Evolving Freedoms Exploring Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

Guest Juror

Katie Tackman (Philadelphia, PA), a graduate of Drexel University's photography program, is an artist, photographer, and fine art printer. She operates Butterfield Editions, which focuses on photo editing and fine art printing projects for artists.  As a founding member of Gravy Studio + Gallery, she is the studio manager and co-curator of the photography exhibits. She also manages the annual Philadelphia 2020 Photo Festival.

Evolving Freedoms: Exploring Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

How do we define freedom in the 21st century? How has the pursuit of happiness changed in the face of personal, political, and cultural transformation? This thought-provoking exhibition will bring together regional contemporary artists whose work reflects on the ever-shifting meaning of freedom in today's world. 

Evolving Freedoms invites contemporary artists to submit work that reflects on the shifting landscape of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This exhibition seeks to explore how these foundational ideals are interpreted, challenged, and reimagined through personal experience, social movements, and collective memory.

We are looking for photography and print-based works that engage critically, poetically, or personally with themes such as:

• Identity and self-expression
   
• Civil rights and social justice
   
• Cultural heritage and collective memory
   
• Environmental and economic freedoms
   
• The cost and complexity of liberty
   
• Reimagining happiness in contemporary society
   

Whether your work celebrates progress, confronts systems of oppression, or envisions new futures, we want to see how your creative voice contributes to the evolving conversation around freedom.

Submission Guidelines

• Accepting photography and print media only
   
• Up to 10 pieces per artist may be submitted
   
• All work must be original and completed within the past 10 years
   
• All submissions must include an artist statement (max 250 words) stating how your work relates to the exhibition theme. Submissions that do not include a statement or statements that do not apply to the theme will not be considered.
   
• Chosen artists are responsible for shipping/transporting their art to and from the museum. 
   

Application Portal

Submit your work via THIS PORTAL by January 31, 2026. Join us in examining the evolving dimensions of freedom—through art that challenges, celebrates, and inspires.