New Jersey Arts Annual 2026: Common Ground: NJ Artists Think Monumental

ABOUT THE NEW JERSEY ARTS ANNUAL  

The New Jersey Arts Annual is a unique series of exhibitions highlighting the State’s visual and performing artists. In partnership with major museums around the state, one exhibition takes place each year, alternating between host institutions. These exhibitions are open to any artist currently living or working in New Jersey. The Arts Annual series is sponsored by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment of the Arts. Since 1984, the New Jersey State Arts Council has co-sponsored the prestigious Annual in keeping with its mission to encourage and foster public interest in the arts, promote freedom of expression in the arts, and to facilitate the inclusion of art in every building in New Jersey. To learn more about the Council, please visit www.artscouncil.nj.gov.  

The 2026 NJ Arts Annual, Common Ground: NJ Artists Think Monumental, will be hosted by the Morris Museum. 

ABOUT THE NEW JERSEY ARTS ANNUAL  

The New Jersey Arts Annual is a unique series of exhibitions highlighting the State’s visual and performing artists. In partnership with major museums around the state, one exhibition takes place each year, alternating between host institutions. These exhibitions are open to any artist currently living or working in New Jersey. The Arts Annual series is sponsored by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment of the Arts. Since 1984, the New Jersey State Arts Council has co-sponsored the prestigious Annual in keeping with its mission to encourage and foster public interest in the arts, promote freedom of expression in the arts, and to facilitate the inclusion of art in every building in New Jersey. To learn more about the Council, please visit www.artscouncil.nj.gov.   

ABOUT MORRIS MUSEUM & THIS OPPORTUNITY

The Morris Museum thrives as the region’s premier engine of curiosity and wonderment. Founded in 1913 and located on 8.5 acres in Morris Township, New Jersey, since the mid-1960s— the museum draws visitors across the region to its dynamic and acclaimed art exhibitions program and performing arts events. Its 45,000+ object collection of art and material culture from around the world joins the art of our time in displays throughout the Museum’s purpose-built spaces and within the historic Twin Oaks mansion, designed by McKim, Mead & White. The Morris Museum, from everywhere, for everyone.  The Morris Museum invites submissions for the New Jersey Arts Annual 2026, Grounded: Contemporary Sculpture in the Open, a juried outdoor sculpture exhibition that will transform the Museum’s 8.4-acre campus into a dynamic landscape of contemporary art. 

The Morris Museum invites submissions for the Arts Annual 2026, Common Ground: NJ Artists Think Monumental, a new juried outdoor exhibition of monumental sculpture, installations, and murals. This exhibition will transform the Museum’s 8.4-acre campus into a dynamic landscape of contemporary art. 
 
Submitted works should respond to scale, terrain, materiality, and public space — works that provoke curiosity, invite movement, and reimagine how art lives in shared environments. Whether abstract or figurative, playful or contemplative, temporary or durable, submissions should embody a sense of place, community, or collective experience on a large scale. The exhibition seeks sculptures and installations that engage thoughtfully with the outdoors—works that respond to light, weather, and the natural environment, or that reimagine our relationship to landscape and community. Artists are encouraged to submit pieces that demonstrate technical excellence, conceptual depth, and a strong sense of spatial dialogue. 
 
Through Common Ground: NJ Artists Think Monumental, the Morris Museum continues its commitment to presenting contemporary art beyond traditional gallery walls—celebrating the power of sculpture to transform open space into a site of reflection, discovery, and wonder. 

Juried by Johannah Hutchinson, Executive Director of the International Sculpture Center, Common Ground celebrates the creativity and innovation of New Jersey–based sculptors. 

While this call is primarily soliciting completed sculptural works, or sculptural installations, there is the potential for a mural to be installed in an outdoor location on the Morris Museum grounds. The mural would likely be a large-scale digital reproduction of a finished work. Please note the decisions regarding the reproduction and installation will be finalized in conversation with the selected artist. This finalization would require the selected artist to submit a high resolution image of the work to be reproduced at the scale appropriate for the location. Please reach out with more questions regarding the mural opportunity NJArtsAnnual@morrismuseum.org. 

There is no entry fee. 

To submit their artwork, interested artists must apply online at www.callforentry.org (CaFÉ). Submissions via email will not be accepted.

Artists may submit work samples that respond to the curatorial themes and represent up to three (3) total completed sculptural works, outdoor installations, or mural works in any media for consideration. Total work samples may be up to sixteen (16) representing no more than three (3) completed works. See the breakdown of allowable work samples below. Compilation images are acceptable but please consider if they are necessary. Please do not submit images of 2D paintings for consideration if submitting for the outdoor sculptural portion of this opportunity. 

This event is accepting:

Images - Minimum: 3, Maximum: 10
Audio - Minimum: 0 (optional), Maximum: 3
Video - Minimum: 0 (optional), Maximum: 3
Total Media - Minimum: 3, Maximum: 16

Submissions must also include: 

• A current résumé 

• Brief artist biography (no more than 500 words)

• An artist’s statement (no more than 150 words)

• Complete and accurate dimensions (in inches) of no more than three (3) completed works. Height x Width x Depth; approximate weight of the work submitted. 

NOTE: Artist Bio, Statement, and Résumé should be prepared and submitted in one editable document.

For works selected for the exhibition, artists must be prepared to submit high resolution images to be used in the catalogue, on the Museum website and publications, programs, and/or for press purposes. If you do not choose to have your images retained by the Museum, please note that at the top of your artists’ statement document. The Museum reserves the right to edit the artist’s statement with the artist’s approval. The artist statement should be written in first person and no more than 150 words. The artist bio should not exceed 500 words. 

WORK SAMPLE SPECIFICATIONS 
 
All work samples must be submitted via the CaFÉ application portal. 

• Images must be in JPEG or JPG format. 

• File Dimensions: 1,200 pixels or greater on the longest side. 

• File Size: Under 5 MB 

• Video must be in MOV, MP4, WMV, 3GP, AVI, ASF, MPG, M2T, MKV, or M2TS format. File Size: Under 100 MB. Linked media from YouTube, Vimeo, etc. is not accepted. 

• Audio must be in AIFF, WAV, XMF, or MP3 format. File Size: Under 10 MB. 

Selected artists will be asked to provide images of publishable quality. The selected artists will grant permission to use these images in the exhibition catalogue, on the Museum website, in digital publications, or for press purposes related to the 2026 New Jersey Arts Annual. Inclusion of images in the application constitutes permission from the artist to use submitted images for such purposes free of restrictions. The Museum will endeavor to include all appropriate credit information whenever images are reproduced. Each digital file MUST include the following as accompanying information in the CAFÉ upload: artist’s name, title of work, date, medium and dimensions (in inches, height x width [x depth, if appropriate]; approximate weight ;  (Example: “Jane Smith, Untitled, 2021, oil on canvas, 24 x 24”)

Artwork MUST be ready to install and include all necessary installation hardware – mounts, screws etc. Sculpture pads will be provided.  If artwork is not inherently balanced or stable, an appropriate mount or method must be provided. 

Electrical requirements must be stated; US/North America standard: 115/120V, 60hz; no more than 15 amp. Delicate electronics (microcontrollers, midis, etc.) must include their own battery back-up (UPS). Audio, video and media works must be accompanied by all the necessary AV equipment (monitor, projector, media player, speakers, cables, etc.). They must have the ability to automatically restart components and initialize the multimedia program if power is interrupted. Multimedia must function without active WiFi and all auto update features should be disabled. Sound volume must be adjustable. 

CALENDAR:

APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED - December 8, 2025 – February 13th, 2026 

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS - Friday, February 13, 2026 , 11:59 PM ET 

JUROR REVIEW - February 14 - 25, 2026 

ACCEPTANCE NOTIFICATIONS - On or before March 1  

SHIPPING AND INSTALLATION OF ARTWORK - April 1 – May 23, 2026 

EXHIBITION DATES - May 28 - August 23, 2026 

OPENING RECEPTION - May 28, 2026, 5:30 – 7:30 pm 

RETURN/ UNINSTALL OF WORK - August 27 – October 9, 2026 

• All artists over the age of 18 who either work or live in the state of New Jersey are eligible to apply.