Creator Royalties #047: Do's and Don'ts of Applying to Open Calls

January 09, 2024

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🤗 This week's edition of Creator Royalties is about how to get yourself published as part of the HUG 100, and more broadly speaking, the do’s and don’ts when applying to an open call.

Scroll down for our usual rundown of weekly artist grants and opportunities, as well as art drops.

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The Do’s and Don’ts of Applying to Open Calls

From museum institutions to private galleries and big brands to small businesses, art open calls are a common way to connect an artist and their work with exhibitions, grants, residencies, and other opportunities.

In 2023, HUG curated 68 unique Open Calls to the tune of 15,935 submissions from 3,926 individual artists— to say we’ve seen it all is an understatement!

In today’s issue, we’ll share the do’s and don’ts from the thousands of submissions we’ve seen to give you actionable advice on how best to apply to open calls. We hope that this will help you maximize your chances when applying to get published in HUG’s 100 Artists To Watch (as well as in other open calls!), whose jury features several curators from leading art institutions.

Let’s get started.

What is the HUG 100?

Open to artists of all mediums and experiences, the inaugural edition of HUG 100 Artists to Watch will spotlight exceptional artists who are shaping the future of art and creativity. This prestigious list will be printed and produced in Germany as a hardcover book, and be made available at the Danish Royal Library in Copenhagen.

To help us decide on the final list, we are thrilled to share HUG’s full curatorial jury, which includes curators from both traditional and non-traditional art institutions:

The HUG 100’s Curatorial Jury

Now that we’ve discussed what the HUG 100 is, let’s talk about how an artist like you and/or an artist you admire can become one of them by optimizing a submission for this exciting open call.

The Don’ts - Preventing Automatic Rejection or Disqualification in Open Calls

First, here’s what NOT to do.

Curating is a highly personal decision dependent on an individual curator’s expertise, experience, and needs. One of the best ways to optimize your open call submission for this opportunity and others is to look at common causes for rejection and then actively work to avoid them.

It’s worth noting that the following has nothing to do with the quality of art or skill of the artist, with even the most expert of creators falling victim to these mistakes.

Our 3 Don’ts to Prevent Rejection

  1. Don’t make incomplete submissions
    Accidents and oversights can happen, but incomplete submissions occur more frequently than you’d think. Many curators may take a zero-tolerance policy on incomplete submissions, especially when there are hundreds or even thousands of works to review in a short time.

  2. Don’t submit inaccurate information

    Did you send in the requested file type? Is the information you shared correct? Can you confirm that any links you shared are functioning? Always review details, complete any requirements, and check your submission for quality assurance before you send it in. An inaccurate submission may require almost as much effort as an accurate one but usually has zero chance of getting selected.

  3. Don’t submit work that misaligns with the opportunity

    Misalignment of an art submission to an open call is one of the more unfortunate reasons for rejection, more so if the art is especially remarkable. An artist must consider the needs of a curator detailed in an open call when selecting which piece to submit.


    For example, since the HUG 100 is a traditional publication opportunity, submissions with high-quality still images that will accurately translate to print have a higher likelihood of being selected over video.

💡 Our tip

There’s an old rhyme: A thorough review makes errors few. 

One of HUG’s unique offerings with Open Calls is that participating artists are granted the ability to edit their submissions up until a deadline closes. You can navigate to your existing submissions by logging into your HUG account. It never hurts to check your work before you wreck your work.

The Do’s - Tell Your Story Effectively

Next, here’s what you should do.

One of the unique features of our open call for the HUG 100 is that we are inviting our curatorial jury to review a submission’s accompanying Artist Profile to get to know an artist better.

❓ What is a HUG Artist Profile?

If you’re new here, HUG Artist Profiles are the ultimate tool for an artist to have their work seen, shared, and celebrated.

Designed with the needs of artists, curators, and collectors in mind, a HUG Artist Profile empowers an artist to share more about themselves and their work while connecting them with new audiences.

Showcase your personal brand with your HUG Artist Profile

Everyone has a personal brand, whether they know it or not! The more concise and consistent you are with sharing your artistic vision and practice through your personal brand, the more likely you are to capture attention and leave an impression.

Like other social platforms, HUG Artist Profiles have features that each serve as an opportunity to share more about yourself. Here’s our do’s to make the most of it:

  1. Do utilize existing design features

    Utilize your profile picture, banner, collections, and updates to showcase your brand. While leading with art in a personal brand is important, it’s just as critical to check your page for any errors such as misspellings, grammar, and even broken links.


  2. Do write an engaging artist bio

    An artist bio is one of, if not the most effective marketing tool you have at your disposal. Your bio serves as an effective summary of your resume and should be an easy-to-understand digestible paragraph that leaves the reader with a basic TL;DR of who you are. Aside from your open call submission, your bio may be the most important opportunity to get selected by curators.


    Read our previous and one of our most popular issues, How to Write the Perfect Artist Bio, for more tips on how to accurately share your medium, themes, techniques, and personal background.

  3. Do spotlight your identity and art mediums

    HUG Artist Profiles offer optional identity and medium tags to improve your discovery.

    Many curators HUG collaborates with take an inclusive approach to curation — something we covered in our 3 Art Curation Trends to Watch in 2024, and choose to diversify their final selections. Accurately portraying yourself may thus help a curator connect with you in unexpected ways by adding further context and dimension to your work.

Closing thoughts

Deadline extensions aside, time is an artist's most valuable resource. Deliberately setting time and attention aside to review details and ensuring quality can be the difference between adding a new accomplishment to your resume or missing out.

There’s only so much in your control, so control what you can. Even in the most competitive of Open Calls, having slim chances is still better than having none. Either way, every experience is one you can learn from. Good luck! 🍀

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Artist Grants & Opportunities

📣 Open Calls have arrived on HUG! Visit thehug.xyz to discover your next Open Call opportunity, from grants to gallery showcases, and more.

Want to host your very own Open Call? Submit your interest here.

HUG-exclusive

📚 HUG 100 Artists to Watch Get your work in front of curators from the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), Christie’s, the Society of Illustrators, etc.! This prestigious list will also be published as a hardcover book. Learn more and submit here.

  • 💗 Get your artwork acquired by Pulsr! AI-powered discovery engine Pulsr is collecting on-chain artwork in collaboration with creator platform Zora. Learn more and submit here.

  • 🐱 Calling all cat lovers! Artist and curator, Mani Saemi, is calling for cat-inspired artwork of any medium to be a part of a new NFT art collection, where part of the proceeds will go towards homeless street cats. Learn more and submit here.

  • 🌎 Baroque-style artwork on Foundation Pixel Palette Nation is looking for Baroque-style artwork to be a part of their World on Foundation. Learn more and submit here.

  • 🪐 Calling space-themed work for a new blockchain and earn $300-600 Join the Eclipse community, a new L2 blockchain on Ethereum. Selected artists will be commissioned $300-600 for space-themed work that will be made available as an open edition. Learn more and submit here.

  • 👯‍♀️ Seeking awedacious women artists! AWEDACITY Conference 2024 is seeking 30 women artists to display at their upcoming virtual art exhibition, "BEING AWEDACIOUS". Learn more and submit here.

  • 💰 HUG is offering $500 USD grants to two artists each month in exchange for unminted artwork to raffle off to our community. Learn more and meet all our HUG Visionaries here.

Other Opportunities

  • 🎵 Musicians, if you are looking for opportunities, check out this incredible list curated by Ladidai!

  • 🇦🇺 ArtCrush is holding an Open Call for work to be displayed all over Australia in February. Learn more.

This Week’s Art Drops

🤗 Have an upcoming art drop you’d like to share? Or an upcoming exhibition or opportunity for your fellow artists? Make use of our Artist Updates feature on HUG, or email [email protected], so we can share it with our 10K+ readers.

Did you know that these are just 8 of hundreds of art drops on HUG? Get a full list of this week’s art drops from HUG here.