Open Space Arts at Stonebridge in Woodbridge, VA,  is a new art gallery and place to promote the arts in Prince William County. A Call for Art (or Call for Artists) is an opportunity for artists living in the county to submit their art and be considered for an upcoming project when a local Call for Art goes out. Also, if you are a member of a PWC art group (PWAS, MAG, PART-ners, etc.) and live elsewhere, you are eligible to submit for those Calls for Art as well. All artists that are selected to display their art will need to volunteer at the desk (standard operating procedure at galleries). All artists must be 18 or older, and we need at least 2 people per shift  to help each other and "man" the volunteer desk, unless the art show is specific to student artists. See PWAS Membership

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All of our art shows at OSA are juried, which means that a team of artists select the artwork that will show. Submit your best works AND follow the directions! Failure to do so could mean your work is not selected.

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If you are not already on our mailing list and you meet the above requirements, or if you signed up at the gallery and have not received a Call for Art email, please get on our mailing list to the right! (Some emails could have been unreadable!)

Typically, a frame is never included in the image when submitting to a Call for Art. Crop/edit out the frame from the image and absolutely no background should show. A good quality image should be emphasized as well. Also, ensure your image is saved in the proper format. To save a step you may want to save all of your images as:

Title of Painting_LastName-FirstInitial and save them as .jpg.

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If asked to "Attach" an image - do not embed the image into the email. If asked to fill out a Jot Form, fill out those directions - remembering to dot your i's and cross your t's.

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You should include the TOTAL measurements of the artwork with its frame though. This helps to know where the artwork should be hung at Open Space Arts (Main Gallery, Medium, or Small Works).

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Please see the Display Page on our Artistry Spin Blog that covers a lot of info.

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Every gallery may have specific things that are exclusive to their process, space, and hanging requirements, so it is imperative to pay attention to the requirements. 

• Original two-dimensional artwork to include paintings, drawings, photography, lithographs, screen prints, woodcuts, collages, etchings, and monotypes.

• Three-dimensional work such as sculpture and ceramics are welcomed, as well as handcrafted jewelry.

• Standard Prince William Art Society (PWAS) framing and display requirements apply. Improperly wired paintings or artworks will not be accepted.

• All unframed canvases must be gallery wrapped (or stapled on back) and the sides must be painted.

• Framed artwork on paper must be both matted and framed with a wire across back.

• All accepted entries will remain on exhibit until the exhibition closes.

• All artwork (inventory) must be for sale. No NFS (Not for Sale).

• Family-friendly subject matter is required.

• Reproductions on canvas or photographic copies of original two-dimensional artwork will not be accepted for display.

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Many styles of art have been on display at the gallery as you can tell from the photos. Landscapes, seascapes, animals, abstract to realism, impressionistic and photographic. Subjects run from portraits to the political to the patriotic. We have been very impressed with the diversity in the works chosen to hang in the gallery and always look forward to seeing the next show and the talent of our Prince William County artists and art groups.

This is a frequently asked question and a very hard one to answer. Basically it is based on your experience level and where you are in your life experiences as an artist. Meaning, how well sold are you already, the quality of the work(s) and are you doing something out of the ordinary?

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Some artists charge per square inch of canvas. Others charge by a formula of cost of materials, plus labor/plus-plus. Always cover your expenses - down to the details. Never forget about the framing, and add in any art fees incurred for being in the art show as well. Do a lot of research on this topic, and do notice what is selling.

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With that being said, depending on the art show, it is suggested that smaller works sell best. At others, prints may sell better. Occasionally surprises can happen but learning from your fellow artists in your art group may help you judge your options.

See Pricing Your Artwork

The gallery at Open Space Arts lends itself to looking best with larger art pieces, but not all artists work in such large canvases. That is fine but in order to get artwork into the "Main Gallery", if an artist has an art series of up to 4 pieces that are all 11x14 inches each, painted in a similar style or theme, all four pieces could be hung as a group. The 4 pieces would all count toward the total of large works to submit for the main gallery and could be priced individually or as a group. The artist should always label the art pieces 1 of 4, 2 of 4 etc.to let the Hanging Committee know the way the artist intended the pieces to show.

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The same for Diptychs (2 panels) and Triptychs (3 panels) which are larger art "panels" meant to hang together as a set.

We realize that not all artists are computer savvy, but there are some basics we all will need to learn in order to work with the online side of the art biz. Please see this video for your answer to saving your images, although you should use the Title and Last Name with first initial format mentioned above How To Convert A Photo To JPEG Format

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If you need to know how to reduce the size of your images, see this Youtube video How to reduce the file size of an image with MS Paint - The easy way

We stress the importance of using / creating your own original artwork. Please see these links to help clarify the issue:

Avoid Copyright Infringement

https://www.wikihow.com/Avoid-Copyright-Infringement

Art Copyright, Explained

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-art-copyright-explained

Copyright Issues for Artists

https://www.bellevuefineart.com/copyright-issues-for-artists/

OSA allows artists to sell properly and neatly packaged fine art prints (stiff backboards, archival bags, labels) of art that is juried in to the current art show. An area has been designated for the prints to be stored and the original will have a green sticker with "Prints Available" on them for the label. Follow the directions on the Call for Art notice.

Every artist at one time or another very probably did not have work selected to appear in a show that they applied to. The reasons could run the gauntlet and quite literally may not make sense at times. Artists have told the stories of one month one of their pieces won 1st place in an art show and the next week they can't get that piece juried into a show or gallery.

With that being said and working at Open Space Arts and helping to jury in the submitted artwork, there are things you see less experienced as well as more experienced artists do that make it impossible to include certain pieces.  In these FAQs presented here, the point trying to be made for a Call for Art is to READ the DIRECTIONS and FOLLOW them. Here are some notes of common issues that the OSA Committee has run into.

The most important item for Open Space Arts is the quality of the work, period. Open Space Arts is not looking for the most "art education" someone has; many of the artists that have had art on display are self-taught and that is awesome. Artwork is looked at not only against the other pieces an artist submits but with all the submissions as a whole. Recently, out of about 160 large pieces of work submitted, the jurying process cut that number to around 90. The gallery will only hold so many art pieces without looking cluttered!

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Artwork image quality cannot be stressed enough. There is enough information online that an artist can read about everything "art" to learn the basics, especially about taking a good quality image of your artwork. The image submitted should ONLY be of the artwork, not the frame and not have any background showing. That means crop your images. Have good lighting. Do NOT take the picture at an angle. The horizon should be HORIZONTAL. 

As above, you do not have to be a professional artist but you should BE professional in how you present your art. 

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• Be very careful to present original artwork. Accreditation should be given if someone's image is used as a reference and even better, if permission has been granted for use of an image, INCLUDE that on the back of the work or on the label.

• How can you make your artwork stand out from the crowd? What makes your beach scene spectacular? How does your mountain scene make someone say "wow". One of the most impressive things we see people do at Open Space Arts is have someone come in the door and make a beeline to a piece of art that catches their attention. That wow-factor is important to make your piece stand out.

• When it is noted to finish a work, that means to not only have it ready to be hung, matted and framed if it needs to be, varnished if it should be (all following standard procedures), but the basics of the skillful use of artwork composition, perspective, proportion, light and shadow and a degree of detail should be applied. Although abstract, impressionistic and rustic artwork are all fantastic genres, the artwork should still look intentional in how they are composed. Also note that a finished work includes the sides are finished.

• Occasionally artwork submitted can be simply that the artist is not ready for a gallery as yet. Their ideas are good, they just need to practice more to bring up their quality.

• Another item of note is time of year. The gallery may need to consider that the season of year represented in a piece may not do as well in July as it may do in November or December. With about 340 art pieces to be juried, cuts and decisions had to be made, so consider resubmitting seasonal art later.

• Open Space Arts as well as the Prince William Art Society appreciate all of the artists that have and will submit their art for consideration to hang at the gallery. It takes courage for many people to TRY. We encourage every artist in their growth and learning process. Keep trying, keep painting, keep getting better. Attend workshops, take classes, look at those YouTube videos. Express yourself. Artwork connects with people when all of the above come together and touches the viewer. That in itself is an accomplishment.

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See our Blog PWAS Artistry Spin for more information.

Small Green Dots on the artwork's label means that prints are available for that piece. Please ask the volunteer on duty if you are interested in a print. Artwork to the right: Belmont Bay Marina, Occoquan, Virginia by Donna Liguria - with that green dot.

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Small Red dots on the label for a painting show that the painting is sold and is awaiting pickup.

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The wire shown is much too long for this artwork (to the right) to be hung at Open Space Arts and would need to be shortened.

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Open Space Arts uses large "S" hooks and similarly sized brackets for the artwork. The bracket or hook should not show above the top of the art piece so ensure that wires are not placed too high or are too loose. The artist will need to tighten this wire that is shown, so that the hook is not visible at all.

A JotForm is a type of online form created for Open Space Arts and for artists that wish to submit their information and images to be considered to show in the gallery.

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These 2 articles from our blog explain in detail:

A Juried Art Show

What is a Jotform and what is a Call for Art?

Not every art show at Open Space Arts will have a Call for Art. The Prince William County Arts Council (PWCAC) will manage some of the shows for specific art groups (or persons) within their jurisdiction. The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) will manage other art shows throughout the year for artists and art groups from Prince William County and those shows will have Calls for Art. Nonetheless, PWAS artists will need to volunteer for time to cover the Open Space Arts gallery desk as a sales percentage is still applicable for PWAS.

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See the Open Space Arts Events Listings for upcoming important dates.

Typically, in the first few weeks (or so) of an art show at Open Space Arts, we ask visitors to vote for their favorite art piece at the show. At some point we will count the votes and whichever pieces get the most will get a first (blue), second (red) or third (white) place ribbons and bragging rights. Also, in our member forums, we attach badges to past winners as well.

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See our Blog PWAS Artistry Spin for more information especially on our winners!

We have had interest in using Open Space Arts as a place for receptions and meetings, especially with the holiday season coming up. Our team is busy looking at options and hope to have more information  available soon.

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Please note that this FAQ section is under construction and more entries will be added to help you understand the process of having your artwork be seen at Open Space Arts. Also note that Open Space Arts plans on offering workshops that will help the volunteers at the gallery, and for artists to better understand the art process as a whole.

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See our Blog PWAS Artistry Spin for more information.