Call for Entries: Art that Matters to the Planet

Art that Matters to the Planet: Beyond Beauty

Fee: $15.00
Entry Deadline: 01/09/26
Call Type: Exhibitions
Eligibility: International
State: NY

March 28 – August 2, 2026

The Roger Tory Peterson Institute in Jamestown, NY, invites artists to submit work for our fifth annual juried exhibition of Art that Matters to the Planet.

Art that Matters to the Planet explores the ways in which art and artists matter – by drawing us into a deeper relationship with nature, opening hearts and minds to the critical challenges of our time and inspiring us to the solutions we need to address those challenges.

Each year, the theme for this exhibition draws inspiration from the work of Roger Tory Peterson, typically his series of field guides. Our 2026 theme, inspired by A Field Guide to Wildflowers, is titled Art that Matters to the Planet: Beyond Beauty. This exhibition will focus on flowering plants across the country and what they can teach us through the dual lenses of science and art. More than just a pretty face (Stamen? Pistil? Calyx?), flowers play vital roles ecologically, biologically, culturally and spiritually.

We are pleased to announce that Heeyoung Kim will be serving as the juror for 2026. Kim is a wildflower painter who contributes to the public awareness about native plants and nature conservation. She is also the first living artist to be represented by the renowned natural history art gallery Joel Oppenheimer Gallery in downtown Chicago.

With Art that Matters to the Planet: Beyond Beauty, we will consider three main themes:

• Advocacy. More than depicting beautiful plants, we encourage submissions from artists who incorporate investigations of, knowledge about, and advocacy for the wild flowering plants of North America.
• Species-based artworks. In order to foster conversation with Roger’s artwork, we raise the question of how the wildflower species listed in the field guide currently are faring. We hope to see artworks that share the unique spirit of the wilderness around you in a way that inspires us to discover it or rediscover it through new eyes. 
• Environmental impact. With this exhibition, we hope to learn more about how our flowering plants are doing. What do you see? How can art help us see and feel what is happening, and connect us to these flowering plants?

Artists will be judged based on three criteria:

1) Originality: artwork that explores dynamic ways to communicate, and demonstrates the persuasive role that artists can play in advocating for the preservation of our earth.
2) Personal voice or vision: artwork with an authentic and unique point of view and style, especially in regards to the artist’s understanding of/research about their subject(s).
3) Technical skill: artwork that uses technique to advance an original perspective or a personal vision or voice, and shows skills being utilized to create something unique, powerful, and innovative.

We are especially interested in interdisciplinary projects which have demonstrable environmental impact, and which creatively combine art and science in order to reflect on the relationship between society and nature. In a world of exceptional natural beauty and overwhelming environmental challenges, help us to make a case that art is indispensable to create a better world.