Banner art by @escot_mexcal & @purplegat3
2021 Tsuru for Solidarity Virtual Art Gallery
We’re so moved by all of the powerful and heartfelt work submitted for our 2021 Tsuru Call for Art!
Click through our online gallery below to check out all the amazing art submissions!
Congratulations to our grand prize winners!
Click the image for the title and artist information. We'll be hosting a limited run print pre-sale in mid November of these prints -- so keep an eye on our social media! All proceeds will benefit Tsuru for Solidarity's continuing liberation work.
We're so excited to feature additional artists' submitted work as a sticker set:
Origami sculpture submissions
Thank you to all the incredible artists who submitted work to our 2021 call!
All works displayed here are the intellectual property of the artists who created them, and are copyrighted with all rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction, copying, transmission, sale, or distribution is strictly prohibited. To request reprint permission, you may contact Tsuru for Solidarity or contact the artist directly.
Calling All Artists! Submit Your Art:
From our first protest as Tsuru for Solidarity in Dilley, Texas, artists have uplifted and amplified our work through posters, protest signs, and other forms of creative expression.
Through a generous grant, Tsuru for Solidarity is pleased to announce a call for art based on our 2021 priorities. The goal of this call is to continue amplifying Tsuru’s mission through art.
“The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.” – Toni Cade Bambara
Overview:
We are seeking art submissions that are inspired by or in conversation with Tsuru for Solidarity’s priorities. Please visit our website and social media to learn more. Subject areas can include but are not limited to:
- Close the Camps: Ending Child and Family Detention
- Prisons, Policing, Surveillance: Japanese American Resistance to State-Sponsored Violence
- Japanese Americans and African Americans Advancing the Movement for Reparations
- Healing Intergenerational Trauma in the Japanese American Community through healing circles, direct actions, and connecting to our legacy and histories.
- The “tsuru” (or origami crane) as a symbol of peace, hope, and solidarity
- Building community
- Solidarity: “Being the Allies We Needed,” “Never Again Is Now,” “Stop Repeating History,” “Kodomo No Tame Ni”
A handful of selected artists will receive the following benefits:
- their art (or high quality photograph for 3D pieces) converted into prints to be sold as fundraisers for Tsuru for Solidarity. Artists will be consulted on these products.
- a stipend of $500
- receive online amplification of their work through Tsuru’s social media.
- be part of an online group exhibition at tsuruforsolidarity.org with other submitting artists
Finalists submitting work that fits the criteria will receive the following benefits:
- be part of an online group exhibition at tsuruforsolidarity.org with other submitting artists
- online amplification of their work through Tsuru’s social media.
Application Timeline:
- Application opens Monday, May 24, 2021
- Application closes Monday, June 28, 2021 at 11:59 p.m. PST
- Applicants notified by Friday, July 09, 2021.
We will not accept applications submitted after the deadline to respect applicants who did submit before the deadline.
Eligibility:
- Art can be pre-existing or new.
- Artists must be the original creators of their work.
- Eligible, visual-based disciplines include: 3D, animation, architecture, ceramics, comics, craft, design, digital art, drawing, folk art, film, illustration, installation, murals, naive art, new media, painting, performance (presented in a visual art context), photography, printmaking, public art, sculpture, sound art, and social practice, traditional art, video, and VR/AR/XR. (This list is comprehensive, but we recognize that other visual-based disciplines might be eligible as well. Please contact us if you have any questions.)
Selection Criteria / Selection Panel:
Applications will be equitably evaluated based on the artist’s successful capture of one or more of Tsuru’s priority areas listed in the Overview section above.
Applications will be reviewed by a visual-based selection panel of artists and activists. We will prioritize individuals who have been directly affected by incarceration, or who are descendants of such harm. We will also give priority considerations to artists who have historically been undervalued in awards, recognition, and support including: BIPOC, disabled, femme, gender non-conforming, LGBTQ2SIA+, and non-binary.
Application Materials:
Required:
- A short artist statement (Max. 200 words)
- A short statement of interest in this particular call and sample description(s) (Max. 400 words): Why is this call meaningful to you? How do you describe the work you are submitting?
- You may upload a maximum of two (2) images or videos — or one (1) of each. File naming protocol: YourLastName_YourFirstName_ImageTitle (example: Sato_Yuri_Freedom.jpg)
- Image(s) you are submitting for this call. Please upload a clear image in JPEG format, File Size: under 5MB; File Size: minimum of 1200 pixels on the longest side. Up to two (2) images may be submitted for consideration. (If you are one of the winning artists selected, you will be required to submit a high-resolution image file.) Please include title (if any), medium, dimensions, year created.
- Video(s) you are submitting for this call. Please upload .MP4 or .MOV
File Size: under 100 MB; resolution: minimum 640 x 480, maximum 1920 x 1080; aspect ratio: 4:3 or 16:9; bit rate: recommended above 240 kbps; frame rate: minimum 12 fps, recommended 30 fps. Up to two (2) videos may be submitted for consideration. Please include title (if any), medium, dimensions, year created.
Privacy:
As an applicant, your data and content will be viewed by Tsuru for Solidarity Communications Committee members and the selection panel. We will publicly announce the chosen recipients.
Contact Information:
If you have any questions about eligibility, submission, or anything else, please email Erin Shigaki at tsuruforsolidarity@gmail.com . Please put Tsuru Call for Art in the subject line.
Tsuru for Solidarity 2020 Art!
Click on the image for the title of the art and artist information.
