CALL FOR ARTISTS

Show/Exhibition Title: Tending: Art, Fire, and Community in a Changing Climate

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Presented by Mono Arts Council
In collaboration with Whitebark Institute

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Guest Curator: Jenny Kane

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Summary

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Mono Arts Council invites artists to submit work for Tending: Art, Fire, and Community in a Changing Climate, an exhibition exploring the relationships between forests, fire, and community in the Eastern Sierra.

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Developed in collaboration with Whitebark Institute, this exhibition is inspired by ongoing Forest Health & Community Adaptation work that advances ecological restoration, wildfire resilience, and community care work & preparedness.

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At its core, Tending asks:
What does it mean to care for a landscape—and for one another—within systems under pressure?

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Concept + Themes

Artists are invited to consider tending as both a practical act and a way of being—a form of care that connects people, land, and future generations.

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Submissions may explore:

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Acts of Care + Stewardship

• Practices of tending, maintenance, and repair

• Care as labor, ritual, and responsibility

• Everyday and overlooked acts of stewardship

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Fire and Renewal

• Fire as a natural and necessary process

• Prescribed fire and land stewardship

• Cycles of destruction, regeneration, and balance

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Forest Health + Interdependence

• Relationships between species, habitat, and biodiversity

• Effects of drought, overgrowth, and restoration

• Ecological balance and recovery

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Knowledge, Lineage, and Earth-Based Practices

• Intergenerational knowledge and place-based learning

• Women’s roles in land stewardship and community care

• Indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge

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Community + Collective Care

• Living in fire-adapted landscapes

• Shared responsibility and resilience

• Care for present and future communities

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Climate + Adaptation

• Environmental change and uncertainty

• Grief, resilience, and transformation

• Imagining futures rooted in reciprocity

 

Exhibition Goals

This exhibition aims to:

• Highlight tending as essential to ecological and community resilience

• Illuminate the interdependence of environmental and human systems

• Bridge science, lived experience, and creative practice

• Foster connection, dialogue, and shared responsibility

 

Selection Process

Artwork will be selected by a panel composed of staff from Mono Arts Council and Whitebark Institute, in collaboration with the Guest Curator, Jenny Kane. Selections will prioritize artistic quality, conceptual strength, and alignment with the exhibition themes.

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Media + Eligibility

• Open to all visual artists (2D, 3D, installation, photography, video, mixed media)

• Artists of all career stages encouraged to apply

• Regional and place-based artists especially encouraged

 

Submission Requirements

• Maximum submission of 3 works to be considered: 1-2 images of each artwork (or video links)

• Artist Bio (max 200 words)

• Brief description of how the work connects to the exhibition theme (200 words)

• Artwork details (title, medium, dimensions, year, price if applicable)

 

Key Dates 

• Submission Deadline: May 22, 2026

• Notification: May 25, 2026

• Drop-off dates:June 1-8

• Exhibition Dates: June 12 - September 14, 2026 

How to Apply

Submit materials HERE
Questions: info@monoarts.org or 760-923-8984