Call for Writing: home/land
Open to: Queen’s University students in all disciplines/levels of study
Deadline: Monday, May 12, 11:59pm EST
Union Gallery invites Queen’s University students in all disciplines to submit writing to be included in our upcoming zine, Writing in the Gallery, volume two: home/land. We are looking for short pieces of writing—including, but not limited to, essays, reflections, exhibition reviews, and artist interviews—that relate to Union Gallery’s programming between May 2024 and April 2025.
Writers may submit either a completed draft (800 words maximum; depending on the number of pieces selected, the editing process will require pieces to be cut down to ~400-600 words) or a pitch (100 words detailing the proposed piece of writing, what format it will take, and how it will engage with UG exhibitions/programs and the theme of home/land).
Your writing does not have to be formal or academic in style—the ideal submission is thoughtful, easy to read, and clearly engaged with our annual curatorial theme of home/land. We encourage you to write in your own voice with a broad public audience in mind.
We will not accept writing that has been previously published; however, pieces that were originally written as class assignments are welcome. While we appreciate contributions by UG artists, we ask that you not submit pieces about your own artwork—the aim of this project is to develop writing that responds to the gallery’s programming from a visitor’s perspective.
More information about this opportunity can be found below and on the application form. you have any questions or require accommodations during the submission process, please reach out: ugallery@queensu.ca / 613.533.3171
ABOUT WRITING IN THE GALLERY
In Winter 2024, Union Gallery ran a pilot project: a student writers’ group, facilitated by UG board member and Art History MA student Anna Douglas. Bolstered by visiting artist Adrien Crossman’s writing workshop, the group got together periodically over several months to write, edit, and reflect together on the 2023-24 curatorial theme of radical play.
Three pieces written by members of the group—two essays and an artist interview—will be included in the first installment of UG’s new annual zine series, Writing in the Gallery, volume one: radical play (upcoming May 2025).
The second installment of Writing in the Gallery will focus on our 2024-25 curatorial theme of home/land (to be published September 2025). We are opening this call to all Queen’s students.
The zine will be made available in print (black and white with a colour cover) and online (colour). While this is not a paid opportunity, writers will receive 10 complimentary copies of the zine, and we will make sure that there is a permanent link to the online edition that can be used in writers’ CVs/portfolios. Your writing remains your own, and you are free to publish it elsewhere after the publication of the zine.
ABOUT HOME/LAND
Our 2024-25 curatorial theme of home/land centres Indigenous stories of kinship, harvest, healing, resistance, and dreaming—expanding the conversation outward to include other perspectives on the idea of belonging to place.
Examples of theme-related programming from this year:
Home Sweet Home - community youth exhibition https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/home-sweet-home
illusive.site - Elizabeth Hunt https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/elizabeth-hunt
Fertile Ground - reading group https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/fertile-ground
Artists in the Garden - gardening collective https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/artists-in-the-garden-2024
Twofold Residency - https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/twofold-residency
The Garden of Forbidden Fruits and the Laws of Cosmic Consciousness - Kelby James https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/kelby-james
Collaging Kingston - Grace Dixon https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/grace-dixon
3rd Annual Indigenous Art Exhibition - Agnes + Office of Indigenous Initiatives https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/indigenous-art-exhibition-2024
the lands refusal - Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet and Julie Rose Sutherland https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/the-lands-refusal
Making Sense of Decolonization - Carleigh Candice Mignonne Milburn https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/carleigh-candice-mignonne-milburn
Growing Pains - Twofold Residency Artists https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/growing-pains
On the Back of a Swan - Nyssa Komorowski https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/nyssa-komorowski
we carry each other - student group exhibition https://www.uniongallery.ca/posts/we-carry-each-other
TIMELINE + KEY DAYS
Submissions deadline: Monday, May 12, 11:59pm
Notification of selections: Saturday, May 24
First drafts due: Monday, June 9
Editing process: June-July
Final drafts due: August (date TBD in consultation with the writers)
Publication: September
For future editions of Writing in the Gallery, we plan to issue a call for writing in the Fall semester, culminating in a late Winter term publication as we close our curatorial year. If you are interested in writing about our 2025-26 curatorial theme, in this economy?!, subscribe to our newsletter for updates.
EQUITY STATEMENT
Union Gallery is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our programming and operations. UG welcomes applications from qualified individuals of all sexualities, races, gender identities, socioeconomic statuses, and (dis)abilities. We strongly encourage applications from equity-seeking communities. UG recognizes that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour), QPOC (Queer People of Colour) and 2SLGBTQIA+ (Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Questioning, Intersex, Asexual, +) are disproportionately underrepresented within institutional art spaces. Due to ongoing systemic barriers, UG prioritizes applicants who self-identify as BIPOC, QPOC, 2SLGBTQIA+. If you would like to, please indicate if you self-identify as a member of any equity-seeking groups in your submission.