Eligibility: Anyone can submit a proposal. Artists should bear in mind the need for a consistent and very strong body of work when submitting.
Media/Genre, etc: Open to all traditional and non-traditional genre and media. Manifest sets out to survey, locate, exhibit, and document excellent quality amongst all types of art. Our record of showing a broad mix speaks for itself.
Jury and Curator: Manifest's main selection process involves a complex two-part system. Most exhibits are juried by an anonymous 9-12 member panel of professional and academic advisors with a broad range of expertise. The jury then passes along their recommendations to the exhibit curator who will make the final selections from the jury-approved pool. Solo proposals are handled in a similar but smaller scale way. While artists may provide a specific goal for an exhibit, the final selection and layout of works will be determined by a Manifest curator in consultation with the artist.
Catalog: Manifest will produce a full-color catalog documenting the work selected for exhibit. Each exhibiting SOLO artist will receive five free copies of the catalog. Manifest is unique among galleries and museums around the world for designing and producing a high-quality full-color book for every exhibit produced. By offering complimentary copies of the catalog to exhibitors, Manifest continues to expand how it serves its mission and the artists who make it all possible. Catalogs contain works for all exhibits showing at Manifest during the same time period. So there may be as many as three, or just one exhibit documented in any given catalog. Average length of the catalogs is about 64 pages (of course this depends on the nature of the exhibits included). For examples of past catalogs visit Manifest Press.
Delivery and Return of Work: Artists must cover the cost to transport the artwork to and from the gallery. All work selected for the exhibition must arrive ready to install. Works not gallery-ready, or not exhibiting good craftsmanship, may be omitted from the exhibit. Accepted work that differs significantly from the submitted images or suffers from poor presentation, will be disqualified. Please note that professional-level presentation is a must. Work may be hand delivered or shipped. Shipped works must be sent in an easily reusable container/packaging. Works will be returned in the same manner as delivered or via UPS/USPS. Exhibited work will remain on display for the duration of the exhibition.
Insurance: Works will be insured while on gallery premises. Insurance covers theft, vandalism, damage caused by gallery patrons or staff (in accordance with insurance policy). PLEASE NOTE: Insurance does not cover damage caused during shipping due to any reason, including mishandling by carrier or failure of packaging to protect works in transit. Also not covered is damage caused to work by failure of the work itself, its mounting systems installed by the artist, or disintegration/degradation due to the nature/quality of materials or craftsmanship.
Submission Fee: Each proposal must be accompanied by a $30 non-refundable
submission fee. Number of works is not limited. Fee must be paid
by U.S. check or U.S. or International money order made payable to MANIFEST, or by credit card
via PayPal. (If paying by PayPal PLEASE use the paypal link provided on the page that follows the submission of the online proposal form.) Detail images may be included, but should only if necessary for understanding the nature or quality of the artwork.
How many works should I submit?
For proposals we request 12 images be sent for consideration. If the proposal is accepted, additional images may be requested or offered for consideration and further discussion. For group proposals or solo proposals requiring more or less work for some reason, we can accept a different number than the preferred 12 for consideration. While not absolutely necessary, it is highly preferred for works submitted to be available for exhibit if selected, rather than simply offered as a representational sampling of potential future work for exhibit. Our selection committee strongly prefers to know and see what it will be exhibiting before making that commitment.
Sale of Work: All work, unless indicated as not for sale (NFS),
will be available for sale during exhibit. Manifest Gallery will
retain a commission of 30% on all artwork sold during the exhibition.
Images and Info: In an effort to conserve resources Manifest accepts only digital images and documents for consideration. See specifications below. The gallery will retain the submitted images of exhibited artwork and reserves the right to use the images in publications and gallery publicity. Mailed proposal materials will not be returned.
(digital entries required)
Digital Format: Digital images and resume should be emailed. Video works may be submitted on CD or DVD or by e-mail
(send to: show@manifestgallery.org). The email and online submission process is HIGHLY PREFERRED because it makes our process more efficient and saves postage and materials for the artists. Hi-Res, print-quality images will be requested for exhibited works about six weeks prior to the exhibit. If suitable images are not provided, the work may not be included in the catalog.
To send via email: (send to: show@manifestgallery.org). The email should include the artist's full name
as subject along with 'PROPOSAL submission.' The images must meet the following specifications:
File names (for images AND other documents) = artist's last name (underscore) first name, followed by the entry number as noted on the proposal form
(i.e.Jones_Mike_1.jpg).
Detail, installation, or alternate view images must include the word 'detail' in the filename (i.e. Jones_Mike_1detail1.jpg).
Detail info should NOT be included on the entry form. The image files should be in HIGH QUALITY JPEG format,
images should be no smaller than 1000 pixels in width and
72dpi.
Images must be oriented properly (i.e. top of image is top
of artwork) and should not include text info or borders that are not part of the actual work. Video work should be sent with similar naming conventions in a quicktime compatible format file (preferably not DVD format for the jury process). If selected, a DVD copy will be requested for gallery presentation.
Optionally, artists may package, zip, and transfer the entire set of images using a free online transfer service such as yousendit.com or similar. Still, all emails regarding the submission need to reference the artists' name and 'proposal submission' in the subject line.
PLEASE do not send links to mutiple files on Google Drive or other similar service. If linking to a transfer service, please zip all files into one package for a single download. Otherwise, email attachments are preferred.
