Heads Up:

Current Approaches to Portraiture

Artlink is now accepting entries for Heads Up: Current Approaches to Portraiture!

Throughout history, the desire to capture a person’s likeness has been a constant pursuit of artists. Whether the purpose is to document the stern visage of a conquering emperor or reveal a person’s psychological state of mind, the portrayal of the human face/head often reveals much more than a simple depiction of likeness.  Beyond conveying what someone looks like, a portrait can tell us just as much about what is inside or outside a person’s experience. Despite the countless heads hanging on the walls of palaces, museums, galleries, and homes… whether painted, drawn, photographed, printed, carved, or constructed, artists still create faces that stare back at us, providing us with a focused view into the human condition.  Artlink is excited to present this exhibition opportunity for current approaches to depicting and expressing the human through the genre of portraiture. We encourage artists to interpret the definition of portraiture broadly: from the traditional to the contemporary; from the academic to the expressive and experimental.  Works may be no larger than 52” in any dimension, however, are open to any media.

Juror

Tim Parsley is Program Director for Studio Art and Associate Professor of Studio Art (Painting and Drawing) at the University of Saint Francis, Division of Creative Arts in Fort Wayne, IN.  Tim earned his BFA from the University of Cincinnati and his MFA from Miami University (Oxford, OH). He also works as a public artist and public art educator, creating numerous, large-scale, publicly-supported mural projects throughout the Midwest, New York, and Nairobi, Kenya.  Tim previously served as Assistant Director of Manifest Creative Research Gallery in Cincinnati, OH and currently serves as Interim Executive Director for Artlink Contemporary Gallery.

If you have any trouble using the entry website, please reach out to them with questions far enough ahead of the deadline to be helped!

Important Dates

Submission deadline: March 23, 2025

Jurying dates: March 24 - 30, 2025

Jury notifications: After March 31, 2025

Accepted artwork drop-off/delivery deadline: April 27 by 5pm

Exhibition timeline: May 8 - June 8, 2025

Submission Requirements

Entry fee: $12 per entry, up to 10 entries

Size limit: 52”

Media: Any

Eligibility: 18+ of age and residing in the United States