Call for Art: Harrison Center's Annual Color Theme Show, Seeing Red

About the event

Harrison Center is excited to announce its annual color theme group show for 2026, "Seeing Red," presented by the Katharine B. Sutphin Foundation. We are seeking submissions that celebrate your interpretations of the color red or the theme, "Seeing Red."

Your artwork must incorporate the color red, but we encourage you to push the boundaries of creative inspiration. Think of the warmth and compositional balance in Matisse's The Dessert: Harmony in Red, the hue's symbolism of luck and celebration in Eastern traditions, or the bold energy of a song like Dustin Lynch's "Seein' Red." Your interpretation could even explore political undercurrents: like Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, or the soviet constructivists striking typographical use of the color.

Whether your approach is cultural, emotional, historical, or deeply personal, surprise us with your own unique take!

This year, the Katharine B. Sutphin Foundation will present cash prizes for the best and most creative art. Best in Show: $5000, First Place: $3500, Second Place: $2500, Third Place: $200, Honorable mentions: $300 each. Judges will announce the winners at 7 p.m. the evening of the opening.

The show opens from 6pm to 9pm on Friday, December 4th, and the works hang through the month of December.

About the application

We are accepting all media. If you are submitting video, you will need to supply your own projection equipment. Pieces that are not easily hung should be installed by the artist. Please state in your submission if your piece is AI-generated or assisted. Harrison Center retains the right to decline artwork based on appropriateness for all audiences and will have final approval of the content of work hung.

• We are only accepting one piece per submission. No diptychs or triptychs will be accepted unless they are framed together. (Similarly, a small series of works is not a single-piece submission.)
• Please submit a JPEG-formatted image, labeled lastname_title, by 11:59 pm on Monday, October 19, 2026. The submitted image should be of a finished product (not a concept).
• Artists selected to participate in the show will be notified by Friday, November 13th, 2026.

Sales

• Work included in the show must be for sale. Work sold after the show closes, but as a result of the Harrison Center show and events, will be subject to the Harrison Center commission rate for 30 days after the show closes.
• Harrison Center takes a 30% commission on sales. All artwork exhibited must be for sale.

Drop-Off

• Artwork must be delivered wired, ready to hang, and presented in a professional manner. (No sawtooth hangers.) If an accepted entry is delivered in a format that is not ready to hang on or after Monday, November 30th, it will not be exhibited.
• If your work is chosen for the show, it should be delivered to the City Gallery (15th and N Delaware St) at the Harrison Center.
• Early drop-off is on Monday & Tuesday, November 23rd and 24th, 2026. (9 am to 4pm)
• Final day for drop off is Monday, November 30th, by noon.

Parking Instructions: We have free parking on Delaware St and our back parking lot. Ring our doorbell for entrance into the building and check in at our on front desk.

Questions? Contact gallery@harrisoncenter.org.