October 2025 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists

This article compiles a list of open calls, residencies, and grants for artists in October 2025, including opportunities such as the Hopper Prize offering $4,500 and $1,000 artist grants, the Abbey Harris Mural Fund in the UK providing up to £7,000 for public murals, and the 2026 Black Creativity Juried Art Exhibition at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry. Other listings include the Contemporary Reflection Art Exhibition in London, an open call for exhibitions at Municipal Gallery dlr LexIcon in Ireland, the Glen Arbor Arts Center's INteriors show, the Sight/Geist Film & Performance open call in New York City, a creative commission for the Sycamore Gap tree by the National Trust, and the Discovery Art Fair Frankfurt.

Fall River artist Brian Fox to unveil Vietnam exhibit. See what inspired his military series.

Fall River artist Brian Fox has completed a series of Vietnam War military paintings titled “In the Valley of the Shadow: The Cost of Walking with Death,” which will debut at the Narrows Center for the Arts from October 18 through December 27, 2025. Fox collaborated closely with U.S. military veterans, who provided technical guidance and honest critique, and the series includes about 25 pieces, mostly black-and-white paintings and sketches, with one color piece titled “Vietnam Nurse.” Notably, Fox used rusting metal sheets as canvas for paintings inspired by Agent Orange, intended to deteriorate over time like the veterans affected by the chemical.

Frame Work: Poster art a reflection of culture, history

The Scarab Club, a Midtown Detroit arts club and gallery, is presenting a new exhibition titled "Paper, Place, Power: The Global Language of Posters," showcasing poster art that spans music, movies, social justice, and politics. The works are drawn from local collections including Signal Return, Wayne State, 1xRun, and the Black Canon, with an international perspective contributed by L.A.-based Poster Territory, covering subjects like the environment and the war in Ukraine. The free exhibition runs until October 5, and a related talk by Es-pranza Humphrey, assistant curator at New York City's Poster House, is scheduled for a Wednesday evening.

September 2025 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists

This article compiles a list of open calls, residencies, and grants for artists and designers with deadlines in September and October 2025. Opportunities include the Innovate Grant offering $1,800 each to one visual artist and one photographer, the PHOTOcentric 2025 exhibition at Garrison Art Center, a call for mini-golf hole designs for The Other Art Fair Chicago, and the Ingram Prize 2025 for recent U.K. art school graduates. Other listings include the Moons, Castles, Trees exhibition for The Wrong Biennale ’26 in Copenhagen, the Denver International Airport Rotating Sculpture Program, the MONSTER Exhibition in Berlin, the Abbey Harris Mural Fund in the U.K., and the Contemporary Reflection Art Exhibition in London.

Sundog Gallery to showcase five decades of Stanton Englehart’s art

Sundog Gallery, a newly opened art space in downtown Mancos, will host an exhibition starting September 5 showcasing five decades of work by Cortez-born painter Stanton Englehart (1931–2009). The show includes rare and never-before-seen pieces, along with personal notes and reflections on his creative process. Englehart, known for paintings of the American Southwest, earned a master's degree from the University of Colorado and taught for 30 years at Fort Lewis College before retiring to paint full-time.

Ukrainian ‘artist of pain’ David Chichkan killed on frontline

David Chichkan, a prominent Ukrainian contemporary artist known for his anarchist ideals and avant-garde iconography, was killed while fighting Russian forces in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region on August 8, 2024. The Ministry of Culture and Strategic Communications reported that he died repelling an assault by Russian infantry. Chichkan, born in Kyiv in 1986, came from a dynasty of artists and was known for works infused with references to Ukraine's activist and anarchist history. His death adds to a growing list of Ukrainian cultural workers killed since Russia's full-scale invasion began in February 2022, with PEN Ukraine recording 221 cultural figures dead.

San Francisco’s Trash Company Marks 35 Years of Stunning Art Made of Recycled Garbage With Free Gallery Opening

San Francisco's waste management company Recology is celebrating 35 years of its Artist-in-Residence program with a free retrospective exhibition featuring artworks made from recycled garbage. The show, held at the Minnesota Street Project in collaboration with Recology, includes pieces by 63 artists who have scavenged materials from the company's 47-acre recycling center since 1990. Notable works include Nemo Gould's 'Impala' sculpture, made from scavenged antlers, power tools, and household items. The exhibition runs through August 30, 2025, and a traveling version called 'Reclaimed: The Art of Recology' is touring the country.

Cape artist Jackie Reeves sets up her 'No Fixed Address' show in South Yarmouth

Cape artist Jackie Reeves is installing her exhibition "No Fixed Address" at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The show, documented in photographs taken on July 23, 2025, features Reeves's painted canvases and includes a depiction of the U.S. Capitol building, with the artist seen setting up works in the gallery and vault room.

‘Fragile Earth’ art exhibit brings environmental awareness and activism to Livermore

Livermore Valley Arts has opened 'Fragile Earth: A Call to Action,' a new exhibition at the Bankhead Theater that blends visual art with scientific understanding and grassroots advocacy. Featuring local and regional artists such as Denson Karin, Maureen Langenbach, Bernice LaRosa, and Caroline Powers-Robinson, the show presents diverse media including painting, sculpture, photography, and interactive installations. A partnership with Quest Science Center adds 'Style Transfer,' an interactive photo booth using machine learning, alongside work from the Tri-Valley Youth Climate Action Program. The exhibition runs through Oct. 19.

Grove Gallery exhibition raises money for Great Lakes conservation

The Grove Gallery in downtown Evanston opened its latest exhibition, 'Flow: The Water Show,' over the weekend, featuring works by local artists that explore humanity's fragile relationship with water, particularly the Great Lakes. Gallery director Sarah Kaiser-Amaral curated the invitation-only show, which includes paintings by Anna Marie Crovetti, Nicole Gordon, Louise LeBourgeois, Lynne Miller-Jones, Carol Neiger, Jennifer Presant, and Nina Weiss, with themes ranging from refreshing summer scenes to dystopian reflections on climate change and flooding.

Warrington Museum to host art exhibition exploring identity and transition

Warrington Museum and Art Gallery will host 'Foreign Bodies,' a solo exhibition by emerging artist Skye Baker, from July 18 to September 14. The show features performance and video works exploring Baker’s personal experiences with gender transition and broader societal perceptions of the trans community in the UK. Baker, an 18-year-old Warrington resident and recent Priestley College graduate, won the museum’s 2024 Open Exhibition, becoming its youngest winner, and the new show builds on her award-winning video 'Guttural.' Visitors can make choices after each video piece, shaping their own journey through the interactive exhibition.

“What Can A.I. Not Take from Us?”: An Interview With the Curators of Local Exhibition 'Against the Machine'

An exhibition titled 'Against the Machine: art in the age of A.I., fascism, and climate disaster' is on view at the People's Solidarity Hub campus in Durham, North Carolina, curated by local artists Cassandra Rowe and charla rios. The show features works by ten multi-disciplinary artists, including Hiva Kadivar's piece incorporating ink and natural fibers, Derrick Beasley's sculpture 'Conduit,' and Rowe's painting 'the wayback machine / you can't take my memories.' The exhibition opened in May and runs through August 22, with an artist talk scheduled for July 16. The curators were inspired by connections between A.I., fascism, and climate disaster, particularly after Hurricane Helene and the Los Angeles wildfires.

Sawtell Art Gallery’s 37th show a success

Sawtell Art Gallery's 37th Annual Show opened on June 28 with a celebratory party attended by exhibitors and community members. The exhibition featured nine prize categories, each with a $500 award, plus a $100 Youth category, sponsored by local businesses and organizations. Winners included Jordanna Hinton, Jayden Whitton, Bronwyn Fife, Helen Goldsmith, Andrea Hitchcock, Willie Berkof-Ober, Nico Reynolds, Shellie Kelly, Sharon Sykes, Lachlan Wainwright, Max Greenaway, and Stella Dodd. The People's Choice Award is pending announcement at the exhibition's close.

Local art exhibition confronts apartheid silence

A live exhibition titled "Uncovering / Recovering the Past" was held on 21 May at the Stellenbosch University Museum in South Africa, featuring sound, sculpture, and archival material. Created by artist Haroon Gunn-Salie, the exhibition explores the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's failure to prosecute apartheid-era crimes, focusing on the reopened inquest into the 1969 death of anti-apartheid cleric Imam Abdullah Haron while in police detention. The event was presented by the Centre for the Study of the Afterlife of Violence and The Reparative Quest (AVReQ) and included speakers such as human rights lawyer Odette Geldenhuys and senior research coordinator Westley Ceasar.

New exhibition at Palmer Museum through July 27 calls for community response

The Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State has opened a new exhibition titled “Shaping American Histories, Dreaming American Futures,” on view through July 27. The show features works that explore diverse American histories, including Billy Morrow Jackson's lithograph “The Tattooed Man,” which references the 1963 Birmingham church bombing. Visitors are invited to contribute reflections on a community response wall, answering questions about the nation's past, present, and future via sticky notes.

Art in Madinah through the eyes of a local artist

Artist and Madinah native Meshal Al-Hujaili discusses the expanding art scene in Madinah, Saudi Arabia, which blends traditional and contemporary influences rooted in Islamic heritage and cultural identity. His work, including the painting 'Flow' created during the Madinah International Symposium 2023, is currently displayed at the Madinah Art Center, where he also collaborates on exhibitions like 'Path' with curator Nouf Al-Balawi. Al-Hujaili describes how the center's programs, training sessions, and dialogues have fostered his artistic growth and exposure to other artists.

An Artist Honors Extinct Plants and Animals at New York’s Swiss Institute

The New York Times reports on an exhibition at New York's Swiss Institute where an artist pays tribute to extinct plants and animals through their work. The show features installations and artworks that memorialize species lost to extinction, blending scientific documentation with artistic expression to create a poignant reflection on biodiversity loss.

NW Minnesota Arts Council announced its NW Minnesota Art Exhibit Winners

The Northwest Minnesota Arts Council announced the winners of its 2025 Northwest Minnesota Art Exhibit, awarding $2,300 in cash prizes to student and adult artists from a seven-county region. The winners were recognized at a reception in Crookston on April 27, with juror Glen Henry, an Indigenous artist and Director of Exhibitions at Minnesota State University Moorhead, selecting the awardees. Categories included adult and student divisions, with top prizes going to Elizabeth Kitchell-Rockstad for mixed media and Alyssa Foster for drawing, among others. Selected works will travel to area libraries and five student pieces will be displayed in Senator Mark Johnson's office.

In Baltimore, Confronting Chaos Through Contemporary Art

The New York Times reports on a contemporary art exhibition in Baltimore that uses artistic expression to address and navigate themes of social and political chaos. The show features works by multiple artists who respond to the city's complex urban landscape and broader national tensions, transforming galleries into spaces for reflection and dialogue.

An Anthology on Time

Une anthologie sur le temps

The publishing house Citadelles & Mazenod has released a new anthology titled "Écrire le temps. De l’Antiquité à nos jours" (Writing Time: From Antiquity to the Present Day). Edited by Pascal Dethurens, the 480-page volume compiles a vast array of literary sources on the concept of time, from ancient thinkers to contemporary writers, and pairs these texts with a wide variety of artistic representations.

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh Gracefully Reimagines a 16th-Century Belgian Abbey Church in Steel

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, the Belgian design studio founded by Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh, has created "CLAUSURA," a life-size steel sculpture tracing the footprint of the vanished 16th-century Gothic church at Herkenrode Abbey in Hasselt, Belgium. The ethereal framework of slender steel rods rises from the original site, offering a transparent, abstract reconstruction that evokes the abbey's lost architecture through suggestion rather than literal rebuilding. The first phase opens to the public on June 18 as part of a broader restoration led by Herita.

Dozens of Suspended ‘Halos’ Glimmer in a Florentine Factory

Earlier this month, artist SpY installed "Halos," a large-scale installation of dozens of metallic discs suspended from the ceiling of a former railway factory in Florence. The work was part of the city's Bright Festival, transforming the brutalist industrial interior into a space of ethereal movement and reflection, with the discs interacting with natural breezes and glimmering light.

Stefano Boeri designs a new monastery that will be born in Milan in the district where Expo 2015 was held

Stefano Boeri progetta un nuovo monastero che nascerà a Milano nel quartiere dove si fece l’Expo2015

Stefano Boeri Architetti has designed a new monastery, the Monastero Ambrosiano, to be built by 2029 in the Mind – Milano Innovation District, the tech hub developed on the site of Expo 2015 in Milan. Presented at the Abbey of Chiaravalle, the project is commissioned by the Diocese of Milan and includes a church for 300-350 worshippers, a Cloister of Religions, a Garden of Religions, and a Library of Religions, blending contemporary architecture with monastic tradition and interfaith dialogue.

Taking a nap in an art gallery? In Palermo you can, in the new 'nap-salon'

Fare la pennichella in una galleria d’arte? A Palermo si può, nella nuova ‘pisolineria’

Artist Pietro Librizzi has transformed Palermo's independent Rollò gallery into a temporary "Pisolineria Librizzi," or nap-salon. The project invites the public to visit the gallery not to view art, but to take a paid nap, offering various service packages from a basic rest to a sleep kit with eye masks and a personalized wake-up call.

Reframing Leadership – Photography Open Call

Unpublished Africa has launched an open call for African photographers to submit work exploring the theme of leadership in their local contexts. The initiative seeks visual narratives that reflect everyday, creative, and collective expressions of leadership across the continent's diverse communities and environments.

NYA Collective: Bonnie Keren He Opens Solo Exhibition INNA BEAUTI at Flushing Town Hall Gallery

Bonnie Keren He, a 17-year-old artist born in New York and raised between Suzhou, China, and New York, opened her solo exhibition "INNA BEAUTI" at Flushing Town Hall Gallery in New York City on April 19, 2026. The exhibition, curated by Dr. Hao Qingsong, Cindy Jiang, and Grace Jiang, features works across media including colored pencil, acrylic, oil painting, embroidery, and performance art, exploring themes of cultural identity, memory, and inner reflection. Notable attendees included political figures Jimmy Meng and Ron Kim, and the opening was hosted by Ge Chen of Global Cloud Media.

New environmental art exhibition “ECHO” coming soon to Kirkby Gallery

Kirkby Gallery has announced the opening of "ECHO," a solo exhibition by environmental artist Julie Dodd featuring sculptural works crafted from recycled and reclaimed materials. The show marks Dodd's first solo exhibition in a decade and showcases her practice of transforming discarded books and everyday objects into intricate forms that mimic natural patterns. Alongside the main event, the Entrance Gallery will feature "Supporting Households in Crisis," a research-based exhibition by Patricia McDonald-Holmes exploring food insecurity and community resilience in Knowsley.

Military uniforms become art in new Missouri exhibition

A new exhibition at the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri, titled "Camouflage: In Plain Sight," transforms military uniforms and related objects into works of art. The show features over 50 items, including a deconstructed World War I uniform by contemporary artist Ashley V. Blalock and historic pieces like a Civil War jacket, exploring how the visual language of warfare is repurposed for artistic expression.

Artist Sultana Hasan unveils a new solo art exhibition in Bengaluru

Artist Sultana Hasan has unveiled a new solo exhibition titled "Rooted in Nature" in Bengaluru, featuring 29 works including mixed-media paintings on canvas and paper, as well as pen and ink drawings. The pieces are grouped into themes such as still life, forest and park walks, landscapes, rockscapes, and floral designs, inspired by her reflections on nature during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Corning gallery to feature late artist Martin A. Poole

The West End Gallery in Corning, New York, will host a tribute exhibition for the late artist Martin A. Poole, a Corning native who passed away in late 2025. The show runs from May 15 to June 11, 2025, with an opening reception on May 15 featuring harpist Meredith Kohn Boeck and treats from Old World Cafe. Poole, who studied fine arts and printmaking at SUNY Buffalo, taught at the 717 Cedar Arts Center and other local groups, and his work has been represented by West End Gallery for 47 of its 49 years.