Solo Competition
SOLO 2025
NOTE: Entries will be accepted starting August 1, 2024.
Deadline: Tuesday, October 1, 2024, midnight
Juror: LaiSun Keane, director of LaiSun Keane gallery in SOWA, Boston.
LaiSun Keane is a contemporary art gallery located in the Sowa Art District in Boston with a focus on providing a platform for non-mainstream voices. The gallery was born in the Covid19 pandemic, so it has a strong focus on producing online content and new ways of art presentation and art sales through price transparency. Our stable of artists consists of both local and International artists, and we mount eight to nine virtual and in-person exhibitions annually and participate in art fairs.
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The SOLO competition awards two solo exhibitions, all gallery expenses paid, to two New England artists who have not previously had a solo show in a commercial gallery (group shows, universities, libraries, etc. do not disqualify). All media are welcome. The entry fee for 5 jpgs is $35. (Entry fees support Bromfield’s programs of showcasing New England artists.)
We welcome emerging and established artists regardless of race, ethnicity, gender identification, sexual orientation, religious beliefs or disabilities.
Ideally, the 5 jpgs you submit represent a recent, coherent body of work. Please prepare your materials carefully before submitting; no revisions are accepted. Applications not accepted by email, postal, CD or any other means.
Finalists will be asked to bring 3-5 pieces of current work, representing their proposed exhibition, to the gallery in October for review by the juror.
Winners will be posted December 1 on the gallery website.
The deadline is October 1. The two winning exhibitions will be held in January the following year.
QUESTIONS? Email Gary Duehr, Gallery Manager, at info@bromfieldgallery.com
FAQs
Q: Who is eligible?
A: New England artists only. You must not have had a solo exhibition in a commercial gallery anywhere, even if years ago. A commercial gallery is a space devoted solely to selling art, whether nonprofit, for profit or artist-run. (Group shows, university galleries, libraries, frame shops, cafes, community centers, etc., do not disqualify.)
Q: Is New York considered part of New England?
A: No, New York is part of the Mid-Atlantic states. The six New England states are Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
Q: Do I need to be currently living in New England?
A: Your primary residence needs to be in New England between the application deadline and January 31 - the end of the exhibition.
Q: What expenses are paid for the winners?
A: All gallery expenses: postcard, exhibition fee, reception etc. The winners must still pay for the materials and creation of their artwork, as well as all travel or shipping costs.
Q: How do artists in video or time-based media submit?
A: Apply online, and include online links to your work in the Artist Statement box. You may submit jpgs of stills or screen shots.
Q: Are entries accepted via email, artist website or CD?
A: No, all entries must be submitted online through Submittable.
Q: How are artists notified?
A: All entrants will be emailed with the results. The competition results will be posted on the gallery website by December 1.
Q: How do artists know their submission was received?
A: You will receive a thank you email from Submittable.
Q: What kind of work should the submitted images represent?
A: Ideally, the 5 jpgs you submit are from one recent, coherent body of work, which represents the exhibition you would show in January if selected. (They should also reflect the work you would bring in as a finalist.) For the exhibitions, the winning artists pick their own artwork from this body, and all work must be for sale.
Q: What size and format do jpgs need to be?
A: Please use this format for the jpg name: 01_LastName_ArtworkTitle.
If possible, make the longest side no bigger than 800 pixels, or 12 inches at 72 dpi. You may condense the jpgs as medium quality.
Past Winners
SOLO 2024 WINNERS
Maris Van Vlack
Fu’una
Juror: Ben Sloat, director of the MFA in Visual Arts program at Lesley University, Cambridge, MA
SOLO 2023 WINNERS
Garrett Gould
Anna Leigh Clem
Juror: Caitlin Julia Rubin, Associate Curator, Rose Art Museum
SOLO 2022 WINNERS
Virginia Mahoney
Anne Birutė Harris
Juror: Brian Goslow, Managing Editor, Artscope
SOLO 2021 Winners
Emily Leonard Trenholm
Liz Doles
Juror: Meg White, Director, Gallery Naga, Boston
SOLO 2020 Winners
Marc Schepens
Cary Rapaport
Juror: Andrew Witkin, Krakow Witkin Gallery, Boston
SOLO 2019 Winners
Christopher Sullivan
Patricia Kelliher
Juror: Howard Yezerski, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston
SOLO 2018 Winners
Sharon Lacey
Avery Lucas
Juror: Emily Zilber, Curator, MFA, Boston
SOLO 2017 Winners
Rudolf Lingens
Denise Driscoll
Juror: Sarah Montross, Associate Curator at deCordova Sculpture Park
SOLO 2016 Winners
Andrea Greitzer
Camilo Ramirez
Juror: Ruth Erickson, Assistant Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
SOLO 2015 Winners
Lyell Castonguay
Wendy Wolf
Juror: Judith Tolnick Champa, independent curator
SOLO 2014 Winners
Kim Carlino
James Lentz
Juror: Al Miner, Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
SOLO 2013 Winners
Lauren Cotton
Kelly Goff
Juror: Dina Deitsch, Curator of Contemporary Art, deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum
SOLO 2012 Winners
Johnathan Derry
Alison Kotin
Juror: Jen Mergel, Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
SOLO 2011 Winners
Alvin Case
Ross Normandin
Juror: Randi Hopkins, Curator, Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
SOLO 2010 Winners
Jarrett Min Davis
Larry Volk
Juror: Brian T. Allen, Director of the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, MA