250 and Counting

The 250th Anniversary of the founding of the United States of America offers an opportunity to reflect on a history shaped by challenge, change, and resilience, and on a future that continues to unfold. The Davis Arts Council’s 250 and Counting exhibition asks artists to approach this milestone not only through theme, but through artistic process.

Artists are invited to create a work consisting of 250 or more intentional actions – marks, strokes, stitches, knots, lines, cuts, or other repeated gestures. These accumulated actions serve as a meditation on the many trials, triumphs, setbacks, and successes that have shaped the United States over time, and the many that still lie ahead.

Artists working in all visual media are encouraged to interpret the idea of “250 actions” in ways that are meaningful to their individual creative practice, and as part of the submission process, Artists are asked to briefly describe what constitutes an “action” in their work. Artists may choose to continue beyond the 250th action as a reflection on the future of the United States, in addition to its past. Each artist may submit up to two pieces for consideration, but each piece must consist of a different medium and/or “intentional action.”