Artists and curators from Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands are invited to submit proposals for Xchanges’ next Gallery season

Submissions for our 2026-27 Public Exhibitions Program (September 2026 to June 2027) is now open. The deadline for submissions is February 28, 2026. Xchanges may extend this deadline at its discretion.

Decisions regarding submissions will be made by early April 2026.

Xchanges encourages a range of visual arts mediums with a particular interest in exhibiting the diverse practices of artists in the early stages of their career and those who have taken a new departure with their work.

Xchanges is committed to exhibiting the work of artists from diverse and/or marginalized communities including Indigenous, Black, Persons of Colour or Racialized persons, artists with accessibility challenges, and gender and sexually diverse artists. We recognize that these artists may need some additional supports (non-financial) to bring their work to the public. Artists are encouraged to share this information in their application, so we may include this when considering all applicants and how we can support them.

Please see the Gallery Archives for previous exhibitions and events: https://xchangesgallery.org/historical-archive-of-gallery-shows/

To be considered complete, submissions must include the following items:

1. COVER LETTER – 1 page maximum. Include artist’s name, email address, phone number, and mailing address. Please note, email is the primary method we use for communications.

2. EXHIBITION PROPOSAL – 1 page maximum. Include any special requirements.

3. CURRICULUM VITAE – 2 pages maximum

4. ARTIST’S STATEMENT – 1 page maximum. Please write this in plain language. If you need help, please contact us. Your voice should be in the first person (I, me)

5. ARTIST’S BIO – 150 words maximum. Please write this in the third person using your pronouns (he/his/she/hers/they/theirs)

6. FIVE to EIGHT IMAGES of ARTWORK or AUDIOVISUAL PERFORMANCES

Format Requirements: JPEGS, 500KB – 1MB, 72 dpi, 1024 x 768

All images/video files must be labeled with SEQUENCE#, FIRST INITIAL, LAST NAME-TITLE-YEAR PRODUCED (example: 1KSMITH-TITLE-2019)

Failure to follow this format may result in the rejection of your submission.

Additional Notes

Xchanges Gallery exhibition cycle for this call commences in September 2026.

Xchanges pays an artist fee for the exhibition, and if the artist chooses to give an artist talk, they will be paid a fee for that, as well. Fees are determined in August when all funding results are known.
Selected artists are expected to install their own work and are required to gallery sit during the three weekends of the exhibition.

After their exhibition, artists are required to restore the exhibition space and walls to pre-exhibition condition.

Artists who have participate in an exhibition at Xchanges within the previous two years are not eligible for the 2026-27 season, although they are eligible to participate in a group exhibition.

The gallery floor space is used for other purposes during times when exhibitions are not open to the public. Please note that anything that is not affixed to the walls will be moved and should be easily movable.

Xchanges does not return submissions and will dispose of material appropriately.

The gallery jury committee will review all proposals submitted. Additional material will not be reviewed.

A final note: Your application is scored and ranked based on the work submitted and how you describe your project. So, it is important you communicate your ideas concisely and clearly for the jury. Incomplete submissions will not be reviewed.