Old, New, Borrowed, Blue

For the L7 Gallery October/November 2026 online juried exhibit, we invite artists to respond to the four themes in the traditional Victorian rhyme, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". The origin of this familiar wedding poem represented a source of magical charms used to ward off evil and protect future generations. What could these words possibly mean right now - in a world of cultural recycling, overwhelming tech capital, political and ecological anxiety and the existential fear of the future?

We look forward to seeing your response with your new or existing work. We are especially interested in work that is personal, beautiful, experimental, craft or concept oriented or simply difficult to categorize.

!st Place: Award of $300. Two additional artists receive honorable mentions.

Accepting: Painting, Drawing, Watercolor, Photography, Sculpture, Digital Art, Printmaking, and Fabric Art

Juror: Hannah Sage Kay, arts writer based in New York and Los Angeles.

For our October/November  2026 online exhibit, we invite artists to respond to the four themes in the traditional Victorian rhyme, "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue". The origin of this familiar wedding poem represented a source of magical charms used to ward off evil and protect future generations. What could these words possibly mean right now - in a world of cultural recycling, generative AI, overwhelming tech capital, political and ecological anxiety, loneliness, isolation and the existential fear of the future?

OLD

History, tradition, nostalgia, forgotten / rediscovered stories, memories that reemerge, objects that reappear from the past.

NEW

An experiment. A new medium to work in. A new approach, a new way of thinking, a new collaboration, "a new path to the waterfall".*

BORROWED

Found material, borrowed identities, inspirations from channelled entities, ideas inspired by cultural interactions, imagining art created by one's alter ego.

BLUE

The color itself, sadness, longing, distance, water, sky, bruises, dreams, loss, hope. Whatever blue means to you.

We look forward to seeing your response to one or all of these categories with your new or existing work. We are especially interested in work that is personal, strange, uncomfortable, beautiful, experimental, craft or concept oriented or simply difficult to categorize.

OUR JUROR

Hannah Sage Kay is an arts writer and critic based between New York and Los Angeles. She has contributed to ARTnews, The Art Newspaper, Autre, BOMB, The Brooklyn Rail, Financial Times, The Guardian, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Nka Journal of Contemporary African Art, among other publications. Hannah studied art history at Bard College and NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts.

Winner will receive a cash award of $300. Two additional artists will receive honorable mentions from the juror.

Accepting: Painting, Drawing, Watercolor, Photography, Sculpture, Digital Art, Printmaking, and Fabric Art

Timeline

• Application Opens: 8/28/2026
• Application Deadline: 10/15/2026
• Jury Dates: 10/16/2026 - 10/18/2026
• Notification Date: 10/19/2026
• Exhibition Date: 10/20/2026 - 11/20/2026
• Winners Announcement Date: 10/20/2026

*Raymond Carver

All artwork must be original.

Artist must be 18 years or older

Applications must be completed online through CaFÉ (Callforentry.org).

The fee for artists to submit art for consideration is $30.00 for 1 to 3 images. 

Contact/Questions: info@L7gallery.com

Painting, Drawing, Watercolor, Photography, Sculpture, Digital Art, Printmaking, Fabric Art