Why do you create? Application Form

Why you create and what brings meaning to your art-making practice? VAM is offering artists an opportunity to consider these questions and more in its sixth Why do you create? exhibition. This show will be juried.

Jurors will select up to 50 art-works for exhibition. VAM will display 25 winning and selected pieces on the walls of the VAM Gallery January 13 – February 9 and White Studio Gallery January 24 – 26 with all chosen artworks be presented in an online gallery that will be up from January 13 – June 30, 2025.

Please review the VAM Terms of Entry below for full details. Application and image criteria must be completed for selection.

This show awards: 3 Cash prices, 2 honourable mentions & 1 peoples choice. 

Sue Archibald, O.S.A, S.C.A

Sue Archibald earned a Bachelors Degree from the University of Guelph, specializing in painting, drawing and printmaking. Her studies continued with Grant McEwen School of Design in Alberta, The Toronto School of Art, Haliburton School of Fine Arts, and an ongoing association with Etobicoke Art Group, TheNeilson Park Creative Centre, Lakeshore Art Trail, and Arts on the Credit.

In 2024 Sue was elected for membership into the Society of Canadian Artists, and in 2020 elected into the Ontario Society of Artists. Sue was an Established Artist finalist for the 2018 & 2019 Marty Awards, and won the Established Artist of the Year 2019 - Community Excellence Award. In 2023 Sue created eight unique exhibitions while acting as Curator of Exhibitions at Summer and Grace Gallery,

Sue continues to show and sell her paintings across the country. Her works can be found in private collections including Edward Day Gallery, The Leon family, and national & international collections in New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, Texas, California, Ireland, and the U.K

 

Jo Yetter

Careful selector of words and harbourer of objects, Jo's guiding compass is reciprocity with material and language. They are a cross-disciplinary artist working with text, care, propagation, printmaking, objects and place-specificity. Jo's practice is to be still, to gather, to dwell and to hold onto the remnants of un/a-gendered mothering performed by and between themself and inanimate beings. Jo practices care that is grounded in maintenance, nourishment and obligation. Having recently completed their MFA at York University, Jo was a recipient of the CGS Master's Scholarship.

 

Daniella Willaims

Daniella Williams is a Toronto-based contemporary figurative painter whose
work captures the unseen moments of daily life, revealing the beauty in being
observed. Grounded in classical figuration, her paintings explore intimacy, vulnerability, and voyeurism through expressive brushwork and a warm colour palette. influenced by art history.

Williams examines the balance between tenderness and intrusion, drawing from
personal memories and art history to challenge the viewer’s role within the act of
looking. Her work blurs the line between the private and the public sphere, inviting
reflection on life’s intimate, unpolished moments.
Currently, Williams exhibits across North America in galleries and art fairs, and is
focused on expanding the themes within her work. After studying at the University of Guelph and the New York Academy of Art, she continues to pursue a career as a
contemporary painter on a larger scale, pushing her practice in new directions while remaining rooted in her fascination with the human form.

 

• Open to all emerging and established artists 18 years and over living and working in Ontario.
• Submissions can include paintings in any medium; drawings; works of mixed-media; hand-pulled prints; fibre art; photography; new media and video.
• Artists may submit 1 recent piece (completed between 2022-2024) for jurying.
• Applications must be submitted here by Jot Form & will not be accepted via email.
• Please include a short artist statement (250 words or less) reflecting on how this work connects to what inspires you.
• Images must be labeled with your last name, first name and title of the piece.
• Images should be no larger than 1 MB in JPG format (300 dpi) - maximum resolution 1024 x 768 pixels
• Images should be of the complete work – not a cropped view and not including the frame or surrounding environment.
• Maximum size for 2 dimensional artworks is 36 x 48 inches for. NOTE: 36 inches is the maximum height. Diptychs and triptychs must fit within these dimensions.
• All selected works chosen for display in the VAM Gallery must be exhibition-ready. This includes being professionally framed with appropriate mounting hardware. Photographic work must be framed or mounted on rigid surface. (D-hooks, eye-hooks or end wiring must be securely attached to the frame. Faulty or poor wiring is not acceptable.)
• Art work juried into the VAM Gallery but not considered exhibition-ready when delivered to the VAM building will only be included in the online exhibition.
• Only completed applications submitted on or before midnight, Sunday, November 24th will be considered. This includes application form, accompanying artist statement, electronic image of the work of art and the entry fee.
• No substitutions. Only works that have been accepted by the jurors will be included in the exhibition. Entry fees are non-refundable and non-transferrable.
• VAM reserves the right to decline a submission deemed unsuitable for the Show. This can include work that is not dry; insecurely or improperly framed; works previously submitted or published; work created with assistance, reproductions or copies of another’s artwork (including instructor demos). Giclées of paintings are considered reproductions and are not acceptable.
• VAM will not be responsible for works during drop off, pick up, during the exhibit, or those left after the pick-up date.
• Insurance coverage to and from and during the exhibition is the responsibility of the artist.

Artists accepted into Why do you create? will be notified by the week of December 18th

Entry fee: $35 +HST 

Non-refundable entry fees are made payable to Visual Arts Mississauga by E-transfer at accounting@visualartsmississauga.com or by phone at 905-277-4313.

No cash will be accepted for this application entry fee.

All participating artists are eligible to win an award. The jurors will select First Prize (value of $600), Second Prize (value of $400), and Third prize (value of $300), 2 x Honourable Mention (value of $50).

Awards Sponsored by Visual Arts Mississauga and DeSerre’s.

November 24: Deadline for submission

Week of December 9: Accepted artists will be notified

January 6-11: Artwork drop off at VAM for Gallery works

January 13: Why do you create? Goes live on the website and in person in The VAM Gallery

January 13-18: Artwork drop off for selected works for White Studio Gallery

January 24-26: Selected works installed in White Studio Gallery

January 24: Opening reception

January 27-31: Pick up for White Studio Gallery works

February 11: Exhibition closes in the VAM Gallery

February 10 - February 14: Pick up for Hallway Gallery works

June 30: Exhibition closes online

Please complete this entry form and the required documents by midnight November 24, 2024.