I am excited to announce the next call for artists submissions for the forthcoming show ‘Sanctuary’.
‘Sanctuary’ - Exhibition opens 13th April - 25th May 2025
Oddly I stumbled upon the theme for this show during my last exhibition here at the gallery during November 2024 when I read and shared a poem on Instagram exploring ‘Sanctuary’. Today as I write this the theme seems so pertinent & relevant.
The concept of sanctuary is integral to human nature—gathering in safe spaces, building spiritual havens, and discovering who we are beyond our mundane daily life. A sanctuary is steeped in intention, reverence, and peace. It is often a physical place of refuge where the imprints of truce exist.
Sanctuary - noun
refuge or safety from pursuit, persecution, or other danger.
"his sons took sanctuary in the church"‘
Sanctuary declares that beyond a certain ‘line in the sand’ law and justice must give way to mercy; to the need for respite.’ - Angela Graham
I want to explore what sanctuary means right now - what is it that we need to create a sanctuary? How does a sanctuary feel? And how is that expressed via creativity and within art? For me the following words feel important: Connection, compassion, empathy, love, understanding, community, shelter, peace, warmth, kindness, safety, protection, nurturance… there are so many more!
And then there is the need for us to generate space within our homes - a place that feels safe - a place where we can care for ourselves and those whom we love - this is kindred to us all and may provide healing. Nature offers sanctuaries, too: mountain peaks, old growth forests, the lull of the ocean’s tides, the expansive sky painted with ephemeral cloud formations. When we tune into our external ecosystem, we naturally come home to our inner self. The nervous system calms, the mind clears, and our whole body recalibrates. Creating a sense of personal sanctuary can envelope us - we receive what matters and it gives us the faith to carry on.
“Sanctuary is… …a place of refuge from danger, threat, injury, and fear. It has been recognized since ancient times—and scientific research has validated this — that for physical and emotional healing to occur, people need such a protected space in order to allow time, healers, and the natural powers of recovery to work their magic.” From, Destroying Sanctuary“
“There is no perfect organization. Few of us have experienced emotionally intelligent environments of perfect safety, where honesty and openness prevail and there are no secrets, where continuous learning from conflict is the norm, where decisions are routinely made by democratic consensus balancing individual needs with the common good, where justice is accorded to everyone, or where loss is compassionately understood and honoured as a key factor in change and everyone shares in a drive toward a better future.
Sanctuary is a place, a mission, a way of life, a state of being. It is a space of refuge and tranquility, where life is sacred and trauma is healed, where humans and other animals are free from harm and live in peace with dignity.” - Sandra Bloom
Here’s the poem that led me to want to explore Sanctaury:
There Must Be Somewhere
that is safe from violation.
Childhood. Being son, or daughter. Pregnancy,
old age, infirmity – none of these.
The corridors of hospitals, asylums, refuges
– places we thought were sacrosanct –
are roamed by predators
and though the innocent fox has his earth
and the birds of the air their nests, we are un-homing
ourselves and ravaging even our own minds.
Yet we hope for sanctuary, a nook out of the wind,
shelter in the cwtch of someone’s overcoat,
a harbouring gaze, if nothing else.
I often think about that song The Parting Glass.
The last toast raised, the one who has to leave
steps out, across the threshold, into the turbulent night;
that brilliant room
(where the worst of him was known, forgiven, shouldered)
remains his compass, carried always.
Nowhere is safe. We know that.
And we know that somewhere is
because we’ve been there, irrefutably,
and we can find it,
open its door,
return to the welcome that we left.
There must be somewhere - by Angela Graham
I would love to receive an array of work which you as artists feel explores Sanctuary: pretty much anything that fits seamlessly with this theme: both literally and metaphorically.
‘Sanctuary’ - Exhibition opens 13th April - 25th May 2025
Submissions Criteria & Information:
Please ensure that you read all of the information below before submitting your work.
Open to all artists resident within the UK.
Open to all disciplines including ceramics and sculpture.
Open to artists aged 18 and over.
All work must be available for sale
No reproductions/giclee prints of originals accepted. However we do accept photography and digital work etc.
Maximum number of pieces submitted per artist - 3.
Maximum measurements: including framing - 75x75cm
Maximum price including gallery commission £750
Submission to the call out is free/no fee - however if selected to exhibit in the show there will be a £20 per artist exhibition fee payable on selection.
If selected you will need to deliver & collect your work to/from the gallery prior to the show or send via courier/post. And this includes any unsold work at the end of the show too. All costs incurred re; delivery/post/collection will be covered by the artist.
Artists will be solely responsible for insuring their artwork whilst it is in transit prior to and after the show.
A submission form must be completed and emailed to: theoldlockupgallery@gmail.com - you’ll find the form at the foot of this webpage. Along with JPEG’S: See below.
Submission forms can be downloaded, printed off and handwritten/completed - and a photograph sent as a jpeg if you prefer/find it easier. Please make sure any photographs are easy to read/decipher.
PDF’s/JPEG’s of your work/embedded into a document will not be accepted.
CV’s and artists statements are not required. Selection is based purely on the work that you submit.
Good quality JPEG’s of your work: with no blurring and cropped to size - with no background showing must be emailed along with your submission form to the above email address: attached in one email only - please don’t send separately.
File names for your JPEGS will need to be the title of your work or an abbreviation of the title.
You must be able to deliver work on Sunday 6th April 5.30-6.30pm or Monday 7th April 3-5pm.
We accept postal deliveries of work - work must be scheduled to arrive on 4th April.
We are able to return unsold work via post - however this option is only available to artists who live outside of a 1.5 hour travelling radius of the gallery.
If selected the gallery commission on any sales is 50%.
All artists will be contacted re; selection etc by approx 24th March.
All works will need to be framed - unless on a box frame/stretched canvas or board. All pieces ready to hang with D rings and chord as appropriate. No mirror plates.
Due to the high volume of submissions received no feedback will be available at any point throughout the submission/selection process.
We are now OPEN for submissions to the call out for the show and we warmly welcome you to step forward and submit your work up until the deadline of the callout on 19th March at 11pm.
It’s advisable that you download the form prior to this as this webpage will be removed at 11pm on the 19th March.