Calling all visual artists in Guelph and surrounding area!
 
Silence is now accepting exhibition proposals for our 2023-2024 exhibition season. In an exciting new development, Silence has decided to redesignate the back studio space to become a dedicated gallery space highlighting the work of the remarkable pool of visual artists found in Southwestern Ontario.

This new space is where main exhibitions will be held but there will be opportunities to expand into the central room should a proposal warrant the use of that space. The development of this space allows us to accept a wider variety of mediums including 3D works. Potential media include: paintings, photographs, drawings, installations, sculpture (limited infrastructure), craft media, and more.

Silence is a community-engaged music venue, art gallery, and community space committed to creating space for experimentation, exploration, and improvisation. We are particularly interested in programming visual exhibitions that embody a spirit of exploration, experimentation, along with process/concept-based work or exhibition proposals that include creative activation of the exhibition. We are also super interested to hear from communities whose voices are marginalized or made invisible in the warp and weft of the dominant cultural fabric that erases and excludes.

We encourage folks to think about who or what they might pair their practice(s) with to create truly unique presentations that complement and enhance the showing of their work. This could look like an artist talk, an interview with someone in a related field (Biologist? Zoologist? Philosopher? Musician?), a concert or performance, a screening or workshop. The possibilities are endless and we hope to support truly unusual configurations that give voice to new realities and experiences for both the artists we showcase and the audience members who attend the space!

While we’re interested in exhibition proposals with this participatory programming angle – all applications will be considered for programming, including possible input and collaboration from/with the Silence curatorial team.

Silence operates as a commercial gallery space with a commission split of 60/40% in the artists’ favour. We encourage artists to price their work with this in mind. If you are not interested in selling your work but have creative ideas for activating the space – we encourage you to be in touch and if there is an opportunity to make some magic happen we’ll reach out!

Applications are open until May 7, 2023 at 11:59 p.m.