Framing the Village | Independent thinkers!
Art Exhibition: September 3 – 30, 2026
St Mark’s in the Bowery Parish Hall
131 E 10th Street
New York, NY 10009
Open Call for Entries: Group exhibition
Paintings, Drawings, Wall-mounted Sculpture, and Photography
We are accepting larger work this yea
Submission Deadline: Sunday, August 16, 2026
Independent Thinkers are the New Yorkers who created the most exciting and innovative artworks in the United States, from Thomas Cole to Jean-Michel Basquiat. The Manhattan artists who are today’s INDEPENDENT THINKERS continuing to excite, inform, beautify, and challenge the city and the world with our aesthetic innovations in figurative, abstract and conceptual drawing painting, sculpture, photography, and electronic art.
Painting, Drawing, Collage, Photography, Video and Wall-mounted Sculpture created by independent thinkers.
Our host this year is the historic St Mark’s in the Bowery Parish Hall in the heart of the East Village. Opening reception Thursday September 3. The gallery is open to the public most days until 3pm.
Framing the Village is part of The Village Trip Festival of Arts and Activism, which takes place at venues across Greenwich Village and the East Village/LES, from September 25 – October 4. Its annual exhibition is curated once more by long-time Village artist Marc Kehoe.
Entry is open to all artists who have a connection to Greenwich Village or the East Village/Lower East Side, who live or have lived or worked in these neighborhoods.
Artists whose work is selected will also be invited to The Village Trip’s opening party.
Eligibility:
- Open to all artists, 18 years and older
- Artists must live or have lived or have maintained a studio in Greenwich Village, the East Village, the Lower East Side
How to submit:
- $30 non-refundable application fee for up to 3 images
- Payment is non-refundable and does not guarantee acceptance
- To pay the fee, go to our dedicated payment page on PayPal where you can use PayPal or a credit or debit card.
- Forward the receipt along with up to 3 jpeg images to MarcKehoe@TheVillageTrip.com
Artwork must be labeled as follows:
- Lastname_title_year.jpg
- JPG’s must be 300 DPI and be 1500 and 3000 pixels in the longest dimension
- Include an image list with full title, medium, year, dimensions, and price for each image submitted
- Include a short bio, artist statement, and a link to your website and Instagram in the body of the email
Format for artwork:
- Paintings: Maximum size including frame: 4 x 6 feet
- Work on stretched canvas need not be framed, but MUST be ready to hang
- Watercolors and works on paper must be framed
- Unframed work as specified above will not be accepted
- Drawings: Must be framed. Maximum size including frame: 4 x 6 feet
- Photographs: Must be framed and ready to hang. Maximum size 4 x 6 feet.
Deadline:
- All images are due by Sunday, August 16, 2026
The Village Trip is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that celebrates arts and activism in Lower Manhattan.
Image credit: Kampin, Whyland, McNichol, Schreier, Rosenthal