Open Calls
We love our community and local businesses! What could be better than showing our appreciation through art? I'm So Local...I'm Right Here 2025 is going to be a celebratory partnership with local artists, Friends of First Friday, and Boys & Girls Club music programming.
This year, artists will be asked to paint the back of a guitar! Through a grant with the Songbirds Foundation, the Arts Council acquired 20 guitars to use for music programming with the Boys & Girls Club. Artists will be asked to paint these guitars for the exhibition.
Each guitar will represent a Friend of First Friday. These are local businesses who are committed to keeping arts alive in our community.
Please review the prospectus. Read the rules and regulations thoroughly to determine if you would like to be part of this exhibition.
This is a first come, first served exhibition opportunity. With a limit of 20 submissions, this call will fill up quickly.
The African American Experience Through the Eyes of the Black Artist Afrocentric Arts’ Urban Voices, together with The Arts Council of Southeast Missouri, invites Black artists of all mediums to submit works for the 2nd Annual Reflections Juried Art Show.
This exhibition, held in celebration of Juneteenth 2025, calls on artists to explore and express the depth and breadth of the Black experience—personal, cultural, and universal. Reflection is a journey through memory, identity, and history. It is an exploration of how we see ourselves and how we are seen, how our individual and collective narratives shape the world around us. Reflections challenges artists to examine the complexities of the African American experience—its triumphs, struggles, resilience, and evolution—while offering new perspectives and sparking critical conversations.
This juried exhibition seeks to showcase the richness, diversity, and authenticity of Black artistic voices. We encourage artists to submit works that delve into themes of identity, legacy, community, and the future—whether through personal storytelling, cultural commentary, or bold reimagining of Blackness in contemporary society. Join us in using art as a mirror, a window, and a catalyst for dialogue.
Let’s reflect, reveal, and reimagine together.
What Do Open Calls Look Like with a One Gallery Space?
We understood that the biggest change for our organization would be the downsizing to one gallery space after moving to 426 Broadway St. When choosing a smaller space, we took into consideration about what that meant for artists in our community. We had to work with our board to creatively problem solve and come up with a solution that benefits everyone.
Which artists show in the main gallery space on Broadway?
The Visual Arts Cooperative (VAC) are the artists displayed in our new gallery space. If you are unfamiliar with the VAC, they are a juried group of artists who work as a cooperative under the Arts Council. The VAC consists of approximately 30 local artists, spanning from Sikeston to Ste. Genevieve. Each month, they show brand new work and we are so excited to see them grow in our new space!
Where can other artists show work?
Our Exhibitions Committee worked hard to come up with a solution that allows more artists to show their work in our community. The committee will help the Arts Council recruit downtown businesses to become Friends of First Friday Members. These members will have the option to show artwork in their space on a bimonthly basis. For example, Spectrum Record Lounge could have a dedicated space on one of their walls for an exhibition of 10 pieces. They would participate in First Friday with the Arts and have an opening reception for the artist. This work would stay up for two months. The Exhibitions Committee would help find an artist that would complement the space and then help install and deinstall the exhibition. Are you interested exhibiting your art at a downtown business? Click the link below!