In the winter of 2021, a collective of new parents local to Delaware County formed to create a community around the recent transition to parenthood. As new parents, they have sought to share resources and experiences and to cultivate support and friendship. Many questions arise almost immediately when starting a family. How are gender roles complicated? How is time and energy newly quantified, dissolved, reabsorbed? What value is placed on the repetitive tasks required to reproduce daily life for family and community?
Inspired by these questions, three guest curators and community members propose an open call for submission of works that examine or reflect systems of reproductive labor. They invite submissions that consider cyclical maintenance as a scaffold for domestic life, community life, and interior life. The exhibition may explore themes such as: time as capital, the kaleidoscopic role of a caregiver, the bodily and spiritual labor of child-rearing, and the power dynamics at work within the cyclical maintenance of family and home.
This project seeks to give voice to makers whose work investigates the ways in which maintenance labor is valued by communities, culture, society, and oneself. We are sure to discover a wealth of shared meaning and experience upon such an exploration, and we expect the resulting exhibition will both resonate with and challenge our Delaware County community. This open call invites submissions from all artists regardless of age, gender, race or ethnicity and welcomes submissions from LGBTQ+ and non-binary artists. Artists with ties to Delaware County are especially encouraged to apply.
To submit your work for consideration, please fill out the following form before June 15, 2023. We expect to get back to people in the first week of July. We appreciate your interest!