TOTALLY OPEN: An International Open-Theme Opportunity Exhibit

The Cincinnati based non-profit arts organization and gallery, Manifest, invites visual artists and designers to submit works of art with no specific theme. Open to all traditional and non-traditional genre and media, including 2D, 3D, etc. Manifest is known for its thoughtful thematic approaches to exhibitions. When we put out a call for works with a subject in mind, the resulting show serves as a survey of contemporary art made about that certain idea. The subjects span geographies, emotions, methods, ideas. Through our over 500 exhibit history Manifest has produced shows exploring hundreds of unique themes. And each work, each theme, has been documented through our exhibition catalogs and award-winning publications. The next creative experiment we want to run is this: reverse the process and host an open call, then discover the theme (or multiple themes) through the curatorial process, and not before. With an eye still fixed on finding and showcasing exceptional quality visual art, we want to give the artists a chance to steer the epiphanies that a TOTALLY OPEN call will yield.