OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS:  Taste 2010: A Garden of Earthly Delights

Exhibition dates: April 7-24, 2010

Curated by: Michelle Mansour and Jessica Wallen

Deadline for Submission Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Root Division invites artists working in all genres to submit work for an exhibition called Taste 2010: A Garden of Earthly Delights

Curatorial statement: TASTE is an annual exhibit about food & food-related ideas that focuses on a different theme each year. This year we are taking our inspiration from Hieronymus Bosch’s painting The Garden of Earthly Delights. Spring is a time for fantasies, fecundity, and a bounty born of the rain & earth. It carries with it a sense of celebration, illumination, and verdancy. Everything that has been waiting in the ground comes out and spills over. As in Bosch’s painting, there is a mystical force at work causing a co-mingling of the animal, vegetable, and human in nature. Eve has eaten of the apple - anything is possible. With the new decade comes the promise of more fruitful times, and this year’s TASTE event is serendipitously scheduled for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day. With this in mind, we are looking for work that embodies a generosity and sincerity of spirit, rather than dark irony or cynicism; the sweetness of fresh berries over the saccharin of hard candy; an abundance characterized by ripe lushness rather than decadence or frivolity.

On the evening of April 22nd, a fundraising event dedicated to the beauty of art and food, also titled TASTE 2010, will share space with this exhibit. Culinary delights will be prepared in the gallery by acclaimed local chefs and mixologists. Artists do not have to be present for this event but will be invited to attend. In addition to the fundraiser, an Artists’ Preview & Opening Reception will be held on Saturday, April 10th from 7-10 pm.

Eligibility requirements:
Artwork submitted for review (or work very similar in nature to that submitted) must be available for listed exhibition dates.

Artists from all areas will be reviewed, however, keep in mind that this exhibit and accompanying event emphasizes food and food-related themes in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Artists who are not from the SF Bay Area must be able to cover any costs incurred in getting the work to and from the gallery.

Checklist of application materials:
1.  4 images (jpegs: 72dpi, 600x800 pixels max) (Digital only please; Sorry, no slides) AND/OR 3-minute video clip on CD/DVD for Mac

2.  Artist resume (1-2 page max)

3.  Artist Statement (1 page max)

4.  SASE (for return of materials if desired)

5.  $10 check/money order made payable to Root Division (e-payment can also be accepted via PayPal using the button below)

6.  Completed application form [DOWNLOAD HERE]

Deadline for Submission Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Please mail submissions to: Root Division, Attn: Taste 2010, 3175 17th Street, SF, CA 94110.  Email submissions will also be accepted to submissions@rootdivision.org.  (Please note that the $10 fee must also be on file by 2/16/10 for the email submission to be considered.)

ad space provided by:

ROOT DIVISION
3175 17th Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415.863.7668
www.rootdivision.org

ABOUT ROOT DIVISION:
Root Division is an arts and arts education non-profit located in the Mission District of San Francisco. Root Division's mission is to improve appreciation and access to the visual arts by connecting personal inspiration and community participation. We provide subsidized studio space to working artists in exchange for their service in creating shared learning opportunities for the community. Artists develop creatively and professionally by teaching art to underserved youth, leading adult education classes, and producing exhibitions that showcase local emerging artwork. By combining multiple opportunities for creative exchange, Root Division cultivates an artistic ecosystem that enriches life throughout the Bay Area.

Root Division is supported in part by grants from Grants for the Arts: SF Hotel Tax Fund & Voluntary Arts Contribution Fund, The San Francisco Foundation, Walter & Elise Haas Fund, and the Potrero Nuevo Fund. The Second Saturday Exhibition Series is sponsored by the Phyllis C. Wattis Foundation, the San Francisco Arts Commission through a Cultural Equity Grant/Organizational Project Grant, the Fleishhacker Foundation, and the Zellerbach Family Foundation.

For further information regarding events and/or press materials, please do not hesitate to contact Selene Foster at 415.863.7668 or events@rootdivision.org.