A couple of months ago I applied for a regional show being held at a gallery on a university campus out of state. The gallery was part of the university, so it receives both state and federal funding. The requirements were pretty straightforward and it sounded like there was no directed theme;

“This juried exhibit is open to all artists living in the United States working in any medium, both 2D, 3D, and Digital. As an open survey of artists talent there is no specific theme to this call. All subject matter is welcome. XXXXXXXXXX, seeks to bring together and highlight the wide array of talents throughout the United States.

Work must be original with no AI being accepted. Work must have been done outside of a classroom or workshop environment. If the work has been shown previously, please include the names of the galleries/exhibitions in your application.”

This morning I received a rejection letter that was polite, apologetic, and frankly very honest. Because of the contents of the rejection letter, I’m not going to name the university, the call or the gallery. My feeling is that if this were to spread on the internet there could be consequences and retaliation against them and that is the last thing I would want.

Mr. Johnston,

Thank you for your application for XXXXXXXX: XXXXXXXXX. Unfortunately, your work was not chosen to be included in this year’s exhibition.

While the jury feels that your work is very good and shows exemplary talent, we also feel that it might be to politically charged for display in our university setting.

After careful consideration and consultation with faculty and university staff we decided at this time it would be best if we passed on your work.

Please note that out of over five hundred works submitted, your work made it to the final round of selection. I know this isn’t much of a consolation, but you should feel proud for making it to round three.

Thank you for submitting your work, and we regret not being able to feature you at this time.

Best-

XXXXXXXXX

I want to say I’m not angry about this. At least not angry at the university gallery. They did what they have to do in the current environment we live in. I am pissed that we have devolved into this state of affairs. That people and institutions are so afraid of financial or political retribution that artwork - free speech is suppressed. The attached images are what were submitted.

“Falling Into Slow Motion Chaos” “A Memory Rolling Through My Heart Like a Tornado” “Part Time Joy Girls”