What it is
The apexart open call is a unique call for exhibition proposals that occurs twice per year, accepting 500-word proposals from anyone, anywhere, that describe an idea-based group exhibition of at least three artists. No images, links, videos, or CVs are accepted. The jury is composed of approximately 600 individuals and classes from around the world using an online crowdsourcing system designed by us, allowing each juror to vote on some or all of the anonymous and randomized proposals. Last year proposals were submitted from 103 countries. Our crowdsourced selection process results in exhibitions that reflect the interests and sensibilities of our audiences, and is the fairest and most representative procedure we’ve developed—so far.
How your class can participate
As an assignment or an elective, faculty can specify the number of proposals students review—generally 20–50, according to how much time you wish to devote to voting and subsequent discussion. It takes about 2 hours to read and rate 50 proposals. Each student is given an individual login through which they review proposals, rating each one on a scale of 1–5.
Classroom benefits
Students actually help determine next season’s programming and gain real world, real time experience evaluating proposals and considering what makes a compelling exhibition proposal. As apexart jurors, they’ll review ideas coming from all around the world—our last open call brought proposals in from 103 countries. Being on the other side of the “grading” process is essential to one’s own understanding of the curatorial process and the selection process, and provides great classroom discussion about what art is, how is an exhibition structured, what its purpose and effect can be and what constitutes a good well written proposal.
What you need to do
Provide a list of all participating students’ names and email addresses (or the number of students for numerical identification) by October 20, 2025 to Lisa Vagnoni at lisa.vagnoni@apexart.org.
What we provide
Login information, instructions, and voting deadline reminders that can be sent directly to your students, along with dates to end the voting process and begin discussion. We provide you with a live tally page that will show voting by your students, as well as the ratings for each proposal given by each student, a copy of the proposal, and the order of its ranking as determined by all jurors. We provide sample questions for discussion about content, and how to consider unfamiliar cultural and aesthetic elements on their own terms when rating exhibition proposals.
Educators find that serving on an apexart jury encourages lively discussion about many aspects of curating, writing, and exhibition organization including size, location, purpose, and feasibility. To date, more than 100 classes from universities and art schools have participated, including The New School, Node Center for Curatorial Studies, Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College, Brown University, de Appel Curatorial Program, Makere University, and MICA.
More information on the program and how to sign up can be found here. Contact: Lisa Vagnoni, Web Director—lisa.vagnoni@apexart.org.