View these guidelines on a PDF file HERE
Individual artists, exhibition curators and art groups are invited to submit one or multiple exhibition proposals to the Bath House Cultural Center’s Visual Arts Coordinator for review by a proposal review committee.
The Bath House gallery season runs from August 1st through the end of July of the following year.
Submission Deadline
Proposals are only accepted in the months of January and February. Proposals submitted after the deadline will not be reviewed until the next cycle. Exhibitions are booked 18-24 months in advance to afford the Bath House Cultural Center time to secure program funding and organize the finest quality programs of interest to the community.
Review Criteria
All the proposals submitted for consideration must align with the vision and guiding principles of the Bath House Cultural Center and the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture (OAC), as well as the policies of the City of Dallas Cultural Policy.
Proposals will be reviewed with the entire BHCC programming season in mind and with goals including, but not limited to:
• Uniqueness of project
• Professionalism and artistic merit of proposal
• Projects that are collaborative and involve more than one artist
• Scheduling flexibility
• Outreach/education opportunities
• Demand on BHCC resources (funding, staff)
• Work that has not previously been shown in Dallas
Projects that fail to meet the requirements set forth by the Exhibition Policy of the Bath House Cultural Center will be disqualified. A copy of the Bath House’s Policy for Exhibitions can be accessed HERE.
E-mailed proposals will not be accepted.
Submitting a Proposal
Please visit our online proposal portal at https://form.jotform.com/223556166338057 to submit your proposal.
Please read this document entirely before visiting the link to make sure that you understand our policies and requirements.
When filling out the online form, you will be asked the following questions:
1. Contact Information
Contact Person, Address, Phone number, e-mail address, website address (if applicable).
2. Narrative
Details us about your proposed exhibition. Because we receive a large number of proposals every year, we ask artists to please keep their narrative section short. Usually, two or three paragraphs are all that is needed to describe a project thoroughly.
Include the follwing information with you narrative:
- Concept of the show
- List of participating artists
- Media included in the exhibition
- Estimated number of pieces included in your project
- Gallery desired (Main Gallery, Hall Gallery, Lobby). Please refer to the gallery blueprints at the end of THIS PDF.
- Desired dates/months for exhibition (the staff and the committee make the ultimate decision on the dates assigned for all the exhibitions).
- Explain why this exhibition needs to happen at the Bath House and what the potential benefits of this exhibition would be to the Citizens of Dallas, the BHCC, and you as an artist or organization.
3. Supporting Materials
You will be asked to upload 7-10 photographs of the artwork that is being proposed. Include a checklist with the titles, and description of the size and media of the artwork with your proposal. We also welcome other information, such as artist statements, resumes, reviews, video links, promotional images, etc. that can be used to support your proposal.
Review of Proposals
A committee consisting of the BHCC Staff, OAC Staff, and members of the visual arts community carefully evaluate and rank the proposals based on their adherence to the Bath House Cultural Center’s overall programming and mission statement. After the review, the committee will make recommendations based on their overall assessment of all the proposals. Slots will then be assigned based on these ratings, consideration of the overall BHCC season, and a fair distribution of slots to as many qualified artists as possible.
Exhibitions will be booked based on the recommendations of the proposal review committee, as well as the availability of gallery space and cultural program funding. The gallery season is a combination of recurring annual exhibitions and gallery programs, exhibitions curated in-house, and exhibitions selected from the pool of submitted proposals. Usually, about 7 proposed exhibitions are booked every season.
Notifications
The proposal review is often a lengthy and comprehensive process. Please do not call or e-mail the staff of the Bath House Cultural Center to inquire about the results of the review. Artists are usually notified about the results of the proposal review in the month of May or June of the year when the proposals are submitted. However, please note that this date is subject to change.
The staff is not authorized to provide information about the status of a proposal before the official notifications have been sent out. Thank you for your patience.
The Bath House Cultural Center is a facility of the City of Dallas Office of Arts and Culture, that is dedicated to fostering the growth, success and quality of the arts in Dallas. The Center emphasizes innovative and diverse visual and performing arts programming throughout the year.
Good Luck!
Enrique Fernández Cervantes,
Curator / Visual Arts Coordinator
(214) 670-8723
