Beyond The Surface: Exploring Above and Below

Call Description: Beyond The Surface: Exploring Above and Below

Space has long intrigued and fascinated humanity. It is a realm without boundaries, where inner and outer worlds collide, and where the unknown connects to the world we live in.

For artists, this sense of vastness invites wonder, imagination, and mystery. We are driven to make visible what lies beyond the obvious, whether through a lens of the personal, the public, the spiritual, or the cosmic. 

Seen from space, earth is a small blue dot where boundaries dissolve and climate, terrain, and humanity become part of a shared awe-inspiring whole. 

Where does your work exist within this spectrum? How do you make the invisible visible? How do you navigate the space between inner and outer worlds, between what is known and that which is shrouded in mystery?

This open call invites artists to explore expansive dimensions and to offer new ways of imagining our shared universe.

About The Juror Lydia Jasper: Assistant Curator at MASS MoCA

Lydia Jasper is an Assistant Curator at MASS MoCA (Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art) in North Adams, Massachusetts. Operating alongside a broader curatorial team, her work centers on contemporary art programming, exhibition planning, and public engagement.

Jasper recently curated part of the Like Magic: Screening Series which explored contemporary moving-image works in conjunction with the exhibition. She plays a key role in publications at MASS MoCA, including being the image rights and research specialist for the first career monograph of American artist Steve Locke, titled "I said what I said," which was published in partnership with DelMonico Books. Aside from curating her own projects, Jasper is also engaged in developing in-gallery interpretation strategies helping to make contemporary art accessible to wider audiences.
 

About Hera Gallery

Hera Educational Foundation and Gallery celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2024. As one of the first women art cooperatives in the United States, we continue to promote contemporary professional artists through a comprehensive exhibition schedule of member work, curated, and juried intersectional social justice shows. Together with thought-provoking programming our organization encourages dialogue that enriches the cultural life of our non-urban Southern RI community. We provide a venue for young talent to find a public voice, and creative support to local health services. Since its inception in 1974, Hera has been resolutely dedicated to gender equity and feminist discourse to challenge perceptions and inspire social change.

Because of its flexibility and commitment to presenting exhibitions with artistic merit and integrity Hera has been awarded numerous grants for its exhibitions and programs including grants from Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, The Champlin Foundation, Rhode Island Council on the Humanities, Rhode Island Foundation, and the Puffin Foundation.