Southwest Contemporary seeks artists based in the North American Southwest to submit art for potential inclusion in our Spring-Summer 2027 issue, Volume 15: Fire. This open call is for artists whose work in any medium has been touched by or reflects on the metaphorical, material, or ecological effects of fire.
About the Theme:
Southwest Contemporary Volume 15 will engage with fire’s twin roles as a creator and destroyer—a quintessential change agent in the human story.
Metaphorically, fire represents the birth of history. Gifted by—or stolen from—the gods, fire marked the turning point of civilization, manifesting across time as a baptism and crucible. It is our most powerful collaborator but never completely under our control. As the basis of technology, is fire the root of humanness? How do artists express the social, spiritual, and emotional effects of fire?
On a material level, fire is foundational to art-making. From kilns to forges, artists wield it and its byproducts—light, sound, soot, charcoal, smoke, vapor, heat—as practice, transforming materials across media. As age-old fire keepers, how do artists approach the significant challenges and opportunities of using it?
In ecology, disturbance through fire is often the prerequisite for new life, clearing and fertilizing the ground. In the Southwest, humans have long used fire for land stewardship, and more recently we’ve been complicit in forgetting this Indigenous knowledge. If not a living thing, fire is certainly animate: it breathes, eats, grows, reproduces, and dies. It is both wild and domesticated. As devastating wildfires increase in frequency, how can artists restore an understanding of fire as sacred and vital to our ecosystems?
We welcome artists engaging themes such as:
- Fire ecologies / Growth after fire, renewal
- Fire as a sculptor of landscapes
- Fire as a survival tool
- Fire and spiritual transcendence
- Fire’s emotional resonance / Passion, rage
- Fire and ritual observance / Zozobra, Burning Man
- Art media that use fire / Ceramics, glass, metals, charcoal
- Traditional uses of fire in Southwest art and craft / Pueblo pit firing, Spanish blacksmithing
- Fire as communication or narrative tool / Smoke signals, shadow puppets, invisible ink, fireside chats
- Historical fires and their contemporary resonance / Forest fires, fires of the Old West, Smokey Bear
- Fire and the birth of human civilization
- Fire and industry / Fossil fuels and combustion science, timber and coal legacies, manufacturing histories
- Fire and war / Friendly fire
- The science of fire / Controlled burns, agricultural techniques, carbon dating, cauterization
- Firefighting / Hotshots, wildland firefighting
- Fire as gathering place and domestic tool / Campfires, hearths, hornos
- Fire as initiation / Walking the coals, trial by fire
- Fire as censor / Burning books, burn orders
- Fire as punishment / Burned at the stake
- Fire as a living entity / Fire spirits, sun deities
- Astrological fire signs / Aries, Leo, and Sagitarrius
Important Dates
- Entry deadline: November 17, 2026
- All artists will be notified of the final decision by the end of December 2026. If your work is selected, you will receive further information at that time.
- Published: April 2027.
Free Info Session
To learn more about this open call for artists, the theme, and the submission/jurying process, attend a virtual info session and Q+A with the Southwest Contemporary editorial team on Thursday, November 5, 12 pm MDT.
Guest Juror: Apsara DiQuinzio
Apsara DiQuinzio is the chief curator at the Nevada Museum of Art, where her most recent exhibition, Into the Time Horizon, is currently on view and includes nearly 200 artists whose work demonstrates an abiding commitment to environmentalism. DiQuinzio has held curatorial positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, SFMOMA, and the UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) where she oversaw the MATRIX exhibition program for nearly a decade.
In addition to co-founding the Feminist Art Coalition in 2017, she is the curator and editor of Adaline Kent: The Click of Authenticity; New Time: Art and Feminisms in the 21st Century; Ron Nagle: Handsome Drifter; Harvey Quaytman: Against the Static; and Six Lines of Flight: Shifting Geographies in Contemporary Art; among others. In addition, DiQuinzio has contributed essays to numerous exhibition catalogs and has written for Artforum, Mousse, The Exhibitionist, and Cura.
Selected Artists Receive
- A two-page spread featuring their work in Southwest Contemporary Vol. 15, our Spring-Summer 2027 print issue.
- A profile article written by an SWC contributor.
- A feature on SWC‘s newsletter and social media channels.
Who Should Apply
SWC invites artists and artist collectives at any stage of their career to submit work in any visual arts discipline. All arts media are accepted: painting, sculpture, new media, performance, printmaking, fiber arts, photography, mixed media, video, installation, and more.
Requirements
- Submissions are only accepted through the form linked below.
- Submit five images/videos/audio files of different artworks (each file no larger than 10 MB. Print-quality images will be requested at a later date if needed.)
- If video files are larger than 10 MB, please submit a PDF with a public web link to the full video (Youtube, Vimeo).
- Collectives should make a single submission.
- Artist Bio must be no more than 300 words and no more than 2500 characters.
- Artist Statement must be no more than 300 words and no more than 2500 characters.
- Artwork does not need to be for sale.
- Artwork should be recent (within the last five years).
- Submission fee: free for SWC Members* / $15 for non-members.
Eligibility
- Artists (18+) primarily residing and working in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, or Northern Mexico (Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas).
- All visual arts media are accepted: painting, sculpture, digital media, performance, printmaking, fiber arts, photography, mixed media, sound, video, installation, and more.
- Artists previously featured in print by SWC within the last 24 months are not eligible.
AI Use
Artworks determined to be AI-generated will not be considered.
Submission Reviews (Optional Offer)
If you would like constructive, one-on-one feedback on your submission, we offer consults with members of the Southwest Contemporary editorial team. If you sign up for a Submission Review, you will be assigned to one of SWC’s editorial leads, and we will contact you to coordinate your 25-minute consult:
- Jordan Eddy, SWC editor-in-chief, art writer, and curator.
- Lauren Tresp, SWC publisher and editor.
These 25-minute Submission Reviews will take place via Zoom and are priced at $50.
**This offer is completely optional and has no impact on the jurying process.**
About the $15 Submission Fee:
All submission fees go toward supporting the writers, editors, contributors, and staff who make our publications possible. If you are unable to pay at this time, we understand and urge you to submit your work for general editorial consideration instead. To do so, send 3-5 samples of your artwork, your bio, artist statement, website, and any other relevant links to editor@southwestcontemporary.com. Please note that submission fees are nonrefundable and editorial coverage is not guaranteed.
Free for SWC Members:
SWC Members receive FREE submissions to all SWC open calls. Learn more about additional benefits—like access to our Industry Newsletter and Opportunity Index—and become a member here. Existing members, look out for a coupon code in your inbox, or contact us directly to request it.
About the Submission Form:
- While the form will save your progress, we recommend preparing your responses in a separate document to save your text in case of disruption.
- Have your bio, statement, and artwork media files ready for upload before you begin.
