Call for Queer Artists: Smash the Cis-tem

About the Open Call

The Adler Arts Center is excited to announce a call for queer artists for our upcoming exhibition, Smash the Cis-tem. We’re seeking bold, boundary-pushing work that challenges norms, celebrates LGBTQIA+ identities, and sparks conversation about gender, sexuality, and societal systems. This exhibition will take place in Libertyville, a community with deep histories of privilege. We believe it’s especially important to bring art that disrupts and provokes dialogue into spaces where queer voices and perspectives are often underrepresented. We are looking for work that disrupts, questions, or reimagines the structures around gender and identity, and is visually, conceptually, or experientially engaging. Mediums are open—painting, sculpture, mixed media, installation, and beyond. This is your space to smash the cis-tem, share your vision, and bring queer art into a community that rarely sees it.

What is Offered

Selected artists will receive exhibition support and promotion through Adler Arts Center channels.

Requirements

Open to queer artists of all mediums and practices. Submissions should be 2D or 3D works, ready to hang, and suitable for public viewing. We seek work that disrupts, questions, or reimagines the structures around gender and identity, and is visually, conceptually, or experientially engaging.

How to Apply

Submit: Up to 5 images of your work, an artist statement, a short bio, and website/social media links to ellen@adlercenter.org.