2026 Main Gallery Shows
Open Call Exhibits
Look Up
We invite you to contribute to our exhibit “Look Up” at The Confluence. The show will run January 6 - February 14. The Call is open August 29 - October 8.
Gravity. It holds us to the land, and metaphorically it can weigh down our spirits. Our eyes often search for what is lower than our hearts, turning our thoughts inward as we watch the ground pass by. How do we engage with the expansive spaces that surround us? How do we lift our hearts to the sky? How do we shift our gaze to move beyond what is right in front of us to also explore the potential of community, what the sky holds, vastness? This call for creativity is an ask to shift our gaze, up. What do you see when you lift your eyes and open your heart? Artists are encouraged to dream around this call and share what you see inside, outside or both. Let’s lift one another as we release gravity’s hold just a bit.
Curated by: Janet Fagan and Ed McCarthy
Aesthetic Intimacy
We invite you to contribute to our exhibit “Aesthetic Intimacy” at The Confluence. The show will run February 22 - April 11, 2026. The Call is open August 7 - September 18.
Intimacy. It’s a term that encompasses a complex range of relationships and emotions.
We have intimate relationships with children, spouses, friends, and lovers. Many of us feel a keen sense of intimacy with ourselves, with an animal, or with a place that holds special significance. A sense of intimacy could be inspired by music, by a work of art, or by nature.
Although intimacy is universal, it is also a highly individual experience that is – by nature – somewhat private and secret. Intimacy can describe a sense of personal space, or of nakedness and unmasking, with layers removed. And despite feeling intense or even tangible, like many emotions, the essence of intimacy can be hard to capture.
For its Intimacy exhibit, Confluence Gallery invites artists to create work that encapsulates the uniqueness and universality of intimacy – taking something inherently personal and internal and exploring how it can be shared with the greater world. The gallery welcomes art that’s representational or abstract, two- or three-dimensional, and in any medium.
Curated by: Marcy Stamper and Robin Doggett
We the Artists
We invite you to contribute to our exhibit “We the Artists” at The Confluence. The show will run April 14 - May 30. The Call is open January 9 - February 18.
Consider using the power of art to tell stories and raise awareness. Through visual art we want you to promote change and express your interest in important issues of our time. Consider creating art that speaks to our time, gives power to voice, or maybe you will want to speak for those less able to speak for themselves? You may want to use art as a tool to express interest in social and political change. Ask yourself if we can transform our world with art? Some of us believe art can be the vehicle to
transformation and as a way to show a new or different way to see our world. As an artist, do you want to raise awareness, speak to human rights issues, celebrate social and cultural issues, advocate for a
perspective or point of view? Let us see what you feel deeply about. Speak with your art!
Curated by: Merry Maxwell
Scale
We invite you to contribute to our exhibit “Scale” at The Confluence. The show will run June 2 - July 11, 2026. The Call is open February 20 - April 8.
Confluence Gallery invites you to apply to Scale, an exhibit exploring the dynamics of size. Used as an effect in visual art, scale directs a viewer’s understanding of how two objects relate to one another. As humans we have an innate perception of size that is most often based on how large or small something is as compared to ourselves. In art, such size relationships might be presented true to the natural world or exaggerated unexpectedly.
For this call artworks that highlight scale as an effect or as a component of the composition will be considered. Is your work inspired by the colossal or the minutia? Or possibly the juxtaposition or contrast of both is present in your work. Perhaps scale relates to your use of materials or the medium with which you work. Do you render a lot of detail or are big giant strokes or shapes more your thing? We look forward to seeing the many uses of scale as a theme or a technique for this exhibit.
Curated by: Robin Doggett
Food for Thought
We invite you to contribute to our exhibit “Food for Thought” at The Confluence. The show will run August 25 - October 3. The Call is open May 1 - June 17.
Food is a daily necessity—but it’s also so much more. It nourishes not only our bodies but our identities, traditions, and values. Across cultures and histories, food has served as a powerful symbol—appearing in classical still lifes, becoming a statement in art movements like Pop Art through works like Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup cans, and continuing to spark conversation today. Food is also inherently political: how it’s grown, sourced, and consumed invites deeper questions about sustainability, labor, and equity. This exhibition seeks to bring together a diverse range of 2D, 3D and digital artworks that explore the many roles food plays in our lives—personal, cultural, aesthetic, and political.
Curated by: Bethany Wray
This Land is Our Land
We invite you to contribute to our exhibit “This Land is Our Land” at The Confluence. The show will run October 6 - November 14, 2026. The Call is open June 26 - August 5.
Public Lands, (Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Monuments, National Wildlife Refuges, National Parks) belong to all Americans. They are our cherished places, and provide clean water, air, and habitats for plants and animals - including people. Wild public lands are places to roam, adventure, observe, renew, hunt and fish. They are the homelands of Indigenous people, who have taken care of these sacred places since time immemorial. Public land belongs to all of us and yet today we are at risk of losing access to our most treasured places.
We are asking artists to sing their personal heart song for the wild places that surround us and celebrate our public lands. This is your chance to use your artistic expression to speak up for and stand for public lands. Show us your joy and exhilaration, or perhaps you are feeling anger and mourning over the loss of wild places and perhaps access to a favorite spot. Show us why you feel public lands are important and vital to our well-being, our soul and for all life. It is not necessary to reveal precious locations…
Curated by: Jennifer Molesworth
Hygge:
The Gift of Comfort
We invite you to contribute to our exhibit “Hygge: The Gift if Comfort” at The Confluence. The show will run November 17 - January 9, 2027. The Call is open July 31 - September 16.
Hygge is a Danish term that describes a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment and well-being. This year’s holiday exhibit will feature works that celebrate the small joys of life, embrace relaxation and quiet pleasures, and support the well-being of everyone. Artists are invited to submit work in any medium that represents your personal style, the aesthetic that you feel makes your work recognizable, while embracing the feeling of hygge. We ask that artwork is $500 and under as we would like to offer affordable choices for the gift-giving season. Buyers of work from this show are allowed to take pieces at the time of purchase so we will replace items as they sell. There are no size restrictions for this show.
Curated by: Margaret Kingston
APPLICATION LINKS & OTHER IMPORTANT INFO
Accepted Artists: Complete Artist Bio and Statement form, The Confluence Contract [PDF] and deliver completed works to The Confluence approximately one week prior to show opening.
Shipping: The Confluence is a non-profit gallery. All shipping arrangements and costs to and from the gallery of unsold works are each artist’s responsibility. See The Confluence Shipping Procedures Form [PDF] for details.
Commissions: The Confluence offers a commission structure of 60/40 to non-members artists and 65/35 to member artists.
QUESTIONS? See The Confluence Submission Guidelines [PDF], email (creative@confluencegallery.org), or call Creative Coordinator, Gus, at The Confluence (509) 997-2787. We look forward to hearing from you.
Tori Karpenko
Ken Smith
Janet Fagan
Brian Sholdt
Margaret Kingston
Ginger Reddington
Michael Caldwell
Amber Zimmerman
Theresa Magel
Danelle Bodine
Justin Gibbons