Where We Meet

The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA) invites artists from across Hampton Roads to submit artwork for a juried exhibition, Where We Meet. This is a Main Gallery exhibition and marks the final show in Virginia MOCA’s current building before our transition to a new facility.

Where We Meet celebrates the transformative power of community through art. Virginia MOCA began in 1952 as a grassroots effort to support a fellow ailing artist. From that modest beginning, we’ve grown into a cultural cornerstone of the region. Throughout our history, our founding spirit of connection and care has remained at the heart of what we do.

The Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (Virginia MOCA) invites artists from across Hampton Roads to submit artwork for a juried exhibition, Where We Meet. This is a Main Gallery exhibition and marks the final show in Virginia MOCA’s current building before our transition to a new facility.

Where We Meet celebrates the transformative power of community through art. Virginia MOCA began in 1952 as a grassroots effort to support a fellow ailing artist. From that modest beginning, we’ve grown into a cultural cornerstone of the region. Throughout our history, our founding spirit of connection and care has remained at the heart of what we do.

This exhibition highlights the creative voices of our region and explores the many ways art connects us—to each other, to place, and to the stories we share. We are proud of the generous, uplifting community that has allowed us to thrive. Where We Meet invites artists to explore what it means to belong through works that spark dialogue and celebrate the many ways art weaves us together.

Where We Meet highlights Hampton Roads artists—from traditional to contemporary approaches, and from seasoned professionals to emerging voices. It builds on Virginia MOCA’s long-standing commitment to showcasing regional talent through Made in VA, our juried biennial exhibition, and Open Call, our community-centered showcase. Where We Meet creates space for artists at different points in their journey to take part in a defining moment for Virginia MOCA.

As we prepare to transition to a new museum building at Virginia Wesleyan University, we invite you to help us honor our current home through your art. We offer a place to gather, connect, and share our humanity through art and conversation. We are Virginia MOCA, and this is Where We Meet.

Selection Process

Selected works will be exhibited at Virginia MOCA from October 1, 2025–January 4, 2026. Submissions will be juried by Virginia MOCA's exhibitions staff and local experts including: Thank You Gallery, Nikki Leone, Poplar and Pine Studio, Jeff Tarkenton, Mirth Incorporated and The Artist’s Block 757, Anita Patel, Special Projects at YELLOW, Kate Pittman, Executive Director of the ViBe Creative District.

While there are no cash awards, this exhibition offers a unique opportunity to be part of a historic moment in our region's creative legacy.

SUBMISSION THEMES

Artists may respond to one of the following curated prompts, considering how their work reflects the identity, history, and creative spirit of Hampton Roads:

Where We Remember: How does memory shape identity? What stories, traditions, or moments should be preserved, honored, or reimagined? Every person in Hampton Roads carries a narrative that helps define who we are.

We invite you to share what aspects of "us" are important to you. What shapes your experience of this region—its memory, heritage, or the unique culture and energy of Hampton Roads?

Where We Love: What does love look like in your life, your work, your community? Who or what do you care about and how does that devotion shape your world?

We invite you to explore love in all its forms: romantic love, love for family, for friends, for animals, for country, for community, or for the work that calls you. Whether quiet or bold, personal or collective, love connects and sustains us.

Where We Grow: How does the land around us shape who we are and how we live? Hampton Roads is a region of coastlines, bridges, and the Chesapeake Bay—but also forests, farmland, and sprawling neighborhoods. From the Great Dismal Swamp to First Landing State Park to the York River, our landscapes carry stories of survival, displacement, restoration, and discovery.

We invite you to reflect on our region’s geography. Growth might mean tending a garden, restoring habitat, watching children run on the beach, or simply noticing how we move through the land that shapes us.

Where We Dream: What do you dream for the future? What are your wild hopes, your quiet wishes, your visions of what could be?

We invite you to celebrate wonder, aspiration, and visionary thinking—from surreal imagery to deeply personal hopes for the region or the world. Dreams are where possibility begins.

Not sure which prompt fits best? That’s okay. Submit what feels right to you. Final placement in the exhibition will be determined by the curatorial team to best reflect the themes and flow of the show.

Important Dates: 

• Entry Deadline: Monday, May 26, 2025
• Jurying: First week of June 2025
• Acceptance Notifications: By email, no later than June 30, 2025
• Exhibition On View: October 1, 2025
• Exhibition Celebration: November 13, 2025
• Exhibition Closing: January 11, 2026.

Submit via CaFÉ (callforentry.org) only. 

Maximum two (2) artworks for submission

• Detail images are not needed.

A brief artist statement (200 words max) connecting the work to a “Where We…” theme prompts. 

Media requirements must follow CaFÉ’s media guidelines for digital and video submissions

Work must be ready for display

• 2D work:
  • Must include museum-quality hanging devices (wire, d-rings, or cleats)
  • NO sawtooth hangers or plastic keyhole hangers
  • Must not exceed 84 inches in any dimension or 75 lbs (including frame)
• 3D work:
  • Must not exceed 84 inches (including base) or 75 lbs
• Video/sound: include installation/presentation notes

Installations: Installations will not be accepted for this exhibition

For all submissions, including video and digital media submissions, please refer to the media guidelines on CaFÉ (https://www.callforentry.org/artist-help-cafe/uploading-media/ )for accepted formats and requirements.

Insurance Value: Please include insurance value of the artwork in your application. 

Artists must be 18 or older

Must currently reside in Hampton Roads (includes: Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, Williamsburg, and the counties of Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, and York)

Most media and styles welcome (traditional to contemporary, including representational, performance, craft-based, etc.)

• We encourage submissions from artists working in a broad range of styles, including those whose practices may not typically be defined as contemporary, as long as the work connects meaningfully to the exhibition themes.
• Performance-based works must be scheduled in advance and will be accommodated as feasible within the exhibition's programming schedule.

Work must have been created in 2020 or later

• This ensures the exhibition reflects the current creative landscape of Hampton Roads, highlighting the voices shaping our region today.