Call for Art: Hold Fast; Stay True

Bristol Art Museum Invites Artists to Reflect On and Interpret the American Classic Moby Dick in Collaboration with the Bristol Bookfest

In collaboration with the spring 2024 Bristol Bookfest, The Bristol Art Museum and Rogers Free Library announce a call for art for a new juried community exhibit - Hold Fast; Stay True - that invites artists to visually interpret the substance and themes of Moby Dick. The exhibit will showcase a collection of visual arts inspired by the timeless literary narrative and will be on display in the Community Gallery of the Library from Thurs., Mar. 28, to Wed., May 1.

Art historian and the Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for the Chief Curator and the Director of Museum Learning at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Naomi Slipp will serve as juror for the exhibit. 

“The title of this exhibit, Hold Fast; Stay True, encapsulates a nautical tenet urging individuals to secure themselves and stay the course amid a storm,” explained Vicky McGrath, Bristol Art Museum Board Member. “Artists are invited to delve into passages from Moby Dick, exploring and interpreting literal representations of this literary classic. The focus of this exhibit lies in visions associated with whaling, sea life, and all things nautical. Artists are encouraged to navigate towards a more esoteric view of obsession, unbridled vengeance, despair, or the descent into madness.”

All submissions must be made through the Bristol Art Museum website by Mon., Mar. 4. Selected artists will receive notification via email no later than Sat., Mar. 9. The intake of accepted works will occur at the Library, lower level, on Sat., Mar. 23, from 1 to 3 p.m., and Mon., Mar. 25, from 4 to 6 p.m. For this exhibit, only drawings, paintings, printmaking, collage, fiber arts, or photography are accepted, and all submissions must measure 18 inches by 24 inches or smaller. All artwork must be original, and artists are welcome to make their work available for sale, with no commissions taken by the Museum or Library.
​
As an accomplished art historian and Bristol native, Slipp's expertise lies in American art and the global circulation of knowledge. She holds a doctorate from Boston University and a master’s from the University of Chicago. Her impressive resume includes roles at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, MFA Boston, Roger Williams University, Terra Foundation for American Art, Harvard Art Museums, and a tenured Associate Professor of Art History at Auburn University at Montgomery, AL. Her curator credits at the Whaling Museum include notable exhibitions such as Turn the Tide: Courtney Mattison (2021) and Re/Framing the View: Nineteenth-Century American Landscapes (2022).

---