The year 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the time when Armenian American artist Arshile Gorky lived in Watertown. Gorky endured personal tragedies from fleeing his village during the Armenian genocide and later losing his mother at a young age. After arriving in America in 1920 he was able to pursue his passion for art and create work that reflected his traumatic past. Gorky’s biomorphic abstractions hold an important place in 20th century art.
As Watertown celebrates the art and life of the artist, Mosesian Center for the Arts will be a part of the events honoring Gorky’s work.
We invite artists to submit artwork that recognizes the importance of drawing as a vital artistic practice. We are looking for work that uses drawing as a vehicle of self-expression, drawing as a way of recording thoughts and experiences, and use drawing as a form of visual thinking. In addition, drawing is also a way to communicate, a language of marks and lines that tells stories. We invite artists to submit work that is drawing based, stretches the definition of drawing and is either conceptual in nature, narrative, or process oriented.
All forms of drawing will be considered from observational to abstract. How do contemporary artists define drawing? Drawing as a magical language or a form of communication are only some of the ideas that can be addressed.
Mosesian Arts accepts artworks that are drawing based. The work does not need to relate to Gorky’s work. We are looking for artwork that celebrates concepts found in Gorky’s drawings such as drawing as a metaphor, its power of transformation and a sense of mystery. The work can be representational or conceptual in nature.
Mosesian Arts is excited to welcome the well-known Boston artist and educator Bill Flynn as a co-curator for this exhibition.
William Flynn is an artist teacher and author of Armed Chair, a collection of more than 220 drawings of a stripped down antique chair that became a metaphor for the war in Iraq. Flynn served as a drawing instructor at the School of the Museum Fine Arts, Boston for 45years.His additional teaching experiences have been at the Rhode Island School of Design Summer Program in Pont-Aven, France and he has served as a faculty advisor for the Tufts University MFA program.
In addition to awards for his teaching excellence, Flynn has received the James William Paige Traveling Fellowship award from the Museum of Fine Arts for study in Japan, a Mellon Foundation grant to study in Spain, and a Ford Foundation grant for the production of the award-winning film about drawing called Paper Targets. Flynn has exhibited extensively in the Boston area and New York His solo exhibition at Philips Academy in Andover evolved into The visual book Armed Chair. He has had several solo exhibitions, and his work is in many private collections including The Boston Public Library and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts .He has shown with Victoria Monroe Fine Art, Boston and he is currently represented by the Hallspace Gallery in Dorchester.
Regarding Gorky, Bill writes: “I have had a 45-year relationship with Gorky as a great teacher and an ongoing challenge to understand his unique work”.
Important Dates:
Submission Deadline: January 21, 2025
Announcing Selected Artists: By January 31, 2025
Drop off Dates: Saturday, February 22, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM, and Tuesday, February 25, 10:30 AM–3:00 PM
*Shipped work must be received no later than February 27
Exhibition Opens: March 7
Opening Reception: Thursday, March 13, 5:30–7:30 PM
Exhibition Closes: April 25
Artwork Pick Up: Saturday, April 26, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM and Tuesday, April 29, 10:30 AM–3:00 PM
*Please note that the Mosesian Center for the Arts reserves the right to make minor adjustments to the exhibition timeline.
About Mosesian Arts:
The Mosesian Center for the Arts is a multidisciplinary arts venue in Watertown, Massachusetts. The 30,000 square foot center, located within a former U.S. Army arsenal, houses a 339-seat main stage theater, a 100-seat black box theater, exhibition galleries, classrooms, and rehearsal studios. Mosesian Arts is located six miles from downtown Boston, borders the Charles River and Brighton, and is easily accessible from surrounding suburbs and Metro West. Programs include professional theater and musical performances, gallery exhibitions, literary and art discussions, and performing and visual arts classes and workshops for all ages.
Eligibility:
Artists located in the U.S.A are welcomed to apply. Local artists will be provided with drop-off times and date details upon acceptance. Non-local selected artists’ work must be received at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA 02472 c/o exhibitions by February 27, 2025. Non-local artists are responsible for shipping costs both to and from the MCA, unless other arrangements are made, and are responsible for insuring their work while in transit. If shipping works, each artist must provide a pre-paid, UPS or FedEx return shipping label including insurance. Please pack your work in sturdy reusable packaging. The Mosesian Center for the Arts carries appropriate insurance to cover all artwork in the show for the duration of the exhibition, including the time frame of drop-off, installation, de-installation and pick-up.
Additional guidelines:
- Any work accepted for exhibition may not be removed or exchanged during the duration of the exhibition.
- Work must be framed and ready to hang with wires and screws. Saw tooth hangers and sandwich frames may not be used.
- Works on paper and smearable mediums such as charcoal and pastels must be protected under glass or acrylic.
- For framed artwork larger than 24” on the longest side, glass may not be used. Instead, artists must use Plexiglas or comparable acrylic glass.
- If used, mats must be white, off white, gray, or other neutral tones. Frames should be neutral colors (white, black, silver, wood).
- Unframed stretched canvases must have the sides painted or otherwise finished to be integral to the work and must be dry.
Submission Fee:
$15 per submission. Limit 5 submissions per artist. Artwork must be submitted online here at: https://mca-gorky-and-the-lang... To submit work, click the register or login buttons at the top of this page. There's an Application Process Tutorial if you'd like more info on the submission process.
Commission Structure:
Artists receive 60% commission, and the Mosesian Center for the Arts receives 40% for art sold during the exhibition. The Artist reserves all copyrights and reproduction rights on the artwork in the exhibition. Mosesian Center for the Arts may duplicate and reproduce images of work for purposes of public relations and exhibition announcements directly related to the exhibition.
The Mosesian Center for the Arts is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Featured image: Bill Flynn, Opening Books
