CALL FOR ARTISTS, SCIENTISTS,
DESIGNERS, & WRITERS
OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS March 1, 2026
DEADLINE May 31, 2026
"Water is critical for sustainable development, including environmental integrity and the alleviation of poverty and hunger, and is indispensable for human health and well-being." - United Nations
We've all heard that water will be the new gold in the future. Well, the future is now. Between droughts caused by extreme weather, microplastics contaminating every drop of water it seems (since it's found throughout our bodies), and with lead contamination from failing infrustructure, we must prioritize how to protect, repair and filter water for our survival. According to the January 2026 UN Report the world has entered an era of "global water bankruptcy." Over 70% of major aquifers are in long-term decline and 50% of large lakes losing water since 1990. Driven by climate change, aridification, and overuse, nearly 4 billion people face severe water scarcity, with critical shortages affecting the U.S. Southwest and global agriculture. Water consumption has exceeded renewable, safe limits, with many systems in an irreversible, post-crisis state. In New Mexico, climate change is driving rapid groundwater declines, shrinking snowpack, and reducing river flow. With freshwater disappearing at an alarming rate, we must wake up and consider some dramatic changes to come.
For this call we are looking to present visual, sound, and performative artworks covering a wide range of topics that will inspire and provide practical solutions. Also, texts including essays and poems, will be presented in our Fall 2027 printed book.
Below are suggested issues and mediums, though not definitive:
Topics:
- lack of safe drinking water, water quality
- water sanitation
- severe drought
- contaminates in water (PFAS, heavy metals, microplastics)
- infrastructure failures
- water-related disasters
- groundwater depletion, over-extraction
- natural and chemical contamination (arsenic, nitrates, VOCs)
- agricultural runoff (pesticides, fertilizers, sediment)
- industrial and urban pollution
- nutrient pollution, algal blooms
- pathogens
- sea level rise
- water temperature increases
- aquatic life
- saltwater intrusion
- water temperature increases
- lack of sanitation
- conflict-driven scarcity
- fracking
- data centers
- urban water stress
- well water
- wastewater
- public water transport systems
- water quality
- water cycle, transpiration
- ocean mining
- military contamination
- transboundary cooperation
- water and gender
- oceans
- rivers
- lakes
Strategies:
- Community Engagements
- Proposals for New Projects (realistic or "pie in the sky")
- Speculative Futures
- Activism
- Painting
- Sculpture
- Installation
- Making the Invisible Visible
- Solutions/Remedies
- Interventions
- Corporate Engagements
- Collections
- Documentations
- Humor
- Education
- Water-Remediation
- Partnerships with water orgs
- essays and short texts, poems
Similar to our 2024 Call for Artists Soils Turn and 2025 Wicked Monstrous 2025, we are seeking to create a "field guide" or directory of over 100 artists addressing water issues that curators and scientists can reach out to for exhibitions and collaborations.
All who apply are included with the caveat that if the work submitted does not clearly address water and is inappropriate (aesthetically not fully developed or scientifically incorrect), the jurors will reach out to communicate the problem. Please assume your work is included if you do not hear back by the fall. Artists included will hear from the jurors by early 2027 during the gathering of images/texts for the book layout. A pop-up exhibition and book launch is planned for fall 2027.
Background image: Krista Leigh Steinke, Lifeline (video still), 2021
Check back here for more information that will be added in the coming months including links to water information
Nate Hagens, The Great Simplification (podcasts on water)
Levke Caesar: "Oceanic Slowdown: Decoding the AMOC"
DJ White: "Ocean Effectivism"
Water Organizations
Mission Blue Inspired by Sylvia Earl (recordings of events here)
Parley for the Oceans (recordings of events here)
UN Water news (water and gender)
USGS water quality topics
Water in the news
The Guardian water news