The CMCA Biennial Exhibition is an open juried competition for artists at all stages of their career who have a strong connection to the state of Maine. Work in all mediums is accepted for review.
Submission guidelines are posted in early January of the Biennial year. Submissions are due in early April, and selected artists are announced in May. The Biennial Exhibition typically takes place in the fall of even numbered years.
The CMCA Biennial is the longest running statewide juried exhibition in Maine, dating back to 1978.
NOTE: Applications for the 2020 CMCA Biennial are now closed.
Exhibition Dates: October 2020 – February 2021
Jurors for 2020
Nina Johnson-Milewski is the owner, founder, and director of Nina Johnson Gallery in the Little Haiti district of Miami, she has produced numerous solo and group exhibitions by new, emerging and established artists from around the world.
Kate McNamara is a curator and educator based in Providence, RI. She currently holds the position of Visiting Critic at Rhode Island School of Art and Design and is the Creative Director of My HomeCourt, a nonprofit organization working with contemporary artists to revitalize city parks.
2020 CMCA Biennial Submission Guidelines
Who May Apply: Artists with a strong connection to Maine (through full or part-time residency, exhibiting, creating artwork or studying here), working in any medium. Collaborative groups are welcome to apply together. Artist cannot apply more than once. If you are applying as a collaborative, individual artist applications will not be accepted. Students currently enrolled in an undergraduate program are not eligible.
How to Apply: Applications will be accepted online only through CMCA’s submittable.com form which you can access here: https://cmca.submittable.com/submit.
Submission to the 2020 CMCA Biennial is free of charge thanks to the generous support of The VIA Agency.
Applications will be accepted from January 1 to April 3, 2020 through Submittable. You will be prompted to create an account or login if you already have one and:
Complete the application. Please provide your contact information, including your mailing address, email, phone number and website. Please provide the name of the town in Maine you are associated with if different from your mailing address and describe your Maine connection.
Submit a current resume PDF. Please do not exceed 3 pages.Please title file: Lastname_resume
Submit a current artist statement PDF. Please do not exceed 150 words. Please title file: Lastname_statement
Work in all mediums created within the past two years will be considered. For video, performance, sound or installation works, please consider the physical layout and structure of the CMCA galleries and note any technical requirements. Artists are responsible for tech equipment beyond what CMCA currently holds. Project proposals will be considered for new work. Please upload your proposal materials in one document in the project proposal section. A floor plan of CMCA for reference can be found here. For questions regarding this please contact Bethany Engstrom at bengstrom@cmcanow.org.
Upload up to 6 images, video and/or audio clips. Two of the images may be details. CMCA Artist Members* may submit an additional 4 images, either details or other work.
File formats accepted: jpg, pdf, mp3, mov. Images must be 1920 pixels on the longest side. Audio and video files must not exceed 10M. Links to video are also accepted.
Please title files: number_last name_title_year of work. Works must be numbered in the order you would like them viewed. For numbers 1-9, please add a zero in front. Eg: 01_Doe_Untitled_2017.jpg or 02_Doe_Untitled_detail_2017.jpg.
Submit an image description list PDF, including title, date, medium, and dimensions in inches (height x width x depth) in numerical order corresponding with the uploaded images. You may also include a brief background description (50 words or less) related to the images and any special requirements. Please include photo credit if applicable. Please title file: Lastname_imagelist
Applicants will be notified of selections on May 1, 2020 by email.
For assistance, please contact Bethany Engstrom at bengstrom@cmcanow.org.
New to submitting your work online? Learn about using Submittable here
Works submitted for the Biennial must be available for the duration of the exhibition if selected. If submitting a proposal, representative samples may be submitted if noted on the image description list. Work must be exhibition ready. Artists are responsible for the delivery and pick up of their work to and from CMCA.
*To become an Artist Member, visit: http://dev.cmcanow.org/support/membership/. Artist Members receive unlimited free admission for one year, listing on our online Artist Directory and Open Studio Blog, discounts on workshops, lectures, and classes, and 10% discount on Gallery Shop purchases. Please note: membership login on the CMCA website is separate from the submission application.