Open Calls at The Fishbowl

CALL FOR ART: Colors of Expression

Colors of Expression

Seattle is an epicenter of glass and queerness. And still, glass as a field remains predominantly white, male, and institutionally gatekept.

Colors of Expression aims to shift that landscape.

For March, The Fishbowl is curating a group exhibition celebrating queer, trans, and BIPOC glass artists working in the region. Drawing from glass terminology—where “coefficient of expansion” governs compatibility and change—this exhibition considers how expression expands, shifts, and resists containment when artists are given room to work on their own terms.

Glass is often framed as transparent, neutral, or universal. In practice, it is shaped by access, labor, heat, and control. This exhibition centers artists whose work challenges dominant narratives within glass and expands what the field can look like, feel like, and hold.

We welcome work that engages glass in any form or relationship, including but not limited to:

  • Blown, cast, kiln-formed, or cold-worked glass

  • Installation, sculpture, or architectural approaches

  • Wearable, functional, or body-based work

  • Upcycled, reclaimed, or experimental uses of glass

  • Mixed-media work where glass is central to the concept or process

We are especially excited by work that:

  • Challenges traditional hierarchies and expectations within glass

  • Uses color, opacity, layering, or surface as expressive tools

  • Engages queerness, identity, lineage, labor, or access

  • Expands definitions of glass beyond institutional norms

This is not a technical competition or a purity test. We are interested in range, voice, and intention, not mastery as defined by dominant institutions.

Eligibility: This call is open to queer, trans, and/or BIPOC artists working with glass who are based in or connected to the region with priority given to those who are living at the intersection of QTBIPOC identities.

Exhibition Details

  • Exhibition Month: March

  • Location: The Fishbowl, Seattle

  • Submission Deadline: February 14th, 11:59 PM PST

  • $15 ‘hanging fee’ upon acceptance.

    SUBMIT HERE