Schedule
Silent Response
July 23–August 17, 2025
Interactive, No Opening
Artists from the community are welcome to post their in-process works to receive feedback via a silent response process. Think like a silent auction, where people write in their amounts, but this will be writing or drawing in response to the artwork.
Open Call
Worcester on Guard: A Shield Art Challenge
Design a life-sized shield to help us celebrate the opening of our upcoming Arms and Armor Galleries. Selections are to be announced in September.
We are searching for six imaginative designs to decorate the walls in our Education Wing when we open our new Arms and Armor Galleries. The Worcester Art Museum welcomes artists of all skill levels—experts and amateurs—whether they are painters, sculptors, craftspeople, or creative individuals to a submit a drawing of the design on one of the templates provided. A panel of experts from the Worcester Art Museum will select the most outstanding designs for this once-in-a-lifetime gallery opening.
Each artist whose design is selected will be provided with a 32” x 20” triangular or 36” in diameter round canvas covered wooden shield that can be picked up between September 15 and September 21. Deadline for the finished shield will be November 7.
How to Submit
- Choose a topic below and get inspired.
- Download the submission template and start creating!
- Fill out the submission form and attach your design. Submissions are due September 5, 2025.
- We will reach out to you if your design has been selected.
Topic Choices
- Life in Worcester: Designs that celebrate the history of Worcester.
- In reference to the WAM collection: From our Global armor to our colorful prints.
- Artist Choice: Artists are encouraged to exhibit their individual vision and style while experimenting with any idea or theme that speaks to them.
Visions of Home
August 20–September 30, 2025
Exhibition Reception: September 21, 2–4 pm
What does the word “home” mean to you? This non-juried exhibition encourages artists to explore and express the concept of home through a variety of concepts and mediums.
Art of the Macabre 2025
October 1–28, 2025
Exhibition Reception: October 26, 12–2 pm
Just in time for autumn, Art of the Macabre is back from the dead! Show us your art that is scary, spooky, creepy, insightful, biting, weird, silly, and just plain fun.
Art and Armor
November 12–28, 2025
Exhibition Reception: November 29, 2–4 pm
Coinciding with the opening of the Worcester Art Museum’s new Arms and Armor Galleries, this community call exhibition invites artists to submit their works featuring arms and armor. Any and all interpretations are welcome. Show us your arms and armor, fictional and realistic, from the past, present, and future, and from any place on earth – or beyond!
