The Arts Center in Orange, VA, invites submissions for The Mini Masters Show, a juried group exhibition celebrating the power, intimacy, and innovation of small-scale works. The exhibition will feature 8” x 8” paintings by regional and national artists working across a wide range of media and styles.
Exhibition Dates: December 4, 2026 – January 30, 2027
Artists are invited to submit three original 8” x 8” works. Any medium that can be framed and exhibited on a wall is welcome. All work must be submitted framed, except canvas works, which may remain unframed if edges are clean, finished, and professionally wrapped. All submissions must arrive ready to hang and are the responsibility of the artist for delivery and pickup.
To create an accessible and collector-friendly exhibition, all accepted works will be offered for sale at a fixed price of $100 each. Sales will be split 50/50 between the artist and The Arts Center in Orange.
Submission Guidelines
5–10 images or time-based samples of recent work
Artist statement (300–500 words)
CV
Short biography
Optional reflection on the role of scale, intimacy, or time in your work
$20 submission fee — payable on our website
Submit materials through our website at: www.artscenterinorange.com under “Calls” or email submissions@artscenterinorange.com
Please include “Mini Masters” in the subject line
Deadline for submissions: October 1, 2026
Exhibition Vision
Mini Masters Show explores the unique visual and emotional impact of small works. In a cultural moment dominated by spectacle, scale, and speed, this exhibition asks viewers to slow down and engage more intimately with art. Small paintings possess a distinct kind of gravity: they invite close looking, reward attention to detail, and create a deeply personal encounter between artist and viewer.
Historically, small-format works have served as studies, private meditations, devotional objects, keepsakes, and experiments in abstraction and observation. Yet these works are often among the most immediate and powerful forms of artistic expression. Scale does not diminish ambition. Instead, limitation can sharpen intention.
This exhibition seeks artists who understand the poetic and conceptual possibilities of restraint — artists capable of creating works that feel expansive despite their dimensions. Whether minimal or densely layered, narrative or abstract, delicate or bold, the selected works will demonstrate how intimacy can carry equal weight to monumentality.
By unifying all works within the same 8” x 8” format, Mini Masters Show creates a visual conversation across mediums, styles, and perspectives. The exhibition emphasizes composition, precision, materiality, and presence, while encouraging viewers to move slowly through the gallery and discover the richness contained within each small frame.
The fixed-price structure is intended to encourage new collectors, make original artwork broadly accessible, and create an energetic salon-style atmosphere where visitors feel invited to engage with and acquire contemporary art. By removing barriers around pricing and scale, the exhibition emphasizes connection, discovery, and the joy of living with original artwork.
We welcome emerging and established artists alike whose work demonstrates originality, craftsmanship, and a compelling visual voice.