How to Run an Open Call for Artists: The Complete Process

Introduction

Running an open call for artists means defining your brief, building a submission form, promoting the call, collecting and reviewing entries, notifying artists, and reporting on results, typically over a 6–10 week cycle.

The process usually breaks into five stages: planning the brief and criteria, setting up online submissions, promoting to reach the right artists, reviewing and shortlisting, and closing out with notifications and reporting.

Most of the admin burden sits in collecting and organising submissions and the judging, which is why most organisations now use a dedicated online form rather than email.

What Is an Open Call for Artists?

An open call is a public invitation for artists to submit work, usually for an exhibition, residency, commission, award, or publication.

There’s nearly always some sort of defined brief and a deadline. Anyone meeting the eligibility criteria can apply, as opposed to a closed call where only invited artists can respond.

Open calls are used across the creative sector for exhibitions, artist residencies, public art commissions, literary prizes, music submissions, and funding programmes. The core mechanics are the same regardless of discipline: define the brief, set eligibility and deadlines, collect submissions, review against criteria, and notify outcomes.

The term is sometimes used interchangeably with “call for entries,” “call for submissions,” or “call for artists,” but they essentially all describe the same process.

How Long Does It Take to Plan an Open Call?

Every call is different but as a rule of thumb, plan for 6–10 weeks total: 1–2 weeks for planning and setup, 3–5 weeks for the submission window, and 2–3 weeks for review and notification.

A shorter window (under 3 weeks) reduces submission volume and disadvantages artists who plan around multiple deadlines. A longer window (over 6 weeks) doesn't significantly increase quality but does increase admin overhead, since late questions and last-minute submissions trickle in for longer.

How Do You Write a Brief for an Open Call?

A good brief states what you're looking for, who can apply, what artists need to submit, the deadline, the cost of entry (if there is one) and what happens after. If unsure, check a site like Starving Artists or ArtConnect to see what live calls look like.

Cover these points:

1. The opportunity — exhibition, residency, commission, award, or publication, and what it offers (fee, exposure, exhibition space, materials budget). If there is an entry fee, be clear on what that fee is and what it is used for.
2. Eligibility — geographic restrictions, career stage, medium, theme requirements. State exclusions clearly (e.g. “not open to students currently enrolled”).
3. What to submit — number of images, type of images, file formats, word counts for statements, portfolio links.
4. Selection criteria — who is on the judging panel and what are they actually looking for. Vague criteria produce irrelevant submissions and frustrated artists.
5. Timeline — submission deadline, notification date, and key dates for the opportunity itself (install dates, residency dates).
6. Compensation and costs — fee structure, who covers production or travel costs, and whether there's an application or entry fee.

Artists forward briefs to peers when the opportunity and criteria are unambiguous. Vague briefs get fewer quality submissions, not more submissions overall.

How Do You Collect Submissions Online?

Use a dedicated online submission form rather than email. Forms standardise the information you receive, handle file uploads in one place, and create a single record you can filter and review. Emails do none of this and cause a whole plethora of admin issues. Read Why Creative Organisations Are Moving Away From Email for Submission Management.

To set up online submissions:

• Choose a form tool. Google Forms works for very small or one-off calls but has no review workflow, management capabilities, file size limits, and no way to anonymise submissions for blind judging. Dedicated submission platforms (Dapple, Submittable, SlideRoom) add file handling, reviewer access, and status tracking.
• Build the form to match your brief. Fields should map directly to your selection criteria — don't ask for information the panel won't use.
• Set file requirements. Specify accepted formats (JPEG, PNG, PDF, MP3, MP4), maximum file sizes, and number of items. Do you require close-ups of images? Create an extra attachment field with instructions.
• Test the form yourself before publishing.Submit a test entry to check confirmation emails, file uploads, and that required fields behave as expected.
• Set form availability. Open and close automatically at your stated deadline, so late submissions aren't a manual problem to manage.
• Publish the form link wherever you promote the call — your website, social channels, and listing sites.

Google Forms vs. a Dedicated Submission Platform: Which Should You Use?

Use Google Forms for very small, low-volume, single-cycle calls. Use a dedicated submission platform once you're running calls regularly, handling more than roughly 30 entries, or need a review panel to access submissions directly.

The hidden cost of the free option isn't the form itself — it's the hours spent exporting responses, renaming files, and building a tracking spreadsheet from scratch every cycle.

Here's the 10 best practices for creating a high-converting submission form. Read the guide.

How Do You Promote an Open Call to Reach Artists?

Promote through channels where artists actively look for opportunities: listing sites, your existing mailing list and social channels, and relevant networks or unions in your discipline and region.

Effective channels include:

• Open call listing sites — platforms like Starving Artists, ArtConnect or Artinfoland aggregate opportunities and are actively searched by artists.
• Your own mailing list and social channels — your existing audience is your highest-conversion channel because they already know and trust your organisation.
• Discipline-specific networks — artist unions, regional arts councils, and subject-specific forums reach artists who match your eligibility criteria more precisely than general listings.
• Partner organisations — other galleries, residencies, or programmes with overlapping but non-competing audiences will often share calls reciprocally.

Post the call as soon as the form is tested and live — don't announce before the form works, since early interest that hits a broken link doesn't come back.

How Do You Review and Shortlist Submissions?

Score submissions against the same written criteria you published in the brief, using a shared scoring system the whole panel applies consistently, then shortlist before making final selections.

• Distribute submissions to the review panel— give reviewers access to all entries plus the scoring criteria and any anonymisation requirements (blind judging removes names and identifying details before review).
• Score independently first. Panel members review and score before group discussion, to avoid early opinions dominating.
• Compare scores and discuss outliers. Focus discussion on submissions where scores diverge significantly.
• Shortlist before final decisions. A shortlist round narrows the pool and makes final selection meetings shorter and more focused.
• Record decisions and reasoning. Brief notes on why a submission was or wasn't selected save time when writing feedback or reporting to a board.

Without a shared rubric, panels default to subjective preference, which is harder to defend if challenged and harder to write meaningful feedback from afterward.

How Do You Notify Artists After an Open Call?

Notify successful and unsuccessful applicants separately, on the date stated in your brief, using templates so the volume of messages doesn't create a backlog.

Successful applicants get a personalised message confirming next steps, key dates, and any actions required from them (contracts, further information, install logistics).

Unsuccessful applicants get a templated but warm message. Avoid generic “due to the high volume of applications” language where possible. Give a one-line note on what the panel was looking for if nothing else. Remember, some of these artists may have paid a sizeable entry fee.

Notify on the date you said you would. Artists plan around multiple open call timelines; late notification has knock-on effects for them.

Offer feedback selectively if resourced. Blanket feedback for high-volume calls usually isn't sustainable — be upfront if feedback isn't offered, rather than implying it's available.

Best Practice for Running an Open Call

• Write the brief and selection criteria before building the form — the form should serve the criteria, not the other way round.
• Test the submission form yourself before publishing, including the confirmation email and file upload.
• Set a realistic submission window (3–5 weeks) rather than maximising for length.
• Use a shared scoring rubric for the panel, agreed before review begins.
• Notify on the date you stated, even if the outcome isn't finalised — artists value certainty over speed.
• Capture submission and outcome data as you go, so your post-call report doesn't require reconstructing the cycle from memory.
• Keep a record of this cycle's brief, form, and rubric — most of it is reusable next time, and rebuilding from scratch is the single biggest time cost in running calls.