Calls for Art
Stella’s Art Gallery invites artists working in all media to submit work for our upcoming exhibitions. Our Calls to Art are designed to encourage creative exploration, thoughtful interpretation, and a broad range of artistic voices. Whether working within a defined theme or responding more intuitively, artists are welcome to engage with each exhibition’s concept in ways that reflect their own practice, process, and perspective.
Upcoming Calls for Art are listed below. Click on each image to view the requirements and download the applications.
Please review the individual exhibition details for themes, requirements, deadlines, and submission guidelines.
Stella’s Art Gallery — 2027 Call for Art Themes are ready!
Details for each Call coming November 6, 2026
January — Black & White
Explore the power of black, white, and everything in between. Artists may work in pure black and white or incorporate the full range of grays, from the faintest whisper to the deepest charcoal. All mediums and styles are welcome, as long as the work is created within this limited palette.
“Pulp” Fiction (Annex)
Forget reality—let your imagination run wild on paper! “Pulp” Fiction celebrates non-realistic, surreal, abstract, fantastical, and otherwise unconventional artwork created on or with paper. From imaginative drawings and expressive paintings to experimental printmaking, collage, sculpture and mixed-media creations, this show invites artists to bend the rules, invent new realities, and explore the unexpected. If it challenges the ordinary and brings imagination to life on paper, we want to see it!
Eligibility: Artwork must be created on or primarily with paper. Abstract, surreal, imaginative, and non-realistic interpretations are encouraged; realistic depictions are not the focus of this exhibition.
February — Color Odyssey (Main Gallery)
Description: Take a journey through the colors of the rainbow! This exhibition celebrates the expressive power of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Artwork must be at least 75% monochromatic, focusing on shades, tints, and tones of one chosen color from the rainbow. Artists may explore subtle variations or bold contrasts within their selected color family. All mediums and styles are welcome, as long as the chosen color takes center stage.
Eligibility Requirement: At least 75% of the artwork must consist of one selected rainbow color and its variations. Small amounts of other colors may be used as accents.
CLAY (Annex)
Stella’s Art Gallery invites artists of all backgrounds and experience levels to celebrate the versatility of clay in this exhibition dedicated to ceramic art.
From functional pottery to expressive sculpture, clay offers endless possibilities for creativity, texture, and form. We welcome wheel-thrown pottery, hand-built forms, sculptural pieces, decorative vessels, tiles, figurative work, and experimental ceramic art.
Whether your work is elegant or whimsical, traditional or contemporary, functional or purely expressive, we want to see what you can create with clay!
Eligibility Requirements
Open to all artists, including those who are not members of Stella’s Art Gallery.
Artwork must be primarily made of clay or ceramic materials.
Pieces must be properly fired and ready for exhibition.
All styles and approaches are welcome, from functional ceramics to nonfunctional sculpture.
Original artwork only.
March — Signature Works - Stella’s 10 year Anniversary Show
Showcase the work that best represents you as an artist. Signature Works celebrates each artist’s distinctive style, creative voice, and mastery of their chosen medium. Submit work that reflects who you are, what you love to create, and what makes your artistic vision uniquely yours.
April — Nature in Action
Nature is never still! From crashing waves and swirling storms to wildlife in motion, growing plants, changing seasons, and the forces that shape our world, this show celebrates nature’s energy, movement, and transformation. Artists are encouraged to interpret nature in action through realistic, abstract, or imaginative approaches. All mediums are welcome.
May — Art Inspired by Music
What does music look like? How does a melody make you feel, and what images, memories, or movements does it inspire? This show invites artists to translate the sounds, rhythms, lyrics, emotions, and energy of music into visual art. From classical compositions to rock, jazz, folk, and beyond, interpret music in your own artistic language. All mediums and styles are welcome.
June — Landscapes: Real or Fantasy
From familiar places to worlds that exist only in the imagination, this show celebrates the many ways artists interpret landscapes. Submit realistic depictions of favorite locations, imagined worlds, surreal environments, futuristic horizons, or fantastical realms. Whether inspired by a place you know or a place you dream of, let your landscape tell a story.
July — Tiny World
Tiny subjects. Any size artwork!
What small things capture your imagination? Tiny World celebrates subjects that are small in real life, from insects, seeds, and microscopic organisms to miniature objects, tiny creatures, and the little details we often overlook.
Important: Your artwork does NOT have to be small! A large painting of an ant, a life-size sculpture of a tiny beetle, or a large photograph of a grain of sand would all fit this theme. The subject must be tiny in the real world, but your artwork can be any size.
Show us how you can make the little things feel larger than life!
August — Art Inspired by Northeast Ohio
Celebrate the places, people, landmarks, landscapes, traditions, and everyday moments that make Northeast Ohio special. From Lake Erie sunsets and Metroparks trails to urban neighborhoods, historic architecture, local culture, and personal memories, artists are invited to interpret the region through their own creative lens. Realistic or abstract, nostalgic or contemporary, show us what Northeast Ohio means to you.
September — Photographer’s Only
A celebration of photography and the photographer’s eye! This exhibition invites photographers to share their unique perspectives through images that capture people, places, nature, architecture, everyday moments, and the unexpected. Traditional photography, experimental techniques, and creative photographic processes are welcome. Let your composition, light, timing, and vision tell the story.
October — OddBall
Weird, wonderful, quirky, unconventional, and just a little offbeat—OddBall celebrates art that refuses to fit inside the box. We welcome the unusual, the absurd, the eccentric, and the delightfully unexpected. Whether humorous, surreal, strange, or simply unlike anything else, bring us work that makes people stop, stare, smile, or wonder, “What am I looking at?” All mediums and styles are welcome.
November — FOUND (new name for bricolage)
One person’s discarded object is another artist’s inspiration. FOUND celebrates art made from things discovered, collected, inherited, rescued, or repurposed. Artists are invited to transform found objects, forgotten treasures, family keepsakes, discarded materials, and unexpected discoveries into something new. Through assemblage, collage, sculpture, mixed media, and other creative approaches, show us how ordinary objects can take on extraordinary meaning.
December - HEARTH & HOME
Where Comfort Meets Creativity
Home is more than four walls. It’s the people we love, the places we cherish, the memories we carry, and the little things that make us feel we belong.
Stella’s Art Gallery invites artists to explore the many meanings of Hearth & Home through their creative vision. From cozy interiors and familiar landscapes to family traditions, treasured objects, nostalgic memories, and imagined spaces, we welcome artwork that captures the warmth, comfort, and spirit of home.
Interpret the theme in your own way. Celebrate the beauty of everyday life, the joy of gathering together, the comfort of familiar surroundings, or the feeling of finding your place in the world. Whether heartfelt, whimsical, contemporary, or unconventional, we invite you to share what home means to you.
All mediums, styles, and interpretations are welcome.
Let your art tell a story of warmth, connection, and belonging.