What happens when people gather together in community?
How have human beings used “gathering” to survive, to create, to transform?
In what ways does gathering nourish not just individuals, but whole communities and cultures?
From council circles of Indigenous nations to agoras of ancient Greece, from medieval feasts to modern protest marches, from impromptu storm shelters to reliable weekly spiritual gatherings and intimate family dinners, gathering has shaped how we live and how we imagine better ways of living together. It is one of the essential tools we have for building trust, sharing knowledge, and making meaning across generations.
When people gather to share a meal, they nourish more than their bodies — they build kinship, trust, and hospitality.
When we gather to tell stories, we transmit memories, preserve culture, and imagine futures.
When we gather in dance or protest, we align our bodies and voices in pursuit of something larger than ourselves.
When artists gather to create, they seed spaces of invention, connection, and collective vision.
When strangers gather in public, they form the raw material of civic life — where shared norms are negotiated, challenged, and remade.
Assembly invites Del Ray Artisans’ artists of all mediums to submit works that explore the fundamental human act of gathering — and how it functions as a catalyst for growth and belonging. The theme invites artists to explore the idea of assembly liberally, whether it be through ritual, resistance, celebration, community, ecology, cultural tradition, or something else entirely.
By drawing on both personal experience and shared heritage, Assembly will explore gathering not just as a moment in time, but as a powerful mechanism through which we sustain and reimagine the world — together.
Questions? Contact curator Haddy Kreie (haddy@kreie.com)
Assembly: Together We Grow is open to Del Ray Artisans members only. If you are not a member, you may join Del Ray Artisans now.
Entry to this exhibit is by online submission. Art may be two- or three-dimensional, and in any medium. No strict size limits, but please be considerate of other artists and the physical limits of the gallery before entering oversized pieces. Oversized pieces of merit will be accepted if space permits. If submitting a multi-piece 2D artwork (such as a diptych or triptych), all parts must be framed together into one piece unless cleared in advance with the curator. Art should be ready to hang or display with wire and screw eyes, mounting and/or display stand, framed, matted, or with edges finished. We cannot show work that is not ready for exhibition. Example of a professionally framed artwork with flat screw eyes and wire:
If your artwork hanging system varies greatly from this example, contact the curators. See DelRayArtisans.org/exhibits/art-guidelines for additional details.