2027 Exhibition Open Call: Curator​/Artist-Led Proposals

PS122 Gallery is a nonprofit alternative exhibition space located in the East Village of New York City. Founded in 1979, PS122 Gallery has played a significant role in supporting experimental, interdisciplinary, and emerging artistic practices. The gallery operates as an ongoing program of Painting Space 122, an artist-run cooperative that contributed to the development of the cultural community around the City-owned 122 Community Center (122CC).

Throughout its history, PS122 Gallery has been dedicated to providing opportunities, resources, and visibility for emerging and under-recognized artists. Its long-running Exhibition Open Call, originally established during the 1986–87 season and relaunched in 2023, has become one of the organization’s key programs for discovering and presenting innovative artistic projects. Previous exhibitions supported by this initiative helped introduce artists who later became internationally recognized, including Peter Halley, Keith Haring, and Amy Sillman, alongside hundreds of other artists, writers, and curators working across diverse disciplines.

The gallery’s mission focuses on fostering inclusive and accessible contemporary art practices regardless of age, race, gender, ability, geographic background, or ethnicity. PS122 encourages experimental approaches to exhibition-making, collective practices, audience participation, and public engagement. Through exhibitions, public programs, and community-oriented activities, the organization aims to expand the possibilities of contemporary art presentation while supporting artists and curators who challenge conventional formats.

The 2027 Exhibition Open Call continues PS122 Gallery’s commitment to providing a platform for artist-led and curator-led exhibitions that reflect diverse perspectives and innovative approaches to contemporary artistic practice.

PS122 Gallery invites artists and curators to submit proposals for its 2027 Exhibition Open Call. A professional jury will select six (6) curator-led and/or artist-led exhibitions to be presented during the 2027 exhibition season.

Selected projects will receive a month-long exhibition opportunity in PS122 Gallery’s approximately 1,000-square-foot exhibition space located in New York City. Each proposed exhibition must include a minimum of two artists working in any artistic medium.

The open call welcomes experimental exhibition concepts, collaborative practices, collective projects, and innovative uses of gallery space. Applicants are encouraged to propose projects that engage with contemporary artistic questions and contribute to PS122 Gallery’s goals around diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and community engagement.

Selected exhibitions will be presented during one of the available 2027 exhibition periods:
February, March, April, June, September, or October.

• Artists and curators based internationally, provided that at least one of the participating artists or the curator resides in one of the five boroughs of New York City.
• Artist-led or curator-led exhibition proposals.
• Groups and collectives.
• Emerging and under-recognized artists.
• Artists working in any medium.

Eligibility requirements:

• Each exhibition proposal must include a minimum of two participating artists.
• Participating artists must be invited and confirmed before being included in the application.
• Either the curator or at least one participating artist must reside in one of New York City’s five boroughs:
  • Manhattan
  • Brooklyn
  • Queens
  • The Bronx
  • Staten Island
• Currently enrolled students are not eligible to apply.
• Applicants may submit only one final application. Duplicate submissions will be discarded.

PS122 Gallery particularly welcomes proposals that contribute to its Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Belonging (DEIA+) objectives.

• A month-long exhibition opportunity at PS122 Gallery in New York City.
• Presentation of their exhibition in the gallery’s approximately 1,000-square-foot exhibition space.
• Professional visibility through inclusion in PS122 Gallery’s exhibition program.
• Suppo…