Unique & Unexpected: A Crèche Festival - Christmas Nativity Art Exhibition 2024

Crèche Festival Houston invites artists to submit original artwork exploring, depicting, or interpreting Christ's nativity for its fourth annual juried and judged exhibition: Unique & Unexpected. Artists are encouraged to present unique and unexpected interpretations of the nativity through alternative materials, unconventional settings, diverse characters, or the use of Christian symbolism. Work should include at least the Holy Family—Mary, mother of Jesus, the Christ child, and Joseph.

The exhibition is open to all individuals and collectives within the United States working in any media, including mixed media, assemblage, digital, painting, ceramics, woodworking, metal/enamel, drawing, textile, glass, needlepoint, embroidery, and film. Artists may submit up to 3 applications. Each application requires a $5.00 entry fee, 3-5 photographic images of the work, an artist statement of less than 400 words, and answers to six additional questions. Applications must be submitted by September 13, 2024. Artists will be notified of selection by October 1, 2024. Selected artwork must be shipped or hand-delivered by October 5, 2024.

The exhibition takes place December 14-15, 2024, at the Parish Hall on the Rice Village campus of Christ the King Lutheran Church, 2353 Rice Boulevard, Houston, Texas. A Grand Prize of $1,000 will be awarded, along with two additional cash prizes of $500 each—one for creativity and one for best use of Christian liturgical symbolism/imagery. Additional ribbons will be awarded for Honorable Mention. Prizes will be announced at an artist reception on December 13. Selected artists may choose to participate in an online auction (December 13-18, 2024), where artists receive 80% of sale proceeds and Crèche Festival Houston retains 20% to benefit Bright Stars of Bethlehem. Jurors include Rev. Johann Roten, S.M. (International Marian Research Institute, University of Dayton), Marie Romero Cash (folk artist), and N. Elizabeth Schlatter (curator and pottery maker).