Call for Entries - Out in the Field: The Expanded Plein Air at Ox-Bow
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Ox-Bow School of Art & Artists’ Residency invites current and former faculty, visiting artists, fellows, residents, students, and staff to submit work for a group exhibition at Poor Farm celebrating Ox-Bow’s roots as a The Summer School of Painting.
Organized by Executive Director Shannon Stratton, this year-long exhibition features work from Ox-Bow’s archives, nested exhibitions curated by faculty and a selection of pieces by alumni.
The exhibition considers the expanded possibility of painting “en plein air” - the founding principal of Ox-Bow - as a range of practices that engage with site, environment, duration, atmosphere, and the social or conceptual conditions of working in and with the outdoors.
All submitted work must have been created during your time at Ox-Bow. We welcome submissions across disciplines that respond to or challenge traditional notions of plein air, from direct observation to experimental, process-based, or research-driven approaches.
- Artists may submit up to three works for consideration.
- Work must be able to withstand display in a space with no climate control.
- Ox-Bow can support the cost of shipping, but not packing the work.
- We are unable to provide artist fees for this exhibition.
- Work needs to be received by August 21st in Chicago, IL
Organized in tandem with Ox-Bow’s 2026 Visionary Award, honoring long-time faculty and Poor Farm founder, Michelle Grabner, Out in the Field: The Expanded Plein Air at Ox-Bow takes Ox-Bow to another artist-run, rural residency, reflecting our own roots as an artist-founded and run community.
We look forward to seeing how your work engages with the evolving possibilities of plein air.
Out in the Field: The Expanded Plein Air at Ox-Bow opens September 25-27th, 2026 and runs until August 2027.