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Application Submission Deadline: Friday, July 24, 2026, by 11:59 p.m. (Central Standard Time)

Application Fee: Free for MSA Professional Members
$35 for non-members

Overview

Mid-South Sculpture Alliance (MSA) is excited to present Fiction, an exhibition held in the Todd Art Gallery at Middle Tennessee State University and juried by Thomas Sturgill.

This exhibition fosters MSA’s mission to advance the creation and awareness of sculpture in its many and varied forms and promote a supportive environment for sculpture and sculptors. Selected sculptures will offer a dynamic exhibition highlighting a variety of techniques, media and content. 

MSA Professional Member Artists are encouraged to submit up to three artworks for consideration.

Application and Exhibit Timeline

Call opens: June 12

Deadline for submission: July 24

Artists to be notified: August 17

Shipping artwork deadline: October 2

In-person delivery deadline:  October 5

Installation dates: October 5-9

Exhibition dates: October 14-November 7

Exhibition Reception: October 17

De-installation dates: November 9-10                                           

Artist Eligibility

• This opportunity is open to all professional visual artists, aged 18 and older, who are current or new Professional members of MSA. 

• Each applicant may enter up to THREE artworks; all entries must have been conceived and created by the artist submitting the artwork; all media suitable for indoor exhibition will be considered. 

•     Application is free for MSA Professional members as part of their annual membership. 

• Applying for membership can be made when submitting for this exhibition.

*Non-Members are welcome and encouraged to apply to our exhibitions- you can choose to pay the application fee or join MSA for the year. Please contact Chelsea Moulder at admin@midsouthsculpture.org for information on how to pay the application fee.

*Other benefits of MSA membership include discounted rates to our confab and conference events, representation in an artist profile on our website and links to your personal site, promotion of graduate programs, and our members newsletter keeping you informed of opportunities, exhibitions, and programming both online and in person. 

*MSA is a 501-c3 Nonprofit organization, and all financial contributions support our work to promote sculpture and sculptors in the Mid-South and across the United States. 

Juror Thomas Sturgill
Thomas Sturgill is a conceptually driven interdisciplinary artist and educator. He was born and raised in Pound, Virginia, a small company town whose heyday had long passed. Sturgill earned his undergraduate degree in sculpture from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2002, and went on to receive an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006. His work has been shown both nationally and internationally, and he creates both solo and collaborative projects. Sturgill is a founding member of the artist collective Pulled Resources. In his personal practice, he has been exploring object and human relationships, creating surprising and sometimes confusing experiences that reflect his everyday entanglement with things. He currently lives and works in Nashville, Tennessee, where he serves as Assistant Professor of Sculpture and Chair of Fine Arts at the Watkins College of Art at Belmont University.

Site

The Todd Art Gallery is located in the MTSU Department of Art and Design’s Todd Hall at 1512 Military Memorial in Murfreesboro, TN in room 224A.

Artwork Theme

Fiction

“Knock, knock. Who’s there…”

Fiction is to offer an unspoken promise. It is an invitation to look at something that never actually existed, and to ask the viewer to believe in it anyway. Long before the novel, before the screen, human beings made things with their hands. This was the original center of our meaning, a clever object constructed out of nothing, yet insisting by its own physical reality to answer an imagined problem somewhere between practice and idea.

I often find myself drawn to works that invent their own internal rules and then commit to them so completely that you forget you are being led. This is also often where the meaning comes from, not in a straight line, but sideways.

Of course, meaning is never a static thing either. It is assembled anew by each viewer that walks through the door. I am interested in this slippage, in this ambiguity. I am interested in what lies between what is intended and what is received, between your lived experience and my own, and between what is true and what we invent.

Catalogue

An exhibition catalogue documenting all accepted artworks will be produced after the exhibition run. Artwork images, artist statements and biographies submitted for the jurying process will be used for the catalogue production. 

Shipping, Installation, and Deinstallation

All accepted artwork should either be shipped or hand delivered at the artist's expense. All shipped artworks must arrive by October 2. All artworks requested to be returned by shipping must include a return shipping label. 

Shipping address:

MTSU Todd Art Gallery
Box 25
1301 E Main Street
Murfreesboro TN 37132-0025

In-person delivery:

Please coordinate in-person delivery with Rick Rishaw, Gallery Preparator, by email at Rick.Rishaw@mtsu.edu

Deinstallation 

Deinstallation will begin November 9th.

Return Shipping: All artists requesting return shipping of artworks must include a return shipping label. 

Artwork remaining on campus after 180 days following the conclusion of its associated exhibition is considered the property of MTSU Department of Art and Design for dispersal as it sees fit.

Artwork Scale

The exhibition space allows for free standing, pedestal, wall-hung and suspended pieces of varying sizes. Please contact the Gallery Preparator for suspended or wall-hung pieces weighing over 50lbs.

Limitations & Restrictions

1. All work must be original and completed within the last 5 years.

2. Wall mounted artworks must be ready to hang upon delivery and include anchoring hardware appropriate for masonry walls.

3. All shipping or hand delivery and the return of work for the exhibition is the responsibility of the artist.

4. MSA reserves the right to reject works that are misrepresented in the application process or are not properly outfitted to display in the gallery. 

Artist Responsibilities

MSA, The MTSU Department of Art and Design, and the Todd Art Gallery will supply power tools, pedestals, basic installation materials and assistance for installation. The artist will provide any specialty hardware that is needed. Selected artists are encouraged to send detailed installation instructions of artwork. If needed, Artist may opt to install their own work at this time; contact the Gallery Preparator in advance.

Notification: Both selected and rejected artists will be notified of their selection by email.

For further information regarding MSA and this exhibition, please visit www.midsouthsculpture.org, or contact Chelsea Moulder, Administrative Assistant, at admin@midsouthsculpture.org or 803.956.9876

Apply Here

Application Requirements

1. Completed entry form 
2. Artist statement - about artwork conception. Submissions should be no more than 400 words in length. These statements will be used for exhibition didactics including artist labels and exhibition catalogue.
3. Artist biography statement - 100 to 150 words in length
4. Images - please submit up to three artworks. Detail images are encouraged with a maximum of up to ten image files total. Works in progress will be considered only if images clearly depicting where the sculpture is to this point and a detailed technical drawing are included. For work better suited for representation by video (installation, kinetic sculpture, etc), post a video and include a link in the application form.

Image upload directions - each image must be:

• Saved in jpeg or png format

• Set color to RGB

• Image size should not exceed horizontal pixel dimension of 1600 pixels or vertical pixel dimension of 1200 pixels

• each file must be less than 1MB

• Saved as the artist's last name and image title.
  Example: DOE_UNTITLED.jpg

5. Image list - for each image, include:

• Title

• Date completed

• Media

• Dimensions (please be as accurate as possible)

• Weight of artwork

• Description of how the artwork would be installed/hung etc

• Optional description about the artwork

Submitting your application indicates that you have read and understood all guidelines and criteria contained within this prospectus. To the best of your knowledge, you are eligible to be considered for Fiction. Your application contains your work and the information in your statements is complete and true. You understand that if accepted, it is your responsibility to ship/deliver your exhibition ready artwork to the correct location and on time, concurrent with any schedules given to you upon acceptance. If accepted, the artwork presented with this application is the artwork that will be installed in the exhibit. 

The MTSU Department of Art and Design (and Gallery) does not provide insurance for the artwork during the exhibition. The Artist assumes all liability and any injury or damages incurred directly from the artwork or associated malfunctions of equipment/technology in the exhibition. This includes damages to networks in conjunction with internet or server access required for the exhibition.

No person will be excluded from participation in or otherwise subjected to discrimination in regards to services, programs and employment, provided by Todd Art Gallery based on color, national origin, sexual orientation, disability, age or religion. 

Gallery Floor Plan