Organizer Information
Embracing Our Differences is a Southwest Florida nonprofit organization, founded in Sarasota in 2004, that uses art and education to promote inclusion, kindness, and respect. Its first exhibition featured art submitted by 124 regional artists and drew 100,000 community members and 2,000 students to Bayfront Park. Since then, the organization has grown into one of the region's largest arts-education programs: since 2004, more than 694,000 students have taken part in its educational initiatives, including over 51,000 students and more than 2,100 teachers in the 2024–2025 school year alone. Alongside its annual outdoor exhibition, the organization runs year-round programming for schools — including reading days, teacher training, service-learning clubs, and curriculum development — developed in partnership with school districts across Sarasota, Manatee, and Pinellas Counties. Embracing Our Differences is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization and does not endorse or promote political candidates.
Title & Description
Embracing Our Differences — 2028 International Outdoor Juried Art Exhibition
Embracing Our Differences invites artists to submit original artwork reflecting the theme "Embracing Our Differences" for its annual international outdoor juried art exhibition. Selected works are reproduced as 50 billboard-size images, each 16 feet wide by 12.5 feet high, paired with a thought-provoking quotation, and displayed at multiple locations along Florida's Cultural Coast in Southwest Florida from mid-January through mid-April 2028. The exhibition is aimed at fostering understanding, connection, and positive social change through visual art, and has hosted more than 5.6 million visitors combined with participation from over 743,000 students through the organization's education programs since 2004.
Theme
"Embracing Our Differences" — celebrating the richness and complexity of human experience. The source lists illustrative (non-exhaustive) sub-themes artists may explore: inclusivity and acceptance; freedom of expression; celebrating individuality; addressing challenges and promoting resilience (e.g. bullying, discrimination, or barriers related to race, disability, language, religion, culture, or socio-economic status); and building bridges across communities.
Categories
- Visual Arts
- Multiple Disciplines
Eligibility
- Open to artists of all ages and experience levels worldwide, including professional artists, emerging artists, students, and amateur artists
- Entrants submitting through the website must be at least 13 years old; artists under 13 may participate with parent or guardian consent
- No restriction on nationality or country of origin
- Artwork must be an original concept and execution, not a copy or reproduction of another person's work
- No AI-generated artwork is permitted; entrants must be prepared to describe their process or share work-in-progress images if asked
- Artwork previously submitted to Embracing Our Differences or to other competitions may be resubmitted
- Teachers may submit on behalf of students via a separate, simplified teacher submission process
Program Benefits & Awards
- Total cash awards: $6,000 (US)
- Best-in-Show Adult: $2,000
- Best-in-Show Student: $2,000 (to be split with the student's school art or writing program, per the organizer's general program description)
- People's Choice Award: $2,000, determined by exhibition visitors and announced at the close of the exhibition
- Inclusion in a large-scale outdoor exhibition (50 selected works displayed at billboard scale) seen by high visitor volumes across multiple Southwest Florida locations
- Full credit given to the artist for their work
- Artist retains ownership/rights to the artwork, while granting the organization a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license (see Additional Details)
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Submission Deadline: 1 July 2027
- Judging: early fall 2027
- All winning entries posted on the organization's website: by early January 2028
- Exhibition display period: mid-January through mid-April 2028
Location
Florida, United States
Additional Details
- Submissions lock immediately after sending; no edits are possible once submitted (contact the organization to request an unlock if needed)
- Selection is made by a blind judging panel of professional artists, curators, and art professionals with no access to identifying information about entrants
- Selection criteria include: clarity of theme, artistic quality, effectiveness at large scale (16 ft × 12.5 ft reproduction), originality of concept and imagery, power/impact of message, and how the work contributes to the cohesiveness of the full exhibition
- Only a digital file is required for submission; physical original artwork is not requested, and mailed submission materials (prints, forms) will not be returned
- If selected, the artist grants Embracing Our Differences and its affiliates a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable license (with right to sublicense) to use, publish, modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, and display the artwork and the artist's personal information (name, age if a student, city/state/country of residence) for exhibits, catalogs, posters, advertising, education, and promotional purposes across any media; selected artists must execute additional documentation to formalize this grant
- 50 artworks will be selected for the exhibition
- Templates for creating artwork in the required dimensions are provided by the organizer