Studio 825 Willy Street proudly hosts the inaugural Summer 2019 Phoenix Memorial Project Gallery Series, kicking off a monthly series of gallery hosted exhibits featuring both local and national artists.

Studio 825 Willy Street comprises of the offices for the non-profit group Phoenix Memorial Project, meeting and program space and monthly gallery exhibits taking full advantage of the two floor, 1700 sq. ft space. Located at the base of the Willy Street Neighborhood in Madison Wisconsin, the area is comprised of the state’s finest restaurants, pubs, art galleries and artist cooperatives.

The Cause: The Phoenix Memorial Project ( www.bethephoenix.org ), a 501(c)(3) applied not-for-profit organization was started to continue the passionately humanitarian mission of Andrew “Drew” Nesbitt. Drew strongly believed his life’s mission was to help those challenged with one of three prime issues: LGBTQ, Mental Health and Homeless outreach. This battle cry became most prevalent after Drew was viciously attacked during a 2011 hate crime. And then his triad of 3 human concerns ultimately came full circle again when he was attacked and killed in his Madison home in 2017 by a homeless man, struggling with mental health and LGBTQ challenges. The tragedy was well journaled in the press in Madison in 2017 and a documentary is set to be released on Investigation Discovery’s “See No Evil” season 5, episode 13 “Happy Birthday to Drew” https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9682684/?ref_=ttep_ep13 releasing May 15, 2019.

Drew’s family immediately started planning the Phoenix Memorial Project in 2017 to help raise the conscience of these topics during the murder trial, but it became obvious the struggles of others should not meet the same demise as Drew. His burning desire and spirit in giving and helping will forever be known as his Phoenix, and as the “Be The Phoenix” movement grows, more people are to be helped in a wide variety of ways.

In the spring of 2019, the non-profit group secured the building at 825 Williamson Street to house the offices for volunteers, meeting space for stakeholder groups and rooms for programs and therapy sessions. As this 1911 building was being restored and Drew’s artwork was being deliberated room to room, the idea of hosting rotating art exhibits and events came to fruition. And so we proudly announce the first exhibit to coincide with the project’s first open house. During the exhibit, the whole two levels of the building will be cleared and turned into 4 large gallery spaces to feature many artists chosen for each event.

Open call for artists of all ages, emerging and established, working throughout the world. All mediums are accepted, including but not limited to: painting, sculpture, design, glass, metalwork, photography, mixed media, video, and installation art.

Each application must be accompanied by an entry fee of $25 (for 6 images/submissions) or $35 for 10 images/submissions) made through paypal once you have completed the submission process. All images must be in .jpg format and all videos must be in .mov format.

All submissions must be for sale, and all winning entries are subject to a standard 25% gallery sales commission payable to the Phoenix Memorial Project upon sale.

The artist is responsible for all shipping costs including return shipping of all unsold work and import/export duties and taxes.

Important Dates
Submission period: May 12, 2019 to 6pm May 28, 2019
Finalists Announced: May 30, 2019
Exhibition Opening Night: June 7, 2019
Exhibition Closes June 10, 2019

Jury and Curator: This exhibit will be juried by an anonymous several member volunteer panel of professional artists and academic advisors with a broad range of expertise relative to art and design. While the subject “Phoenix Rising” is of importance to the venue, artists are encouraged to submit their own interpretations, or be void of any theme. The jury will then pass along their recommendations to the exhibit curator who will design the exhibit from the jury-approved pool.

Online submission process:

– Online submission is available by emailing submissions to [email protected] , with online payment: paypal or venmo instructions to follow. Details upon submission
– Do not send original artwork until word of acceptance.
– Please include the following with each submission(s):

Artist’s Name
Address, City, State, Postal Code
E-mail Address
Phone number
Number of total submissions
Method of submission
Payment method
Title(s)
Medium
Size
Price (retail)
Artist’s Bio (250 words max)
Artist’s Statement for submitted piece (inspiration, process, meaning, etc…)
Any special requirements required for display or performance

– Electronically submitted entries only. Thank you.