Wish You Were Here

Overview

Wish You Were Here invites artists to explore the postcard as both format and concept. Rooted in the familiar 5 × 7 size, this exhibit challenges artists to consider how scale, limitation, and intention shape meaning. The postcard is traditionally a vehicle for communication—brief, personal, portable, and sent across distance—and this exhibition asks artists to engage with those ideas while reimagining what a postcard can be.

Concept & Theme

Artists are encouraged to think beyond the postcard as an image alone and consider it as a message, a memory, a fragment, or an invitation. What does it mean to compress a place, an emotion, or a story into a small, deliberate space? How does working within 5 × 7 influence material choices, narrative, and viewer interaction? Submissions may be literal or abstract, intimate or bold, nostalgic or experimental.

Media & Requirements

• Painting, drawing, printmaking
• Photography, digital art
• Textile, mixed media
• Wood, sculpture
• Collage, fiber, conceptual works

Submission Requirements

• Up to 3 submissions per artist
• Artwork title(s), medium, size (unframed), and year
• Short artist statement (max 250 words)
• Bio (max 150 words)
• Contact information
• All photos must be cropped, well-lit, and labeled as: Lastname_Artwork Title_Medium

Key Dates

• Submission deadline: April 14, 2026
• Notice of acceptance: April 20, 2026
• Drop off: June 2–3, 6 p.m.
• Opening reception: June 5, 5–7 p.m.
• Exhibition dates: June 5–28, 2026
• Pick up: June 29, 2026
• Shipped work deadline: July 27, 2026

Eligibility & Fees

• Open to local artists (Virginia)
• Entry fee: Members $20, Non-members $30

Delivery & Handling

Artists must be able to deliver and pick up their work in person; shipping to ShenArts is not available. If work is shipped, artists are responsible for all shipping costs. Shipped artwork must include a prepaid return shipping label inside the package and reusable, sturdy packaging. ShenArts is not responsible for providing return labels, packaging materials, or damage in transit; artists are encouraged to insure shipped work.

Sales & Jury Selection

ShenArts handles all sales and promotion and takes a 30% commission of the retail price. Works will be selected by a jury based on conceptual strength, relevance to the theme, and artistic quality. Artwork must be ready to hang with D-rings only; no sawtooth hangers or eyehooks permitted.