2020 Call for Group Exhibitions at Annenberg Community Beach House

Santa Monica Cultural Affairs administers the Beach=Culture program, which presents a year-round series of temporary exhibits, concerts, talks, readings and artist residencies at the Annenberg Community Beach House. Three exhibits every year showcase the work of emerging and established Los Angeles County artists. The 2020 exhibitions will feature the curatorial theme of "Activism," inviting curators to create proposals that engage with ideas of collective and individual action. Proposals that connect to advocacy topics directly affecting the environments and communities in Santa Monica and/or Southern California are encouraged, including human rights, immigration, climate change, gentrification, housing or food insecurity, and criminal justice reform.

Proposals are invited from curators for group exhibitions of three or more artists, with emerging-to-established artists and artist groups. Curators and artists must be based in Los Angeles County. The exhibition display period is four months, with the possibility of extension. The selected curator will receive a curatorial stipend of $1,500 for organizing and producing the exhibition, with $200 allocated for entertainment at the opening reception and up to $500 for an optional midterm event. Santa Monica Cultural Affairs will cover installation and de-installation, didactic materials and postcard printing, marketing, opening reception with light refreshments, and potential hosting of a mid-term public workshop or talk.

The display space is a central hallway with 9-foot high white walls, approximately 100 linear feet of total wall space, adjustable ceiling-mounted track lighting, and two lighted display cabinets (4ft.w x 6ft.h x 2ft.d). All artwork must be framed and ready to install and wall-mountable. Three exhibition timeframes are available: January–April 2020, May–Early September 2020, and September–Early January 2021. Selected curators will be notified by late fall 2019 and are required to attend a curator orientation meeting in late December 2019. The City will insure artwork while on display, and artists will complete a loan form stipulating reasonable replacement value.