In and Out of Balance

Drawing Rooms
Gallery Exhibition: Jersey City

”In and Out of Balance”

Exhibition Dates 10/29/26 - 11/21/26
Submissions Due 9/28/26
Artist Notification 10/02/26
 

We invite you to submit work for consideration in our Drawing Rooms exhibit, 
”In and Out of Balance”.

“In and Out of Balance” asks us to consider how visual weight, tension, and spatial harmony are managed within a work of art.

Many well-known artists deal with these ideas in their works including Richard Serra’s “Strike: To Roberta and Rudy”,  Malevich’s “Self Portrait in Two Dimensions”, Andy Goldsworthy’s “Balance” and various others. 

Acceptable media includes painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, photography, sculpture or any other fine art. Artists chosen will also be considered for our other programs, such as The Art Project JC lobbies, and online Artsy.net exhibits throughout the year. 

Drawing Rooms art gallery at the Mana Contemporary complex in Jersey City is a project of Victory Hall Inc., a 501c3 non-profit organizatio...

Drawing Rooms
Gallery Exhibition: Jersey City

”In and Out of Balance”

Exhibition Dates 10/29/26 - 11/21/26
Submissions Due 9/28/26
Artist Notification 10/02/26

We invite you to submit work for consideration in our Drawing Rooms exhibit, 
”In and Out of Balance”.

“In and Out of Balance” asks us to consider how visual weight, tension, and spatial harmony are managed within a work of art. Off-balanced works may predominantly be unsymmetrical, yet still maintain a sense of symmetry in part of the composition, or not. Symmetrical works mirror equal arrangements to create a sense of calm, order and stability. Within those works there may still be an element that is off balance, or it may be asymmetrical with unequal elements holding equal visual weight through clever use of color, size and negative space. Works may contain elements that radiate outward from a central focal point or axis in a balanced or unbalanced way. Deliberate weight shifts that make a piece feel precarious or unstable create visual tension. Off center focal points or clashing color values may create a sense of unease or energy that disrupt the expected composition. A sculpture may look like it might tip over, forcing the viewer to feel the risk of it being physically risky. Balanced works feel harmonious, anchored, stable, mirrored, poised, rhythmic and equitable. Unbalanced works may feel unstable, perilous, shaky, uncertain, fractured, tenuous, weighted or restless.

Many well-known artists deal with these ideas in their works including Richard Serra’s “Strike: To Roberta and Rudy”,  Malevich’s “Self Portrait in Two Dimensions”, Andy Goldsworthy’s “Balance”, Tom Stodgon’s “Sandstone Overlap”, Piet Mondrian’s “Composition II in Red, Blue and Yellow”, Helen Frankenthaler’s “Mountains and Sea”, Agnes Martin’s “The Islands”, Sarah Sze’s “Triple Point (Pendulum)”, Wangechi Mutu’s “The Bride Who Married a Camel's Nose”, Cecily Brown’s “Black Painting 2”,  Amy Sillman’s “The Elephant in the Room”, and others.

Acceptable media for this exhibition includes painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, photography, sculpture or any other fine art medium. 

In keeping with our love of music, we couldn’t agree on a song about the theme of balance, so we scrapped that idea and decided to honor Dolly Parton. Of course we both love “Jolene”, and we also love “Here You Come Again.” When we looked through her songs the closest one that dealt with balance is “Halos and Horns”.

“Halos and horns, sinners and saints,

We're praised or we're scorned, we either run or we faint

Oh, but life is a challenge from the day that we're born

Just tryin' to balance halos and horns

It's heaven or hell, halos or horns”

Artists chosen will also be considered for our other programs, such as The Art Project JC lobbies, and online Artsy.net exhibits throughout the year. Drawing Rooms will feature selected works from this exhibition for sale on Artsy.net

See: https://www.artsy.net/partner/drawing-rooms 

Artists included in any of our 2026 shows will have preferred status for our end-of-the-year holiday blow-out exhibition, The Big Small Show, replete with a full weekend Opening, wine, delicious holiday snacks, and a catalog. The Big Small Show is like a party in appreciation of the artists we work with throughout the year, along with new artists we hope will continue to be part of our community. 

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Drawing Rooms  is a nonprofit art space and gallery in the Topps Building on the Mana Complex in the Journal Square neighborhood in Jersey City. We show two and three-dimensional works by emerging and mid-career artists in NJ and the NY metropolitan area, as well as nationally and internationally. Since 2001, our innovative and exciting exhibitions, public programs, and publications have enriched the lives of our community through an appreciation of and involvement with contemporary art. 

About the Curator

Anne Trauben is the Curator and Gallery Director at Drawing Rooms. She began working with Victory Hall Inc. in 2009, and was a founding artist of Drawing Rooms in 2012. Since 2013, she has organized, curated and created programming for year-round exhibitions of multiple artists at Drawing Rooms in the former convent on Grand St. in Jersey City and, since 2018, at the new Drawing Rooms gallery on the Mana complex. In 2020, during the pandemic, she organized, curated, and created programming for Prayers for the Pandemic, a 4-part Drawing Rooms national public art exhibition, and solo / two-person exhibitions at Dvora Gallery. In 2022, after the pandemic, Drawing Rooms reopened in a newly expanded space where she has since been organizing, curating, and creating programming for gallery exhibitions and public art programs. Anne is the Founder, Publisher and Editor of Nieuw Art Blog since 2017.

Learn more about the call below.

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EVENTS
*Opening Reception 10/30/26 Fri, 6-8p
*Meet The Artists Sundays, 11/8/26, 3-5p,
*Closing Reception Sunday 11/22/26 4-6p  

ACCEPTABLE WORKS 

Size: No size limit on dropped-off artwork.

Media: painting or drawing on paper, canvas, or other media; collage or textiles, photography, prints, sculpture.

Works must be original. No AI or reproductions of original works.

All works in the exhibit must be for sale with 60% to artists and 40% to Drawing Rooms.

Submissions Due 9/28/26

ARTIST NOTIFICATION 10/02/26
Please remember to check your spam and promotions folder. If you haven't received a notification by 10/04/26, please check the status of your submission in CAFE. Accepted works will be listed as "invited."

DROP OFF
Fri 10/16/26, 5-7p, Sat, 10/17/26, 2-5p, Sun 10/18/26 3-5p
Mail in
Must ARRIVE by Monday, 10/19/26

SHIPPING REQUIREMENTS
2D: 
Unframed 18” x 24” or less, works on paper or panel/canvas may be mailed in and must fit in a padded or cardboard shipping envelope, (stay flat photo envelope / rigid mailer), or a strong tube, and you MUST include a return label or postage. 

Framed works follow same rules. We discourage boxes, unless simply and neatly packed using acceptable materials: bubble wrap, paper, foam board (no 'peanut filler'). Send to the Drawing Rooms location listed.

3D: Please pack well in a box 30" x 36" x 36" or less. Work not packed well may be rejected. (Drop-off preferred)

EXHIBITION LOCATION
Drawing Rooms
926 Newark Ave. T101
Jersey City NJ, 07306
Closest PATH stop is Journal Sq

Free parking lot. 

Entrance is on Newark Avenue.

Drivers: turn into Mana/Topps building driveway.

PICKUP
Sun, 11/22/26 6-7p, Mon, 11/23/26 4-7p

Tues 11/24/2026

MAIL BACK
Starts Mon, 11/23/26

JPGS

• You may submit up to 3 images of your work, unframed.
• Each jpg must measure at least 1200 pixels in any dimension and can be any resolution (pixels per inch).

You must be over 18. Trained artists preferred.