In June of 2020, during the Covid-19 lock-down, artists of all media were unable to find venues open to display or perform their work. Museums, galleries, and all public performing halls were closed.
The De Young Museum of San Francisco, a world premier museum, located in Golden Gate Park, announced an opportunity to support local artists. They offered a ‘call to artists’ residing in the nine counties that surround the Bay Area, to submit one piece for a 7-gallery salon-style exhibit opening in late September 2020. They would accept up to 12,000 entries with a selection process winnowing down to the 850 accepted. The jurors wanted the show to reflect the diversity and inclusivity of our area.
The show was called the “De Young Open.”
I was lucky enough to have a piece accepted, “Heated Boundaries.” Not many textile pieces were included. The diversity of artists accepted was broad as well as the themes, including landscape, migration, climate issues, figurative pieces, and more. It was a success, but because of further lock-downs, it opened late (October) and closed early (December instead of January).
The organizers decided to make the “De Young Open” a triennial event. In June of 2023, the call went out. I had the opening entry date on my calendar, June 6th, and had already decided which piece I would enter, “Caravan: La Bestia.” I entered the first day. I knew that when they reached 12,000, they would close the entry. I couldn’t know when that would happen. That year, they received 8,000+ entries, and accepted 867. Luckily, mine was one of those!
This year’s exhibit was even more exciting than the first. There were many more textile pieces accepted: Alice Beasley, Young-min Lee, Denise Oyama Miller, Joe Cunningham, Adriane Dedic, to name a few. In addition, many pieces were fiber-based using weaving techniques in plastic, wire, paper, and metal: Deborah Corsini, Rachel Liebman. The background walls were painted a deep charcoal-violet that enhanced the art and gave the show a sense of community and gravitas.
My goal in telling you about this marvelous exhibit, is to encourage you to contact your local museum to encourage them to do the same. Not only does it enhance the museum’s connection with local artists, but it brings in additional visitors. I brought friends (local and some who specifically travelled here to see my piece and the entire show) to walk through the galleries and look – in amazement. We 867 artists made money for the museum, and the museum enhanced the reputation of its wonderful local artists.
Let’s see if we can’t help local institutions recognize the artistic talent around them!
Post Note: If you want to enter the only other Salon-style show (that I know about), the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in London, you’ll have to wait, like me, until early 2025! Otherwise, I’ll be waiting until 2026 to enter the next De Young Open.
By Ileana Soto
