Art + Design

Knauer Gallery

• Location: Swope Music Building
• Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday | 9am - 4pm
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• The Knauer Gallery (located in the Swope Music Building) features exhibitions centered in art and design from around the world.
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• All programming, including receptions and talks presented in the gallery, is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact: artinfo@wcupa.edu. 

Take a digital tour of previous exhibitions hosted by West Chester University through our Digital Exhibition Experience.

John H Baker Gallery

• Location: E.O. Bull Center for the Arts
• Gallery Hours: Monday - Friday, 9am - 4pm | Saturday, By Appointment Only

All programming, including receptions and talks presented in the gallery, is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact: artinfo@wcupa.edu. 
 

Take a digital tour of previous exhibitions hosted by West Chester University through our Digital Exhibition Experience.

Baker Annual: Regional Open Call 

West Chester University
Department of Art + Design  
John H. Baker Gallery  
E.O. Bull Center for the Arts, 2 E Rosedale Ave, West Chester, PA 19383  

About the Exhibition 

West Chester University's Department of Art + Design invites submissions to the John H. Baker Gallery 2026 exhibition: Regional Open Call. This juried exhibition seeks to highlight the vision, range, and innovation of artists working across the region of PA/NJ/MD/DE/NY. Through this annual showcase, the Department of Art + Design aims to foster community engagement, promote dialogue across disciplines, and support artists who are shaping the evolving landscape of contemporary art. 
Artists are encouraged to submit work that expands or reimagines their chosen medium, contributing to a dynamic and forward-thinking exhibition. Each artist is asked to submit three works to be reviewed by two jurors, who will select artwork to be curated into the exhibition. In addition to the exhibition, artists will be eligible for three awards granted by the jurors, in amounts of $300, $200, and $100 dollars.

Make $15 Application Fee Payment here

Baker Annual: Open Call

2026 Jurors

Libby Rosa

is an artist, curator, and teacher working in Philadelphia, PA. Rosa creates paintings, sculptures, and site-specific installations featuring shape-shifting and embedded imagery that push the boundaries of built environments. She received her BFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2015) and her MFA from Cornell University (2019). She's been featured in Whitehot Magazine, Canvas Rebel, Artblog, David Zwirner's Platform Interview: One Day, New American Paintings, Maake Magazine, and Inertia. She's had recent solo exhibitions at Ortega y Gasset Projects (Brooklyn, NY) and Blah Blah (Philadelphia, PA). She participated in recent group shows at Current Space (Baltimore, MD), SPRING/BREAK Art Show (New York, NY), J, Mother-In-Law + Field Projects for Upstate Art Weekend (Germantown, NY), Hide and Seek (Portland, OR), MASS Gallery (Austin, TX), and Hexum (Montpelier, VT). Rosa has attended residencies at Tongue River Residency (Dayton, WY), Trestle Art Space (NYC, NY), ASMBLY Session #1 (NYC, NY), and VCU SSP (Richmond, VA). She curates for Peep Projects, a nomadic gallery space in Philadelphia, PA, and for the Philadelphia waterfront. She founded Peep Project in 2020, a nomadic gallery in Philadelphia, curates public art along the Philadelphia Waterfront with DRWC and teaches at Fordham University.

Leah Triplett

is a curator and writer based in Philadelphia. She is currently Curator of Contemporary Art at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), where she is co-organizing the 2026 reinstallation of the permanent collection (of 283 objects), including the reinterpretation and presentation of select artworks from 1960 to the present. She has also spearheaded the return of the Morris Gallery, PAFA's exhibition space for artists who have not previously had an institutional showcase. Exhibitions for PAFA include Kati Gegenheimer: We've Only Just Begun (2026), the East Coast presentation of William Villalongo: Myths & Migrations (2025), New Horizons: Recent Contemporary Acquisitions (2025), and Artists as Cultivators (2024). Previously, she was the curator for Boston's Now + There, organizing thirty temporary, site-specific public artworks throughout the city and co-founding the Public Art Accelerator for emerging artists interested in bringing their work beyond the studio. She has also organized exhibitions for Boston University Gallery, Praise Shadows Art Gallery, Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, Trestle Gallery, the Herter Gallery, and others. Her writing has appeared in publications such as ArtAsiaPacific, ArtNet News, The Brooklyn Rail, C-Mag, Flash Art, Hyperallergic, Public Art Dialogue, and Sculpture. 

Awards 

Baker Annual: Regional Open Call will honor three artists with awards, granted by the Jurors and presented at the opening reception.  
Artwork Awards 
First Place $300  
Second Place $200 
Third Place $100  
(Individual award amounts or honoraria may be announced at the time of acceptance.) 
Required Non-Refundable Entry Fee 
$15 for up to three (3) submissions 
(Paid upon completion of the submission form). 

Deadline + Dates 

June 15, 2026: All entries and fees must be submitted by June 15, 2026, by completing this form: Baker Annual: Regional Open Call - West Chester University 2026   
An automatic confirmation email will be generated after successful submission. Limit 1 submission of three artworks per artist.  
June 15-21, 2026: Jurors meet to review submissions  
July 15, 2026: Artists will be notified of decisions by July 15th, 2026 
August 14 + 15, 2026: Artwork must be dropped off to John H Baker Gallery in the E.O. Bull Center for the Arts at 2 E Rosedale Ave, West Chester, PA 19383  
September 9 – Reception for Exhibition, artist talks, and announcement of awards 
October 14– Closing reception for Exhibition 
October 16 + 17, 2026 – Artwork Pick-up 

Eligibility 

Regional artists are invited to submit up to three works for consideration: 
Artists must reside in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, New York or Maryland. 
Artwork may be in any medium (see video submission guidelines below). 
Eligible artists cannot be current students, employees, or immediate family of employees of West Chester University. 
Submitted work must have been created within the past three (3) years (2023–2026). 
Work previously exhibited in either the Baker or Knauer Gallery is ineligible. 
All accepted work must be ready to hang or display. 
Maximum height for any installed piece is 83 inches; larger works may be considered if they can safely pass through gallery doors. 
The work submitted for jurying must be delivered—no substitutions or alterations are permitted. 

Fine Print 

Inclusion in the exhibition is at the discretion of the jurors; not all submissions will be accepted. 
Payment of the entry fee does not guarantee acceptance. 
Submissions received after the deadline will be deemed ineligible and refunded. 
Artists (or their designated couriers) must hand-deliver and retrieve accepted works within the specified timelines. 
Delivery and pickup costs are the responsibility of the artist. 
Artwork is not insured by West Chester University; artists should coordinate their own insurance if possible.  
Artwork not retrieved within 14 days of the exhibition closing will become property of the University, unless alternative arrangements are mutually confirmed in writing. 

Questions? 

Lauren Pakradooni- Associate Professor of Art, West Chester University 
Lpakradooni@wcupa.edu  

Questions? please email Lauren Pakradooni, Associate Professor of Art at lpakradooni@wcupa.edu