Open call application checklist

Open call application checklist

Call: ______________________________________________

Organiser: _________________________________________

Link to the call: ___________________________________

This call's limits

Write these down before anything else.

1. Read the call (ten days before)

• ☐I have read the full call text, including the terms and any FAQ.
• ☐I meet every eligibility rule, or I have asked the organiser about the one I am unsure of.
• ☐I know exactly what acceptance gives: a show, a fee, a studio, a stipend, travel, a curator's visit.
• ☐I have costed the whole thing: entry fee, framing, crate, transport both ways, insurance, travel.
• ☐I know whether the organiser keeps the work (an acquisition prize) or takes a commission on sales, and what it is.
• ☐I know what rights in my images the organiser asks for, and for how long.
• ☐I have looked at what was selected in previous years, and my work fits the brief.
• ☐The dates do not clash with a work already promised elsewhere.

2. Choose the work

• ☐I have chosen no more works than the call allows, and often fewer.
• ☐The works are recent enough for the call (some accept only the last two, three or five years).
• ☐Every work meets the call's rules on medium, size and whether it has been shown before.
• ☐The sequence opens with the work that best represents what I am doing now.
• ☐A series is kept together.
• ☐Every chosen work is available on the exhibition dates.

3. Work list and captions

• ☐Each work has title, year, medium and dimensions.
• ☐Dimensions are height × width × depth, in centimetres, the same unit throughout.
• ☐Editions are written as 3/25, and artist's proofs as AP 1/2.
• ☐Every caption in the portfolio matches the work list exactly.
• ☐No prices or valuations appear, unless the call asks for them.

4. Images

• ☐Each work is photographed straight on, all four edges visible, colours checked against the work.
• ☐Images are exported in the format and size the call states.
• ☐File names match the captions and the call's own naming rule, if it has one.
• ☐Images are in the order the jury will see them, numbered with leading zeros (01, 02, 03).
• ☐Installation or detail views are included only if the call allows them and they add something.

5. Texts

• ☐CV: exhibitions, education, residencies, awards, within the page limit, in the language required.
• ☐Artist statement: about the work as it is now, within the word or page limit.
• ☐Project proposal (residencies and grants): what I will do, why here, why now, and what will exist at the end.
• ☐Budget, if asked: every cost named, totals checked, in the currency the call uses.
• ☐Every text has been read aloud once, and read by one other person if possible.

6. Admin

• ☐Copy of passport or ID, if asked (front and back).
• ☐Proof of residence, if asked.
• ☐Letters of reference, requested at least a week ahead.
• ☐Contact details are current on every document.

7. Before you press submit (the day before)

• ☐The total upload size is under the limit.
• ☐The PDF opens on a phone, and the details I care about are still visible.
• ☐Every required field in the form is filled in.
• ☐Fee paid, if there is one, and the receipt saved.
• ☐Submitted at least a day before the deadline, not in the final hour.
• ☐I have the confirmation email or a screenshot of the confirmation page.

8. After you submit

This checklist is a practical guide, not legal advice. The call's own terms always come first.

From samlio.com/resources/open-call-application-checklist