Calls for Entry
Most Exchange Gallery shows include work by artists young and old, established and up-and-coming, professional and amateur, from throughout the Susquehanna River Valley -- everyone from Bloomsburg University art students and professors to regional high school students to pre-schoolers, people who have exhibited nationally to those showing their work for the first time. Please check here regularly for information on upcoming open-call shows.
"What I Did In Quarantine", 2021
​Unless noted, it costs nothing to enter our shows, and we have only one rule: The work must fit through the Gallery's front door. We encourage artists to put their work for sale; they receive 80% of the sale price and the Gallery retains 20% to help keep our light on.
When you bring your work to the Gallery, please have one of these forms filled out. (If you cannot print it ahead of time, we will have them here for you.)
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We also occasionally make a video about the work in a show, and we would like to include artists speaking about their work. If you can make your own short video clip, please e-mail it to us at Exchange@ExchangeArts.org; you may also e-mail us a self-portrait/headshot and an artist's statement.
The Exchange coordinates rotating exhibits at other venues too: the Bloomsburg Public Library on Market Street and the Silk Mill Apartments on 6th Street; in both locations, work changes quarterly. For information about how you can show your artwork at either of them, contact us at 570-317-2596 or Exchange@ExchangeArts.org. See below for photos of some of the spaces available at the Library.
Coming in 2025:
As always, all ages and levels of experience welcome to participate in our open-call shows.​
Our shows have one rule: The work must fit through the front door.
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OPEN-CALL SHOW: “Tools of the Trade”
Work due by Saturday, May 3rd
Show runs Monday, May 5th, through Friday, June 13th
Reception Friday, June 6th
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The poem “The Village Blacksmith” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow speaks of a blacksmith’s bellows and brawny arms. Hammer, pencil, frying pan, a needle and thread, words (spoken or written), hands, a soft calming touch – what do all these have in common? Any one of them may serve as a tool of someone’s trade. The tools we use in our lives’ work have endless possibilities. Express in art your vision of a tool of your trade or of someone else’s trade.
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OPEN-CALL SHOW: “Made by Fire”
Work due by Saturday, June 14th
Show runs Monday, June 16th, through Friday, July 25th
Reception Friday, June 27th (no First Friday event on July 4th)
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Potentially warming, potentially destructive, and also offering potential for creation, fire is a necessary element in certain processes of artmaking. From casting and forging metal to ceramics to glass art, the heat of fire is recorded in the resulting objects. The Exchange Gallery asks makers to submit their fire-made and fire-inspired art in the hottest show of the year.
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OPEN-CALL SHOW: “Efforts at Imitation”
Work due by Saturday, July 25th
Show runs Monday, July 27th, through Friday, September 6th
Reception Friday, August 1st
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“Imitation is not just the sincerest form of flattery – it’s the sincerest form of learning.” – G. B. Shaw
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“Amateurs borrow, professionals steal.” – John Lennon (who apparently stole it from T. S. Eliot, who said “Amateur poets borrow; mature poets steal.”)
For this exhibition, the Exchange gallery will showcase artwork that mimics the look of famous works of art or is created in the style of a well-known artist. You may make an earnest attempt to recreate a masterpiece, or a parody of one, or put a new spin on an old classic, or any other interpretation.
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OPEN-CALL SHOW: “Parks and Recreation”
Work due by Saturday, September 6th
Show runs Monday, September 8th, through Friday, October 17th
Reception Friday, October 3rd
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Outdoor recreation is one of Pennsylvania’s major industries. Pennsylvania boasts thousands of city parks and over 300,000 acres of state parks throughout the Commonwealth. Some serve as gathering places for sports, public events, weddings, and birthday parties. Others provide space for hiking, camping, fishing, boating, or relaxation. And some of our parks are reserved for conservation and education. How do we as artists commemorate and celebrate the shared spaces that we all recreate in? The Exchange would like to know: What do parks and recreation mean to you?
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“Susquehanna Greenway Partnership photo contest winners”
Show runs Monday, October 20th, through Friday, November 21st
Reception Friday, November 7th
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For the third time, the Exchange Gallery hosts the winners of SGP’s annual photo contest, which YOU can enter. Find out more here.
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OPEN-CALL SHOW: “Cash & Carry XII”
Work due by Saturday, November 22nd
Show runs Monday, November 24th, through Tuesday, December 30th
Reception and start of sales Friday, December 2nd
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We'll give away hundreds of panels again; more info to come closer to the time.
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Open-call shows coming in 2026:
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Roaring Creek Valley Conservation Association show
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We collaborated with the RCVCA for 2024's “Art of the Roaring Creek Valley” show; stay tuned for more information about this year's variation on that theme.
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“The Wheels on the Bus . . . and the Tractor . . . and the Wagon . . .
and the Truck . . . and the Bicycle . . . ”
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Another exhibition in collaboration with Rohrbach's Farm, this one with a vehicular theme: Often considered the most important invention in human history, the wheel is essential to our everyday lives. Used in pottery, machinery, transportation, agriculture, engineering, and astronomy (to name a few) -- we all owe a great deal to the wheel! The Exchange Gallery and Rohrbach’s Farm would like you to share your interpretation of our relationship with the wheel, particularly as it applies to agriculture and transportation.
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“Mischief Night”
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Another Halloween-themed show! Another Halloween-themed show! On Mischief Night, the night before All Hallows’ Eve, one can expect pranks, parties, and of course, mischief. The Exchange Gallery seeks artwork that conjures up thoughts of Mischief Night, Halloween, and Fall festivities in general.
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“Cash & Carry XIII”
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A dozen years after the first “Cash & Carry”, the shows keep getting better! we'll give away hundreds of panels for artists to make work on. Look back at any of the prior shows for more information and for inspiration.
​Please submit this form with your work.
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You as artist/lender bear sole responsibility for insuring your own work. Neither the Exchange nor its volunteers nor employees may be held liable for any loss or damage to the artwork on loan. Neither an exhibitor nor any representative(s) thereof shall be a party to any legal action against The Exchange, its board of directors, its employees, or its volunteers arising out of any such loss or damage to personal property or personal injury. When you drop off your work, you must sign a gallery loan agreement to this effect.
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We use photographs of artwork for promoting the exhibitions here; on the form, you may choose to have your work not photographed.
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The Exchange Gallery takes a 20% commission on sales, meaning the artist receives 80% of the sale price of a piece. You may choose to donate more than 20% -- and up to 100% -- of the sale price to the Gallery. All income from sales goes directly to keeping the lights on here.
Any work not picked up one month after the end on an exhibition will be considered abandoned and will be recycled.
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Exhibition Agreement:
You must certify that all work offered for exhibition, for sale, and/or for display at the Exchange is original and designed and executed by you or legally represented by you. You understand that The Exchange reserves the right to accept or reject any work for public display.
We look forward to having your work at the Exchange Gallery.
