Juror
Lamar Whidbee
Born and raised in Hertford, North Carolina, Lamar Whidbee is an interdisciplinary artist and Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate whose practice merges visual art with therapeutic inquiry. Through painting and mixed media, he explores memory, fatherhood, Black identity, and mental health—creating work that invites reflection, emotional processing, and dialogue. Exhibitions such as Amygdala, Daddy's Home, and Monday, along with public works like Get Well Soon at Dorothea Dix Park, extend this exploration into shared civic space.
Alongside his studio practice, Lamar provides clinical services and facilitates therapeutic art workshops in schools, museums, and community settings. His early work with Hidden Voices—teaching art alongside prison psychologists on death row and using practices such as life mapping to help individuals visually reconstruct their personal narratives—deepened his understanding of art as a tool for accountability, reflection, and healing.
He has taught as an adjunct at Duke University, UNC–Chapel Hill, and Forsyth Tech, experiences that strengthened his commitment to public pedagogy and accessible mental-health engagement.
Through his doctoral studies at NC State University in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development (Counseling and Counselor Education), he aims to research and develop culturally responsive, art-informed counseling frameworks that expand pathways to healing—particularly for rural and historically marginalized communities like the one that raised him.
Exhibition Schedule
- Call for entries closes September 11 at midnight EST
- Notification of acceptance September 18
- Artwork Drop-off is Monday, September 28, 8 am to 5 pm in the Gray Gallery
- On view Friday, October 2 - Friday, October 30
- Awards Ceremony and Reception: TBA
- Artwork pickup, Monday, November 2, 8 am to 5 pm
Awards
- Best in Show: $500
- Second Place: $300
- Third Place: $200
- Merit Awards (10): $100 each
- Friends of the School of Art and Design Awards (2): $150 each
For collaborative works, prize money will be distributed evenly among participants.
Award funds will be disbursed through student financial accounts.
Entry Information
- Work must have been completed between August 2025 and September 2026.
- No entry fee. (Note: The CaFÉ system requires completion of the payment process. Applications will not finalize until you click the "submit" button on the payment page, even though no payment is due.)
- Each student may submit up to 4 individual works.
- Students may also participate as collaborators on up to 5 additional works (submitted under a Team CaFÉ account).
- Submit all entries on ONE APPLICATION, unless you are submitting collaborative work (as part of a Team).
- All media are eligible.
- Work cannot be hung from the ceiling.
- Maximum size: 4 ft. x 4 ft.
- Accepted artwork must be ready to install.
- Unframed work may be hung with magnets.
- Framed work must be wired (no sawtooth hangers).
- Installations must be installed by the artist.
- Digital media (films, animations, etc.) will be installed and viewed on monitors or projected, and must be delivered via flash drive or cloud storage link.
- Artists may choose to sell their work. The Gallery will connect the buyer to the artist to make a direct sale. The Gallery will not collect a fee or act as a financial intermediary between the artist and buyer.
Application Requirements
Artist Information
- Preferred Name
- Legal Name
- ECU Banner ID
- ECU Email Address
Artwork Information (required for each piece, entered when each piece is uploaded to "My Portfolio" in Cafe)
- Image(s) of Work: 1 image or video for each piece.
- Title of Work
- Medium (materials used)
- Dimensions (width × height × depth)
- Price/Value of the Work
- Is the work for sale? Yes or no