• Del Ray Artisans Alcove Gift Shop

  • DEL RAY ARTISANS - CALL FOR ARTISTS
    OPEN TO MEMBERS ONLY

    Alcove: Gift Shop
    at Del Ray Artisans Gallery
    Artist Application

    January 2 – February 28, 2026

    Applications due Sunday, December 14, 2025 by Midnight

    Questions? Contact the Coordinators:
    Steve Lally (slallypottery@gmail.com) and
    Rita Schooley (rlschooley@gmail.com)

  • Del Ray Artisans (DRA) has established the Alcove as a gift shop within the gallery, where DRA members may display and sell their work. Unframed 2-D work is available in bins alongside jewelry, fiber art, wood craft, ceramics, and other smaller 3-D items. The coordinators will try to balance media categories in the Alcove.

    The work will be displayed for two months. There is an application fee ($10), a 20% commission on sales, and the work is juried. As work sells, the artist may replace the sold items with similar items for no additional fee.

    This opportunity is only open to Del Ray Artisans members and is independent of the monthly exhibits. Artists apply for a two-month period in the Alcove. The Alcove is open for 10 months of the year (closed in December due to Holiday Market and in July due to Art Camp).

  • Application Details

    • Application deadline is Sunday, December 14, 2025 by midnight.
    • Only open to Del Ray Artisans members. If you are not a member, you may join Del Ray Artisans now to enter. DRA membership must be active by the application deadline in order to apply to the Alcove.
    • Artists may submit up to five (5) initial pieces of artwork (submit the info for those pieces with this application). You will be notified when an artwork sells, and you may replace the sold item with a similar item (consult with one of the coordinators if there is a question about the similarity of the replacement item).
    • The application fee is $10 for a two-month tenure in the Alcove. The application fee is due upon submission - pay with cash, check, or credit card at the gallery or by credit card online. If the artist is not accepted the fee is refunded.
    • All artwork must be original work and not a digital reproduction print. Art that heavily relies on generated AI content is discouraged, and may not be accepted. Photography, digital art, and hand-printed fine art prints (block prints, woodcuts, relief prints, monoprints, lithographs, intaglios, etchings, engravings, etc.) are welcome for entry. Contact the coordinators for more information.
    • All artwork must be for sale and be handmade by the artist selling the work.
    • Work previously shown at Del Ray Artisans gallery is eligible.
    • DRA reserves the right to remove any item(s) from sale, at any time, for any reason. The artist may only sell artwork in the media category that was indicated on the artist’s application.
    • Artwork acceptance is at the coordinators’ discretion. Final acceptance for this marketplace is at the coordinators’ discretion upon physically viewing accepted artwork.

  • Accepted Artist Requirements

    • When art sells, Del Ray Artisans will automatically deduct a 20% commission.
    • All taxes, including sales taxes upon sale of artwork, are the responsibility of the artist.
    • Del Ray Artisans and the City of Alexandria cannot be held liable for any loss or damage to artwork at any time. Insurance for artwork is the sole responsibility of the artist.
    • All artists participating in the Alcove are required to volunteer a minimum of 3 hours during the calendar year towards managing the gift shop. The hours may be filled by assisting with receiving and pickup times in the gallery or volunteering for other Alcove-specific activities needed (e.g., assisting with marketing, set up, restocking). Since this is an annual requirement, the hours volunteered during one of Alcove's two-month periods counts towards requirements for other Alcove periods within the calendar year. Any hours in excess of 3 hours will count towards the membership requirement. DRA members are reminded to report their volunteer hours monthly.
    • Permission to photograph any artwork for Del Ray Artisans publicity and archival purposes is automatically granted by the artist.
    • Unsold artwork pickup is on Sunday, March 1, 2026 from 12-6pm. No early pickup. All art must remain for the entire length of the market unless sold or arrangements have been made in advance with the coordinators.
    • Del Ray Artisans cannot be held responsible for any artwork left after the pickup deadline. The gallery has limited space and artwork could get lost, misplaced, or damaged. Any art left over 30 days after the close of the show will become the property of Del Ray Artisans.

  • What art is accepted for the Alcove?

    • All applications to the Alcove are juried by the Alcove Committee. Work displayed in the Alcove must be consistent with the digital representation submitted for jurying.
    • Unframed, matted and bagged, or shrink-wrapped works on paper, unstretched canvas, or flat panels are accepted.
    • As with DRA’s regular exhibits, Alcove artworks must be original (reproductions of your original art are not accepted for Alcove). Photography, digital art, and hand-printed fine art prints (block prints, woodcuts, relief prints, monoprints, lithographs, intaglios, etchings, engravings, etc.) are acceptable.
    • Jewelry, wood, fiber, glass, mosaic, and ceramic pieces are all acceptable as long as they meet size limitations (see details below).
    • The work displayed must be consistent with the digital submissions to the jurying process. DRA reserves the right to remove any item(s) from sale, at any time, for any reason.

  • Presentation Requirements for 2-D Artworks

    Works on Paper: must be matted and shrink-wrapped or clear bagged; in any medium appropriate for paper. (Note: Pastels are not suitable for this type of display, because they may be damaged.

    Works on Canvas, Canvas-paper, Panel, or other flat ground: must be matted if on canvas-paper or on unstretched canvas, and must be clear-bagged or shrink-wrapped; flat panels (like gessoboard or canvasboard) are accepted if no more than 1/8" thick. Panels don’t need matting, but must be clear-bagged (shrink-wrapping not advisable without mat). Art on unframed canvas must be removed from stretcher-bars. Unframed stretched canvas and cradled panels are not accepted.

    Dimensions for 2-D Art: 18" x 24" or less, with mat. Art must fit safely into our print racks. Artworks smaller than 8" x 10" with mat must be attached to a foamcore backing at least 8" x 10" for safety and security.

  • Presentation Requirements for 3-D Artworks

    Jewelry should include a suitably sized box. Artist may provide their own stands for display, as long as the stands are small in size.

    Wood, pottery, small sculptures are encouraged, but size should generally be no larger than approximately 6" x 6" x 6" combined height, width and depth. Please consult with one of the coordinators if there are questions about size.

    Fiber pieces should be able to be displayed on DRA’s metal grids. Please consult with one of the coordinators if there are questions about the size of the pieces.

  • Important Dates

    • Deadline for the Artist Application and Application Fee is midnight on Sunday, December 14, 2025.
    • Artists will be notified of acceptance by Thursday, December 18, 2025.
    • Artwork Receiving for accepted artists will be on Sunday, December 28, 2025 from 12-4pm at Del Ray Artisans gallery, 2704 Mount Vernon Avenue, Alexandria, VA 22301.
    • The Alcove Gift Shop runs January 2 – February 28, 2026.
    • Unsold artwork pickup is on Sunday, March 1, 2026 from 12-6pm.

  • Artist Application

  • TIP: Your membership expiration date is shown on the mailing label of Del Ray Artisans exhibit postcards. If your membership has expired, please renew now. If you are not a member, you may join now. Only members will be accepted into the Alcove Gift Shop.

  • The above information is for Del Ray Artisans use only.

  • Media Category and Description

    Pick as many categories as needed to represent the work you plan to sell. Please note that if there are too many artists in any given category (jewelry, for example) some "multi-media" artists will be asked to reduce their items in that category.

    For every "Category" selected, describe your type of work in the "Type of Media" box.

  • Initial Artwork Entries

    You may provide up to five (5) initial pieces of artwork (submit the info for those pieces below). You will be notified when an artwork sells, and you may replace the sold item with a similar item.

    Please provide one photo for each entry.  Acceptable file types are: pdf, jpg, jpeg, png,and gif; up to 5MB in file size.  Smart phone photos are acceptable.  You may also provide an additional photograph per entry if you wish (not required). 

    Name your files as follows: YourLastName-FirstName-ArtworkTitle. If you provide a second photo for the entry, add a “-2” to the end, e.g. YourLastName-FirstName-ArtworkTitle-2.

    Do not enter pieces with the same title that have different media, prices, or dimensions.

  • Entry 1

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  • Entry 2

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  • Entry 3

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  • Entry 5

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  • Terms and Conditions

    Carefully review all the terms and conditions in this Call for Artists; especially note the Accepted Artist Requirements section and Important Dates section. You must also check the following acknowledgements:


  • Special thanks to the City of Alexandria, Alexandria Commission for the Arts, and Virginia Commission for the Arts for their continued support of Del Ray Artisans, a 501(c)(3) organization.

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