Call for Submissions – Deadline extended to 17th October
Download the Call for Submissions in either Word or PDF format.
The Neuroscience and Mental Health Institute (NMHI) is launching the “CONNECTIONS” project: a collection of artwork and scientific images that portrays the many aspects of neuroscience, brain diseases and mental health, and where art and neuroscience meet. The NMHI invites artists, scientists and persons with relevant lived experience to submit artwork that relates to this theme.
Connections among brain cells make our brain work and determine who we are and how we feel and interact with the world. Connections within the brain and with the world around us can be lost or compromised in many brain diseases and mental health conditions. And, sometimes, they can be restored through empathy and care. From the neuroscientist to the patient, the carer and the clinician, NMHI believes that true and meaningful progress means everyone working together to understand, share, and empathize in order to promote connections, advance science, support each other and improve the life of those with neurological and mental health conditions.
The Connections project is an opportunity to showcase the connection between art and neuroscience as well as to support research at the NMHI. The NMHI at the University of Alberta is a multi-disciplinary research and teaching institute at the University of Alberta. It is home to over 150 scientists and clinicians dedicated to discovering how the nervous system works and the causes of neurological and mental health disorders, to develop new treatments and advance clinical care.
PROJECT STAGES
Artists may submit paintings, photographs, compelling neuroscience images, poetry, sculptures, multi-media artwork and other forms of expression that are in line with the “CONNECTIONS” theme. Selected artwork and images will be curated for the “CONNECTIONS” project, which will be rolled out in stages:
Stage I: online gallery hosted on the NMHI website (Fall 2021/Winter 2022);
Stage II: special edition eBook (Winter 2022) available for online purchase and printing;
Stage III: live exhibition, limited edition set of prints and fundraising event to support research at the NMHI (Summer/Fall 2022, pandemic and other conditions allowing).
Stage I and II will showcase artists and their artwork through an online platform. Artwork showcased at the exhibition/fundraising events (Stage III) and the limited edition set of prints will be offered for sale at a silent auction (upon agreement with the contributors) to raise funds to support research at the NMHI. For each original artwork sold, the contributor/artist will receive an amount agreed upon ahead of time by the artist and the CONNECTIONS organizing and art curation committee.
Artwork and images selected as part of the “CONNECTIONS” project (Stage II) will participate in a Popular Choice Contest, with online voting and the following prizes: 1st place, $500; 2nd place, $250; 3rd place, $100.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Please complete and sign the attached form and agreement and email it to nmhicoms@ualberta.ca along with photos of your artwork submission(s). All images should be saved as jpegs or TIFFs, RGB, at least 9 x 12 inches, at least 300 dpi. Please include your last name in the file name. Please also send a brief statement explaining your work and what inspired you to participate (no more than 500 characters) and a short biography (no more than 350 characters). The deadline for submissions is October 17th, 2021. The Authors of artwork selected for the CONNECTIONS project will be notified by the end of November 2021.
