small societies were organized around hunting and gathering for sustenance. During the Neolithic period, the gradual adoption of agricultural practices forever changed the way we live.
Over the next few thousand years, humans began domesticating plants and practicing animal husbandry in different parts of the world. And with less time needed for farming than for nomadically searching for food, ancient people could enjoy other activities that led to economic, political, religious, and artistic developments.
The Neolithic period saw the very first civilizations. It’s also when iconically old structures like Ireland’s Newgrange passage tomb and England’s Stonehenge complex were built, the latter of which was begun around 3100 B.C.E. and finished around 600 years later. For context, when Stonehenge was in its final phase, construction of the Pyramids of Giza was likely in progress. Recently, a series of circular earthworks dating to the 5th millennium B.C.E. (5000 to 4001 B.C.E.) in Burgenland, Austria, may predate much of Stonehenge by a remarkable 2,000 years.
At the newly excavated site, three monumental structures sit in close proximity to one another near the town of Rechnitz. The earthworks were initially discovered via aerial and geomagnetic surveys between 2011 and 2017. A total of four were found, three of which are ring-shaped structures that were previously invisible to the naked eye.
Known as circular ditch systems, the structures were built in the Middle Neolithic period—sometime between 4850 and 4500 B.C.E.—making them at least 6,500 years old.
“The Rechnitz site can be considered a supra-regional center of the Middle Neolithic period,” says Nikolaus Franz, the director of Burgenland Archaeology, in a statement. In the ditches measuring as much as 340 feet across, archaeologists have documented pits containing ceramic finds and post holes that indicate where timber beams in the ground once supported shelters.
Circular ditch monuments of this type, known as Kreisgrabenanlagen in German, are consistently found throughout Central Europe. While their intended function remains unknown, researchers generally believe they held an ancient religious, or cultic, purpose. Similar to Stonehenge, their orientation includes openings that align with the solstices and seem to correspond to an astronomical calendar.
“The excavations open a veritable window into the Stone Age,” Franz says. “We are learning a great deal about the Neolithic settler clans who found this a favorable location to establish the cultural techniques of agriculture and livestock farming in what is now Burgenland…After centuries of hunting and gathering, the gradual settlement of humans was truly revolutionary.”
You might also enjoy exploring the phenomenal complex of more than 10,000 earthworks made by prehistoric Indigenous societies in the Amazon basin.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article 6,500-Year-Old Earthworks in Austria Are Thousands of Years Older than Stonehenge appeared first on Colossal.
2025-09-29 18:15:00
The Other Art Fair, presented by Saatchi Art, returns to Artifact Events in Ravenswood, Chicago, from October 30 to November 2—and this edition is bursting with creative surprises. More than 115 independent artists will fill the venue with fresh artwork, playful installations, and interactive experiences that make art accessible, fun, and unforgettable. Whether you’re discovering the fair for the first time or coming back for more, this fall is your chance to immerse yourself in Chicago’s most vibrant art event.
Kick things off with a night of art, music, and performance. Presented with WBEZ and Vocalo, the celebration features a DJ set from Rocio Santos and a live performance by Odette Stout. Her project, Cute Accelerations, turns the fair into a living installation as drag performers move through the space in dazzling wearable sculptures.
Chicago’s favorite Friday night art party gets a spooky glow-up. Dive into The Insect Asylum’s Bug Taxidermy Workshops, strike a moody pose for a Tintype Portrait with Max Li (and show up in costume for your chance to win one for free), and explore the fair by night with art, music, and Halloween energy. Plus, don’t miss the Friday Late Event Bundle ticket, which includes admission, a drink token, and a limited-edition tote bag designed by Griffin Goodman.
For the bold at heart—buy an artwork under $200, sight unseen. The thrill of discovery is all part of the fun, and you just might unwrap your next favorite piece.
Mini golf, but make it art. This year, five Chicago artists have each created a fully playable hole that’s part sculpture, part installation, and entirely unexpected. Step onto the green, putt your way through imaginative designs, and see who comes out on top. Perfect for groups, this is your chance to take playful competition into the world of art.
Throughout the weekend, discover book signings, workshops, free collage button-making, and creative opportunities that raise funds for important charitable causes. Every experience is another way to connect, create, and give back through art.
Don’t miss your chance to collect, play, and celebrate at The Other Art Fair Chicago.
Get tickets at theotherartfair.com.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Discover Fresh Talent and Immersive Art Experiences at The Other Art Fair Chicago appeared first on Colossal.