Organizer Information
Manifest Creative Research Gallery is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization founded in May 2004 by Cincinnati-area professors and students, and continues to be operated by professors, students, and working artists in the East Walnut Hills neighborhood of Cincinnati, Ohio. Its programming is divided into four areas — Gallery (exhibitions), Press (publications), Artist Residency (support), and Drawing Center (education) — and the organization is funded through a mix of artist-supported revenue, Ohio Arts Council funding, grants, membership support, and individual donations. Manifest Press has a long-running publication record, including full-color exhibit catalogs and its International Drawing, Painting, and Photography Annuals. Within this framework, Manifest is launching its 23rd exhibition season with The Sweep of Time: Beyond the Horizon, presented as a participating venue project of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial.
Title & Description
The Sweep of Time: Beyond the Horizon
This is a juried open call for lens-based art, open to all traditional and non-traditional photographic and light-based media, including mixed-media work with a dominant lens-based component. The exhibition is presented as a participating venue project of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial, titled "The Long View," and marks the launch of Manifest Gallery's 23rd exhibition season in Cincinnati, Ohio. The call invites artists to explore the relationship between the photographic moment and what persists beyond it — drawing on Marcus Aurelius's idea of contemplating "the sweep of time" as a way of finding orientation in longer arcs of history, memory, and continuity. Works may address any subject, era, or form; the exhibition is organized around an orientation of expanded vision, in which an image holds both the immediate and the enduring within the same frame.
Theme
Time as subject, symbol, or environment; the horizon as literal landscape or conceptual threshold; and distance, duration, memory, or continuity. The exhibition is presented as part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial theme, "The Long View."
Categories
- Photography
- Video/Film
- Light Art
- Multimedia
- Mixed Media
- New Media
- Media Arts
Eligibility
- Open to everyone internationally
- Entries must be original works that address the exhibition's stated theme
- Open to all traditional and non-traditional photographic and light-based genres and media, including mixed-media work with a dominant lens-based component
- No date restriction on when the work was made (though most submitted work is typically made within the past five years)
- No fixed size limit beyond what can fit in the gallery's space; artists with potentially oversized work are asked to contact the gallery directly
Program Benefits & Awards
- $50 cash honorarium for every exhibiting artist
- $1,000 Grand Jury Award given during each of Manifest's nine exhibition periods across the 23rd season (including this exhibition), selected via a re-jury process from top-scoring works across all shows
- Option for artists to sell exhibited work, with the artist receiving 70% of the sale price
- Option to purchase the season's Manifest Exhibited Artists (MEA) publication at half price if exhibited, or free for solo exhibitors
- Discounted (40% off) pre-order pricing on the season MEA publication available to all entrants at time of entry
Application Fee
$45 for up to three entries; $5 for each additional entry. Fees are non-refundable and must be paid by U.S. check or money order payable to Manifest, or by credit card via PayPal (a PayPal link is provided after the entry form is submitted).
Application Requirements
- Completed online entry form
- Entry fee payment (check, money order, or PayPal)
- Digital images of each entry, uploaded to the project Dropbox link provided after form submission
- Images must be high-quality JPEG, no smaller than 1000 pixels in any direction, at 72dpi
- Files named using the artist's last name, underscore, first name, and entry number (e.g., Jones_Mike_1.jpg); detail/installation/alternate-view images must include the word "detail" in the filename or will be counted and charged as separate entries
- For video, motion, or interactive work: a link to a full-length, no-login-required viewing copy (e.g., YouTube, Vimeo, Dropbox), plus one representative JPEG image per entry; video links must remain valid through notification of results
- Notes on presentation (framing, mounting, non-traditional display, etc.) should be included in the entry form's notes field for each work
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 19 July 2026
- Notifications Sent: 17 August 2026
- Hi-Res Images Due (for season annual and PR): 24 August 2026
- Artwork Due at Manifest: 19 September 2026
- Special Preview Event (ticketed): 24 September 2026
- Opening Reception: 25 September 2026
- Final Day of Exhibition: 23 October 2026
- Pick-up of Hand-Delivered Work: October 24–31, 2026
- Shipped Artwork Pickup Scheduling: 28 October 2026
Location
Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
Additional Details
- Selection is a two-part process: an anonymous multi-member jury panel of professional and academic advisors reviews entries, then the exhibit curator makes final selections from the jury-approved pool
- Manifest retains submitted images of accepted work for publications and gallery publicity; artists retain full copyright of exhibited work
- Accepted work must arrive gallery-ready; work that differs significantly from entry images or shows poor presentation may be disqualified
- Artists are responsible for all shipping costs to and from the gallery; shipped work must include prepaid return shipping
- Gallery insurance covers theft, vandalism, and on-premises damage by patrons or staff, but does not cover shipping damage or damage from artist-provided mounting/materials
- Work must be marked as "for sale" or "not for sale" on the entry form; sale price and status cannot be changed after the submission deadline
- Manifest retains a 30% commission on sold artwork
- Only the most recently submitted entry form is retained if an artist submits more than once; a new form with all works must be submitted for any additional entries
- Award structure is subject to revision based on funding circumstances, as it is supported by Manifest's Annual Fund