August Open Call: Hindsight

Our August Open Call, “Hindsight," has been created by our 34 Gallery Staff to generate discussion on past experiences that gain clarity over time. Previous Winners can be found on the Open Calls page of our website. Our initiative aims to channel the power of art to explore monthly mental health themes through art therapy.  This month, we are particularly interested in works by artists utilizing this art therapy open call to address regret, trauma recovery, substance abuse recovery, PTSD, and negative self-talk spirals.

• Hindsight Bias is defined as believing you could have predicted the outcome of a situation once the situation is over. 

Themes: We invite artists  to explore the moments we wish we could change, the situations that shaped us, and the people we are as a result. Perhaps hindsight means acknowledging your own part in those unfolding events. Maybe it's the relationship you should have left sooner or the apology you never got to say. Or it could be expressing the human fragility of being caught up in a situation that is simply beyond your control. However, confronting all this takes courage. This month, we're asking artists to be brave enough to heal the past. 

Remember: Artists create Golden Ages. Join us in starting one! Let's remind humanity to embrace the light of who we are. Your artistic advocacy with us can and will make a difference. As a Mental Health Art Gallery, we are asking Creatives to mobilize to help save lives at this time. Someone seeing your work can be inspired to keep going with hope and resilience despite their mental health struggles. 

Requirements: Submit up to 3 artworks or poems by July 30th. Include the following questions in your cover letter: 

• Your artist name, artwork titles, and website/social media links.  
• 1 - 2 paragraphs describing the creative process regarding your work & how it fits with the Open Call Theme. 
• 1 - 2 paragraphs describing your moment of hindsight and how this knowledge impacts you as person today.

Selected artists will be notified by August 10th. 

Restrictions: 

• Be advised that this open call also includes a global youth & adult audience. 
• Works that are sexually graphic and/or advocate violence (self or others), discrimination, or hatred (societal/gender/religious/cultural) of any kind will be disqualified. 
• Technique for this call is open but not limited to: Open Medium. Poetry, Audiovisual & A.I. Artwork Accepted.  
• File Type: .MP4, .JPG, .PNG --File Size: Up to 100 MB for art & audiovisual submissions; Word, Google Docs, .PDF for poetry.