I’m So Local…I’m Right Here

This exhibition aims to celebrate local businesses and local artists through collaboration. Our goal is to showcase talent and ingenuity across the SEMO region, while re-igniting participation in a beloved local tradition: First Friday with the Arts. This once-booming program has seen significant decline in participation since Covid. We believe I’m So Local…I’m Right Here will be an exhibition to encourage downtown businesses to reacquaint themselves with our expansive arts community, and to celebrate the symbiotic relationship between art and commerce. Best In Show, Second, and Third Place will receive gifts from local businesses.

Official graphic by Ash Durrance

Download the official prospectus here


Closed Calls

CLOSED
Everyone Belongs Under the Sun

at the AC SEMO Gallery

In celebration of the 2024 Eclipse, we are inviting artists to submit work considering how cosmic events impact cultural change, and our place in the universe in personal, regional, national, and international regards. This exhibition will be a part of eclipse events taking place across the City of Cape Girardeau, under the direction of the Arts Council. Its intent is to use the power of this cosmic event to create cultural advancement in rural communities along the path.

CLOSED
Reflections: An Exhibition on the Black Experience
at May Greene

The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri and South Side Farms, in collaboration with Afrocentric Arts LLC, would like to extend an invitation to black artists of all mediums to submit work to the “Reflections” juried art exhibition. Prizes for the exhibition are made possible by a generous grant from The Simons Foundation. Black artists are encouraged to submit their work for free, and honors will be designated by a juror from the community of South Cape Girardeau, Missouri. In celebration of the 2024 Eclipse, the “Reflection” exhibition invites artists from the 5-state region to express the black experience through the eyes of the artist. From the cosmological origins of ancient Africa to the transcendence of black expression in the 21st century, this show asks artists to mine the interior landscape of their black experience in personal, cultural, and universal contexts.  This will also mark a return of visual arts experiences to the neighborhood, which boasts a history rich in the African American tradition. The show will take place at a former school, May Greene,  which was the educational foundation of many residents of the area, and has since been reclaimed by the South Side Farms non-profit foundation. Prizes will be awarded in $500, $250, and $100 amounts for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, respectively.