From These Hills: Contemporary Art from the Southern Appalachian Highlands

William King Museum of Art (WKMA) located in Abingdon, Virginia is excited to announce our 17th biennial exhibition From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands. This exhibit is one of William King Museum of Art’s longest-standing traditions. This year's juror and guest curator is Kathy Foley. Foley is the former director of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. Foley has an immense dedication to the visual arts and to the museum field. She was inducted as a Fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters in 2014; received the Wisconsin Visual Art Achievement Award in 2016; and was honored by the Association of Midwest Museums in 2020 with the Distinguished Career Award. In recognition of Kathy’s service and accomplishments, the Museum’s Board of Directors awarded her the title Director Emerita. From These Hills will be on exhibit from November 13, 2025 - March 15, 2026.

William King Museum of Art (WKMA) located in Abingdon, Virginia is excited to announce our 17th biennial exhibition From These Hills: Contemporary Art in the Southern Appalachian Highlands. This exhibit is one of William King Museum of Art’s longest-standing traditions. This year's juror and guest curator is Kathy Foley. Foley is the former director of the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin. Foley has an immense dedication to the visual arts and to the museum field. She was inducted as a Fellow of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters in 2014; received the Wisconsin Visual Art Achievement Award in 2016; and was honored by the Association of Midwest Museums in 2020 with the Distinguished Career Award. In recognition of Kathy’s service and accomplishments, the Museum’s Board of Directors awarded her the title Director Emerita. From These Hills will be on exhibit from November 13, 2025 - March 15, 2026. Following the exhibit at William King Museum of Art, this exhibition will travel to the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine in Roanoke. The artists work will be on display at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine from April 2026 - August 2026. In total, the artists work would be on display from November 2025 - August 2026. The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine represents a new way forward in medical education. This approach trains physicians to make patients the central focus of health. The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine strives to use art as a tool for empathic connection, thereby promoting empathy and critical emotional processing skills in young physicians entering the medical field.  The Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine displays artworks in the halls of the School of Medicine, NOT in a gallery setting. 

If you wish to show your work at the museum ONLY and NOT the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, please state this within your application. 

If you are from Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, Western North Carolina, or Southern West Virginia, or Eastern Kentucky, you are eligible to apply for this exhibition, More specifically, if you are from the following counties, you are eligible to apply for this exhibition:

Southwest Virginia Counties: Lee, Scott, Wise, Norton, Dickenson, Buchanan, Russell, Washington, Bristol, Tazewell, Smyth, Grayson, Wythe, Bland, Carroll, Galax, Giles, Pulaski, Floyd, Radford, Montgomery, Craig, Salem, Roanoke.

Northeast Tennessee: Hancock, Hawkins, Green, Washington, Unicoi, Sullivan, Carter, Johnson. 

Western North Carolina: Cherokee, Graham, Clay, Macon, Swain, Jackson, Transylvania, Haywood, Henderson, Buncombe, Madison, Yancey, Mitchell, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Burke, Avery, Caldwell, Watauga, Wilkes, Ashe, Alleghany.

Southern West Virginia: Boone, Fayette, Greenbrier, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Raleigh, Summers, Wyoming. 

Eastern Kentucky: Martin, Pike, Johnson, Floyd, Magoffin, Knott, Letcher, Harlan, Bell.

FEES: Artists will pay a $25 non-refundable entry fee. 

TIMELINE: Entries must be submitted by September 12, 2025. 

All artists will be notified of their acceptance status by September 24, 2025. 

Accepted artists must ship or deliver their works of art to the following address by October 29, 2025. 

WILLIAM KING MUSEUM OF ART

ATTN: Anna Buchanan 

415 Academy Drive NW, 

Abingdon, VA 24210 

NOTE: If you ship your work, you must provide a prepaid return shipping label INSIDE the box for return shipment. 

Please submit at least 1 and up to 5 images of your works of art. You can submit multiple angles of a single work of art if necessary. Make sure that your images are at least 300 dpi. Please include an artist bio, artist statement, and resume/CV with your submission. 

REQUIREMENTS:

Work Sample Requirements: 

Artists must submit 1 to 5 images for consideration. These do not have to be 5 different images of artwork, this can be multiple angles of one work of art if necessary. 

The images submitted must be at least 300 dpi resolution

Application Requirements:

Artists must submit the following details with their work samples:

• Brief biography of no more than 1000 words
• An artist statement 
• Artists must be from one of the aforementioned counties 
• Please specify in this entry by checking one of the boxes on the entry form, if you grant William King Museum of Art permission to transport your artwork to the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine following the exhibit at William King Museum of Art. 

All artists are encouraged to apply to this annual exhibition. Artists must meet the following basic criteria:

• Artists must be 18 years of age or older
• Artists must complete the application on CaFE
• Artists must be from one of the following counties: If you are from Southwest Virginia, Northeast Tennessee, Western North Carolina, or Southern West Virginia, or Eastern Kentucky, you are eligible to apply for this exhibition, More specifically, if you are from the following counties, you are eligible to apply for this exhibition: Southwest Virginia Counties: Lee, Scott, Wise, Norton, Dickenson, Buchanan, Russell, Washington, Bristol, Tazewell, Smyth, Grayson, Wythe, Bland, Carroll, Galax, Giles, Pulaski, Floyd, Radford, Montgomery, Craig, Salem, Roanoke. Northeast Tennessee: Hancock, Hawkins, Green, Washington, Unicoi, Sullivan, Carter, Johnson. Western North Carolina: Cherokee, Graham, Clay, Macon, Swain, Jackson, Transylvania, Haywood, Henderson, Buncombe, Madison, Yancey, Mitchell, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford, Burke, Avery, Caldwell, Watauga, Wilkes, Ashe, Alleghany. Southern West Virginia: Boone, Fayette, Greenbrier, Lincoln, Logan, McDowell, Mercer, Mingo, Monroe, Nicholas, Raleigh, Summers, Wyoming. Eastern Kentucky: Martin, Pike, Johnson, Floyd, Magoffin, Knott, Letcher, Harlan, Bell