Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

NEW ORLEANS—The Ogden Museum of Southern Art has opened the call for entries for the Museum’s annual juried exhibition, Louisiana Contemporary, presented by The Helis Foundation, now in its ninth year. The 2020 guest juror is René Morales, Director of Curatorial Affairs and Chief Curator at Pérez Art Museum Miami.

Louisiana Contemporary is open to all artists 18 years and older residing in the state of Louisiana. All work must be original and completed within the last two years (2018-2020).

Important dates:

• Online entries will close at11:59 p.m. central time on Friday, June 26, 2020.
• Mailed entries must be postmarked byFriday, June 26.
• Notification of accepted entries will be sent through email to all applicants the week of July 20.
• The exhibition will open to the public Saturday, Sept. 5.
• A VIP closing reception will take place Saturday, Feb. 6.
• The exhibition will close Sunday, Feb. 7.

Guest juror René Morales will curate a selection of the works submitted, and then choose four award winners to receive further recognition. First, second and third place award recipients will receive cash prizes. Additionally, The Helis Foundation Art Prize, an unrestricted grant of $5,000, will be presented to a fourth selected artist.

In addition to Morales, prior jurors have included David Breslin, Director of Curatorial Initiatives at the Whitney Museum of American Art; Courtney J. Martin, Director of the Yale Center for British Art and former Deputy Director and Chief Curator at the Dia Art Foundation; Shantrelle P. Lewis, an independent curator, author, and documentarian; and Bill Arning, former Director of Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

Jurors also participate in public programs that examine the scope of each year’s presentation. Programming for the 2020 Louisiana Contemporary will be announced this summer.

The Ogden Museum first launched Louisiana Contemporary in 2012 to establish a vehicle that would bring the work of artists living in Louisiana to the forefront and highlight the dynamism of art in Louisiana. Since the first exhibit, nine years ago, the Ogden Museum has shown 394 artists, making Louisiana Contemporary an important moment in the national arts calendar to recognize and experience the spectrum and vitality of artistic voices emanating from New Orleans and across Louisiana.

“Since its inception, Louisiana Contemporary has served as an innovative vehicle for discovering and experiencing the depth and diversity of work being produced by Louisiana artists,” says William Pittman Andrews, Executive Director of the Ogden Museum. “We are excited to see how artists use their unique artistic practices to reflect some of the most pressing social and political issues of our current time. I’m continually impressed with how this exhibition inspires conceptual and formal dialogue and fosters admiration and respect for the art of the American South.”

Louisiana Contemporary is made possible by presenting sponsor, The Helis Foundation.

Learn more about Louisiana Contemporary or submit artwork at: https://ogdenmuseum.org/exhibition/louisianacontemporary2020/.