Secret postcard show - submissions open

An open call opportunity - deadline 18 August

Cupola's Secret postcard show details - Summer 2023

Secret Postcard Show 2023
Due to the success of our first fundraising secret postcard show in 2020, we are delighted to host another. This time funds raised will be split 50/50 between international disaster relief and ongoing building works including efforts to reduce carbon emissions.

With grateful thanks to Rachel Pinks of The Old Lockup Gallery in Cromford for her excellent template and inspiration for the show.


How it works: We invite all who wish to contribute, to make and donate a postcard sized artwork for exhibition. Each postcard is then put on sale for a fixed price, with all proceeds going to support a charitable cause, in this case Disaster relief & ongoing repairs to Cupola Gallery. It is 'secret' because only once the postcard is sold does the purchaser get to find out who has made and donated the artwork.

Background:
Cupola, a private, non funded, contemporary gallery, was established in 1991 to provide exhibition and sales opportunities for contemporary artists and fine craft makers in the northern industrial city of Sheffield. Established unusually between a betting shop and a laundrette in an 'unfashionable' part of town, Hillsborough, many said it would never last. Despite many trials, not least the installation of Sheffield's light rail network, Supertram, which saw the area devastated by road closures and disruption resulting in the loss of 1 in 4 businesses in the area, a total loss of 94 businesses within 4 years. Cupola has endured floods, recession, the financial crash & a pandemic and is grateful for your help to secure its future towards its 33rd anniversary!

Each postcard donated and then sold will help secure the future of the gallery as well as supporting international disaster relief efforts.

The exhibition works on so many levels and provides an opportunity for all involved.

  • Contributors get to exhibit in a contemporary art gallery, and to know that they are supporting the future of the gallery. It also enables artists to make a connection with the gallery.

  • Art lovers - a show where all of the work is affordable and accessible to all. Regardless of who created the postcard every piece sells at a very reasonable fixed price of £15 per postcard.

  • Cupola Contemporary Art - the support that we receive from contributors and postcard collectors, during this show, will help secure the future of Cupola Contemporary Art and to provide a professional environment for the exhibition and sale of art and fine craft for the future. We are an established friendly, accessible quality independent contemporary art gallery based in a local community with a national reputation and reach. We have no desire to move. We want to continue to take risks, put on temporary exhibitions and make connections locally, nationally and internationally from our venue situated at the heart of a community.

  • All proceeds from the sale of the postcards will be split 50/50 between international disaster relief and Cupola Gallery.

  • Postcards are sold at £15 each.

SECRET POSTCARD SHOW

Exhibition Dates:
26 August – 30 September 2023

SHOW OPENS Friday 25 August 2023, 7:30pm

HOW TO APPLY:

How do you as an artist contribute and donate your work to this forthcoming show?

Send your postcard sized artwork – only original works please – no reproductions - in a stamp addressed envelope/packet etc to:

Cupola Gallery, 178a Middlewood Road, Sheffield S6 1TD

Entry Requirements:

  • Size: standard postcard size A6

  • Maximum number of entries per Artist - 10

  • Any medium is accepted: original printmaking, collage, photography, paint, wood, metal, ceramics, drawing, textiles, mixed media etc.

  • Do not sign the front of the postcard.

  • On the reverse of the postcard: write: your name, signature, title of work (if applicable), medium, website and email address.

  • Open for entries from now.

  • Closed for entries on 18 August 2023

Further information:

  • During the show we post as many images as we can of the show, postcards and sold pieces of work - via Twitter @cupolagallery, Facebook @cupolagallerysheffield and Instagram @cupolacontemporaryart

  • Unsold work cannot be returned and will remain the property of the gallery: We will continue to sell postcards throughout the year and keep unsold work stored appropriately and carefully.

  • We aren’t able to let you know when your postcard has arrived - due to numbers expected - however if you follow the gallery via Facebook or Instagram you may see your art work on display in the show.

  • Please ensure that you have paid the correct amount of postage on your envelope, package, parcel - it saves us so much time. Thank you.

  • All works sent will be put up on display.*

    * we reserve the right to remove artworks likely to cause offence.

Cupola thanks you in advance for your kindness and generosity for considering taking part in this show. Without support from artists and customers alike the gallery would not be able still be here. We want to continue to offer exhibition and sale exhibition opportunities for artists and remain part of the artistic and broader community of Hillsborough, Sheffield and the North of England.

Thanks again,

Karen
Karen Sherwood and all the Cupola team of staff and volunteers!

A6 = 148 x 105mm

Graham Shapley