Gallery Aferro believes that persistent dedication to craft and creative output is a formula for success as an artist, but sometimes life gets in the way of artistic productivity. This issue is particularly visible in the case of artists who are also parents. Many of our responsibilities and experiences define our time and creative output. Gallery Aferro is invested in uplifting artists to help them make art now, not later, and encouraging an environment where they can make work as large and complex as the vision of the artist. With the help of funding from the Sustainable Arts Foundation, Gallery Aferro offers this open call to all artists that are parents* and would like to continue their creative practice in an engaged and energized studio residency in downtown Newark, NJ. The studio will be provided to the parent for 6 months at no cost and will come with a $1000 stipend given at the beginning of the 6-month rotation. The stipend and free studio will facilitate the parent-artist in coordinating effective time and energy to be spent in their studios.

*The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a “Parent” simply as “a person who is a father or mother” -or- “a person who has a child”, and although that may be a nice, tidy definition, we think it oversimplifies the term. A “Parent” we think can be defined in many ways that are definitely not tied to gender binaries or “having” a child. This open call is open to anyone who has or shares legal guardianship over a person under the age of 18.

This open call opportunity is for 2 slots, February 20th, 2016 - August 19th, 2016 & August 20th, 2016 - February 19th, 2017. The studio is a newly renovated work-only space with large steel shelving. It is a private studio but the building is regularly busy with artists and art enthusiasts interested in collaboration and idea sharing. This call is open to artists, local or not, who are working in any media.

How To Submit

Submit via email to: submit@aferro.org

Subject line: “Last Name, First Name - ParentRes”

(Example: Smith, Jesse - ParentRes)

*Please send submission materials as attachments, not in the body of the email (i.e. .doc, .pdf, etc)

Submission Deadline: January 6th, 2016

Notification: January 20th, 2016

Every submission\proposal must include:

1) CV\resume

2) Artist Statement

3) Proposal for what you would do with your studio and how participation in the program would be beneficial to you.

4) Work Samples: up to10 - 1 MB jpegs or mpegs or clearly labeled youtube/vimeo links

5) $10 USD fee per open call submission, via paypal on aferro.org . If you truly cannot afford this fee please contact Evonne Davis at edavis@aferro.org for a waiver. We do not believe in artist gouging and ask for this small donation only as part of our overall, diversified activities to support our nonprofit programs.

Please include the title, medium, size, edition, price, or any other relevant information for each piece. Do not refer us to your website without ALL the other required material.