Call for Art: Aesthetics of Care

Anthropology of Motherhood is seeking submissions for its upcoming exhibition for the Three Rivers Arts Festival. This year's exhibit is titled Aesthetics of Care. This hybrid (in-person and virtual) exhibition explores care as an essential, ubiquitous human experience. We invite artists to contribute works that reflect, challenge, and expand our understanding of care as a central element of human life and creativity.

Aesthetics of Care

Care exists at the intersection of art, labor, and love. It encompasses the unseen and often undervalued work of nurturing others, from parenting and elder care to community support and self-care. How do we render care visible? What does it mean to aestheticize acts of care—to translate these deeply personal, collective, and political gestures into visual, auditory, or tactile forms?

We encourage artists to interpret this theme broadly, considering questions such as:

How do cultural practices and traditions shape our understanding of care?
What are the tensions between the visibility and invisibility of caregiving labor?
How does care intersect with identity, race, gender, class, and other social factors?
In what ways can art serve as an act of care, fostering connection and healing?
How can we reimagine care systems and economies through artistic expression?

Submission Guidelines:

Eligibility: This call is open to artists working in all media, including but not limited to painting, sculpture, photography, installation, performance, video, sound, and digital art. Collaborative works are accepted.

Submission Requirements:

Artist Statement: A brief statement (300 words max) explaining how your work connects to the theme of "The Aesthetics of Care."
Artwork Details: Up to 5 high-quality images or video links of proposed works. Include title, medium, dimensions, and year of creation for each piece.
Artist Bio: A short biography (150 words max).
Contact Information: Name, email address, phone number, and website or social media handles (if applicable).

Deadline for Submissions: March 21, 2025

How to Submit:

Sara please make a google form. Google From linked here.

Please make sure that all info above is included. Also please add

date of work

birth years or artists

Materials

Title

Short description

Size

Exhibition Details:

Selected works will be featured in a group exhibition to be held at a location within the Three Rivers Arts Festival footprint from June 5-8, 2025. Participating artists will be notified by April 25, 2025. Accepted artists are required to drop off their work between June 1-4, 2025, location TBD. Artists are responsible for all shipping and return costs. A modest stipend will be provided.

About the Anthropology of Motherhood:

The Anthropology of Motherhood is an interdisciplinary project and exhibition platform that seeks to create spaces for dialogue, reflection, and innovation on caregiving, motherhood, and the cultural narratives surrounding these experiences. By showcasing diverse artistic voices, we aim to deepen our collective understanding of the roles care and caregiving play in shaping our world.

“We must expand the definition of motherhood - motherhood in physiology, socio-economic terms, gender, and race.”

— Flan Flaherty, AoM Founder

Background Video by Sarah Shotts.

Image Description: Anthropology of Motherhood logo depicts the abstract outline of a bare-breasted mother looking down at their baby in bold, thick, black strokes.

AN ONGOING PROJECT

Anthropology
of Motherhood

The Anthropology of Motherhood project is an ongoing curation of artwork and design that engages in the complex visual, material, emotional, corporeal and lived experiences of motherhood, care-giving, parenting, nurturing and maternal labor.

“I want to make sure that we are more in tune with the principles of the social model of disability and continue to use the arts, not only to showcase and develop the artists within Wales, but also capture opportunities to highlight social injustice.

All arts are in some way political [with a small ‘p’] and have a function beyond admiration and entertainment. They capture moments from beauty to suffering, they affirm and motivate us, they mirror society to raise concerns, and give us hope in our shared humanity.”

— Ruth Fabby, Disability Arts CYMRU

“Indigenous people have stewarded Alaska for thousands of years. Their holistic understanding of the environment created a sustainable and symbiotic relationship with the waters, plants and animals of the land.”

“Land Acknowledgment is the public recognition of this knowledge and care. We look to Indigenous Elders and their youth for guidance. It is only Indigenous ways of being that will ensure our collective future.”

— MELISSA SHAGINOFF, of the Udzisyu and Cui Ui Ticutta clans in Nay'dini'aa Na Kayax

“How I can create more opportunities in public spaces where mothers can practice patience, care and grace on and for themselves?”

— Jessica Moss, Artist

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ANTHROPOLOGY of MOTHERHOOD

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Since 2016, Anthropology of Motherhood has provided ongoing curation of artwork and design that engages in the complex visual, material, emotional, corporeal and lived experiences of motherhood, care-giving, parenting, nurturing and maternal labor. As an annual hybrid amenity/exhibit at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, our message and aesthetic of the Culture of Care has reached thousands of viewers, instilling the value of caregivers and the importance of prioritizing compassion and care in our daily lives. Our exhibits have traveled to McDonough Museum of Art, Sleeth Gallery and will be exhibiting at Dyers Art Center in Rochester, NY in 2023. With support from the Opportunity Fund (Pittsburgh) and in collaboration with the City of Asylum, we recently concluded our speaker series, Culture of Care inviting artist-caregivers from around the world to share where caregiving and receiving intersects with their practice.

We are excited to announce a partnership with Amherst College Press to develop a full color edited volume of Anthropology of Motherhood with an expected publish date of Fall 2026, in time for our 10th year anniversary.Your generous support will allow us to continue our work through exhibits, programs, and our upcoming book.

Thank you.