Beautiful Losers
The Art of Failure

Guest Jurors: Scott Oliver and Joseph del Pesco
Co-founders of shotgun-review.com, online art journal, Oakland, CA

Defined roughly as unmet expectation, failure is often the necessary precursor to its antithesis. Beautiful Losers: The Art of Failure pays homage to the value of the error in all its guises—rough drafts, flawed ideas, mistakes and accidents. Mishaps of a conceptual, mechanical, material or theoretical nature are sought.

Beautiful Losers will open Saturday, September 13th, 5-8pm.

Four Feet
The Proxemics of Personal Space

Deadline to receive entries: September 21st, 4pm

Guest Juror: Zig Jackson, Professor of Photography Savannah College of Art and Design

Coined in 1966 by anthropologist Edward T. Hall to describe the measurable space between two people interacting, proxemics defines four feet as the comfortable limit of what we know as personal space. Breeching this imagined territory is perceived as a threat; step outside it and one enters the more public domain of social space.

How we negotiate these virtual spheres, whom we allow in them and how we defend them is the subject of Gallery RFD’s upcom ing exhibition, Four Feet: The Proxemics of Personal Space. Submissions in any media that explore or comment on this intuitive spatial understanding are sought.

Cash prizes will be awarded for Best of Show and Juror's Choice.

Back to Basics
Exploring Natural Materials

Deadline to receive entries: October 1st, 4pm

Guest Juror: TBA

The natural world has long been an inspirational starting point for artists as well as a source for raw materials. Back to Basics intends to highlight the use of nature’s bounty in artistic production. Gallery RFD seeks submissions of work in media that employ natural or organic materials. Works that document, utilize or comment on the use of natural and organic wares are also welcome.

Cash prizes will be awarded for Best of Show and Juror's Choice.

Making It
The Art of Contemporary Craft

Deadline to receive entries: October 31st, 4pm

Guest Jurors: Christy Petterson and Shannon Mulkey
Co-Founders, Indie Craft Festival, Atlanta, GA

While the Industrial Revolution may have worked wonders for the produc tion process in terms of output and standardization, it has arguably written the creator’s role out of the process. As machines replace humans or minimize their necessity in ever more labor fields, we are witnessing nostalgia for the return of a human element, lest automation render us obsolete. Though few are clamoring to give up their tools of convenience, individuation and uniqueness are now novelties as witnessed in the rising popularity of mass-customization. Gallery RFD seeks submissions of work in any media that project evidence of a human hand or craftsmanship.

Cash prizes will be awarded for Best of Show and Juror's Choice.

The Art of Communication
An Installation of Mailed Art

Deadline for entries to arrive: January 7th

This third annual exhibition invites artists to create artwork on mail of all shapes and sizes. Envelopes, boxes, or other items should be mailed to Gallery RFD and must include postage, the gallery’s address, and a postmark. If you care to, include your return address so we know where you’re from! All works will be accepted and installed in this eclectic exhibition.

The artwork should be the mail!

Awards will be given for Best of Show, Directors’ Choice, and Travel Award

Show at an Alternative Venue
Groups and Solo Artists Needed for Swainsboro's Art Stroll

Entries are reviewed on an ongoing basis.

In conjunction with Gallery RFD's opening receptions we also orchestrate a community Art Stroll featuring 6 art venues, local businesses and live music. The success of this event lies in the alternative venue. Opportunities are available for both group and solo exhibitions. Interested parties should contact Gallery RFD for venue availability.