REFINED: The Foreseeable Future

REFINED: The Foreseeable Future

12th Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Jewelry and Metalwork

Stephen F. Austin State University – School of Art

Since 1998, REFINED has celebrated the vitality and range of contemporary jewelry and metalwork, serving as a national platform for artists whose work combines craft, concept, and innovation. Hosted by the Art Metals program at Stephen F. Austin State University, this juried biennial exhibition is held in the Reavley Gallery at The Cole Art Center in historic downtown Nacogdoches, Texas.

About the Juror

Susie Ganch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Craft/Material Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her work investigates consumption, waste, and the transformation of materials. She directs Radical Jewelry Makeover, an international jewelry mining and recycling initiative.

Application deadline: Aug. 29, 2025

Notification: Sep. 12, 2025

Accepted entries due: Sep. 29, 2025

Exhibition dates: Oct. 14, 2025 - Jan. 4, 2026

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Exhibition Theme: The Foreseeable Future

This year’s theme, The Foreseeable Future, invites artists to reflect on what lies ahead—through adornment, object-making, and sculptural form. What does the foreseeable future look like? This theme asks artists to peer ahead with clarity, uncertainty, optimism, critique, or caution.

Work might reflect on family and personal legacies, environmental responsibility, the resilience of materials, the shifting landscape of ornamentation, or the enduring necessity of adornment as both armor and expression.

We welcome submissions in contemporary jewelry, metalwork, and small-to-medium-scale sculpture. Works may engage a broad spectrum of materials including metal, stone, plastic, fiber, glass, wood, or found objects—any media that help articulate the maker’s vision of the future.

Whether responding to personal experience, environmental responsibility, politics, social transformation, or the endurance of craft, artists are encouraged to submit pieces that challenge, reimagine, or celebrate what the future might hold.

As Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote:

“Your task is not to foresee the future, but to enable it.”

Adornment and object-making are timeless acts—rooted in history, yet always in motion. They mark our rituals, memories, and aspirations. In this spirit, REFINED: The Foreseeable Future looks ahead with courage, clarity, and creative force.

Timeline

• Submission Deadline: August 29, 2025
• Artist Notifications: September 12, 2025
• Accepted Works Due: September 29, 2025
• Exhibition Dates: October 14, 2025 – January 4, 2026
• Opening Reception: October 14, 2025
• Works Returned: January 5–16, 2026

Awards

At least $1,500 will be awarded at the juror’s discretion.

Entry Details

• Entry Fee: $30
• Maximum Entries: 3 works per artist
• Image Limit: One image per work (a detail counts as one view)
• Two-dimensional work: May not exceed 60 inches on the longest side or weigh more than 75 lbs
• Three-dimensional work: May not exceed 60" (H) × 24" (W) × 24" (D); total height including pedestal must not exceed 60"
• Weight limit: Crated or packaged works must not exceed 50 lbs
• No substitutions or alterations after acceptance
• The SFA Art Galleries reserve the right to refuse any work that differs significantly from submitted images or does not meet stated criteria

To apply, click “Apply to This Call” at the top of the application page.

Shipping

Artists must ARRANGE and PAY for ROUND-TRIP shipment of their work and any insurance coverage during transit. A pre-paid shipping label MUST accompany the artwork for return shipment. Hand delivery is also acceptable. Your work must arrive to us by September 29, 2025. Shipping details will be send to accepted artists. 

About the Juror:

The labor-intensive, site-specific installations of Susie Ganch (born 1970 in Appleton, WI; lives and works in Richmond, VA) incorporate throwaway materials such as recycled jewelry, plastic bags, and disposable coffee cup lids. Her work offers a pointed commentary on the effects of human culture and consumption on the environment.

 Ganch’s art exemplifies a belief in a circular economy that operates like a natural ecosystem, promoting the use of existing and finite resources sparingly and expanding recycling exponentially. The idea put forth is that if we use less, use things longer, and recycle as much as possible, we can eventually eliminate trash by not creating it.

 Trained as a jeweler and metalsmith, Ganch says of her recent work, “Trading metal for plastic, a ubiquitous symbol that celebrates our worship of the present and disregard for the future, I make antimemorials born out of eco-anxiety.”

 Ganch's undergraduate studies in Geology and her subsequent MFA in Metals from the University of Wisconsin-Madison have shaped her interest in issues of waste and cultural consumption habits. In addition to her studio work, Ganch has been commissioned for large-scale installations throughout the country, that address these concerns. In that same vein, Ganch is the co-founder and director of the Radical Jewelry Makeover project, a global jewelry mining and recycling initiative that has traveled worldwide.

 Ganch has received multiple recognitions including the 2024 James Renwick Alliance Distinguished Educator Award, the 2024 Society of North American Goldsmiths’ IMPACT award, and the 2025 Virginia Commonwealth University National/International Recognition Award (NIRA). Other awards include the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship, the Peter S. Reed Foundation Grant, the Theresa Pollack Fine Art Award, a VA Commission for the Arts Grant, and several VCU Faculty Research Grants. Her work has been featured in museum exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum Renwick Gallery, Washington D.C, the North Carolina Museum of Fine Art, Raleigh, NC, the National Museum for Women in the Arts, Washington D.C., MFA Boston, the Design Museum in London, the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, the Ueno Royal Museum in Tokyo, Japan, the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, WI, and the Milwaukee Art Museum. Private and public collections include the Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery in Washington D.C., LACMA in Los Angeles, CA, Asheville Art Museum in NC, MFA Boston in MA, Fuller Craft Museum in Brockton, MA, Metal Museum in Memphis, TN, John Michael Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan, WI, and Kohler Company in Kohler, WI.

Submitting Images for Jurying: All entries (information and images) will be accepted through the CaFÉ website.

1) Each entrant may submit up to three digital images of three different art works.

2) Each work must be represented by only one image (no detail views or duplicates).

Instructions on how to format images to CaFÉ specifications can be found at Image Prep.

Eligibility: REFINED: The Foreseeable Future is open to all artists working in the United States. Entries may include work that honors “refined” in the broadest sense while embracing the diverse field of metalworking and jewelry. Jewelry, vessels, utensils, installation, and sculpture will be considered. We encourage the use of a wide variety of materials and techniques. All works must be original and completed within THE LAST TWO YEARS. Works too old or too large will be disqualified. No previously submitted works will be accepted. All works must be available through the entire run of the show. Do not submit works for jury that might be sold before or shown elsewhere during the REFINED: The Foreseeable Future show time frame. Visit us at:https://www.sfasu.edu/art/galleries, or apply on line at: https://www.callforentry.org/ and search for REFINED. 

For questions or additional information, contact:

Weelynd McMullan
Gallery Exhibition Coordinator / Lecturer
Stephen F. Austin State University
📞 936-468-1131
📧 Weelynd.McMullan@sfasu.edu

PLEASE READ CAREFULLY AS SOME THINGS HAVE CHANGED.

Size and weight limitations

Two-dimensional works may not exceed 60 inches on the longest side or weigh more than 75 lbs.

Three-dimensional works cannot exceed 60” in height, 24” in width, and 24” in depth. If a separate pedestal is sent with the work, the total height, including the pedestal, must not exceed 60”. The weight limitation of each crated or packaged work must not exceed 50 lbs.