The art selected for “UNcommon/UNconventional” should capture, suggest, or evoke feelings of wonder, appreciation, and joy in the singular places and people who make up Virginia Commonwealth University and the urban landscape of Richmond, Va. This exhibit is related to VCU’s identity, which is built on the concept that there’s nowhere else like this and no one else just like us, that in a world of the common, VCU is the uncommon.  

Paintings, illustrations, animations, short soundless films or photographs, any visual forms, are invited. Submissions should be created by faculty, staff, students, alumni or local artists. Works created using Artificial Intelligence programs are not eligible for display. The exhibit will run through the summer Orientation season months and into the fall semester of 2024 through Weeks of Welcome.

The large digital screen on the front facade of the Monroe Park Campus library building is a high-profile exhibit space designed to delight the VCU community with public art.

Submissions should be created by faculty, staff, students, alumni or local artists. Works created using Artificial Intelligence programs are not eligible for display. The exhibit will run through the summer Orientation season months and into the fall semester of 2024 through Weeks of Welcome.

Works (a digital file) should be submitted no later than Monday, June 17, 2024, using this submissions/permissions form. Artists retain all rights to their work.

The artist’s name and title of the work will be published in a companion news article/ blog posting published on the VCU Libraries home page and/or on other VCU channels.  

The selection committee will award one Best in Show honor among the exhibitors. Honorable mentions may also be given.