5 Mistakes Artists Make When Submitting to Open Calls

You found the right open call. The theme resonates. The deadline is weeks away. You submit and then you don’t hear back.

It’s a familiar experience for many artists, and it’s rarely about the quality of the work itself. More often, it comes down to how the work was presented, small, fixable things that make a real difference when a curator is reviewing dozens or hundreds of submissions.

Here are the five mistakes that come up most often, and what to do instead.

Mistake 1: A low-quality photograph of the artwork

This is the most common and most damaging mistake of all. A blurry photo, bad lighting, a visible watermark, or a skewed angle can make even an exceptional piece look mediocre on screen. The curator cannot see through the photograph to the real work. What they see is what they judge.

You don’t need professional photography equipment to get a good result. A few simple steps make a significant difference:

Photograph in natural, indirect light – near a large window on an overcast day is often ideal
Keep the camera parallel to the work – no angled shots
Use a plain, neutral background – no floors, furniture, or frames in the shot
Check the file size and resolution before uploading – minimum 1500px on the longest side, under 10MB
No watermarks, filters, or digital overlays on the image

The curator cannot see through the photograph to the real work. What they see is what they judge.

If your work is 3D sculpture, mixed media, ceramics, choose the angle that communicates the piece most clearly. A second detail shot can sometimes help, but most open calls accept only one image, so make it count.

Mistake 2: A generic artist statement

The artist statement is the part most artists rush through or recycle from a previous submission. This is a missed opportunity.

A generic statement that describes your practice in broad strokes tells the curator very little about why you’re submitting this specific work to this specific exhibition. A tailored statement, one that speaks to the theme and explains your personal connection to it, shows that you’ve engaged with the call seriously.

The difference looks like this:

Generic: “I paint landscapes inspired by the natural world and the passage of time.”
Tailored: “This painting began as a study of tidal erosion, the way water slowly removes what seemed permanent. For me, it connects to the theme of Traces through the idea that absence can be as expressive as presence.”

Keep it between 80 and 150 words. Write in your own voice. The statement doesn’t need to be literary – it needs to be honest and specific.

Mistake 3: Submitting work that doesn’t connect to the theme

Themed exhibitions are built around a central idea. The curator is not just selecting strong works – they’re building a coherent visual and conceptual conversation between them. A technically excellent piece that doesn’t speak to the theme creates a gap in that conversation.

This doesn’t mean the connection needs to be literal. A theme like “Traces” or “Open Waters” is intentionally open – it can be interpreted abstractly, metaphorically, or emotionally. But the connection should be genuine and visible in both the work and the statement.

Before you submit, ask yourself: if someone read the theme description and then looked at my work, would they understand the connection? If the answer is not immediately clear, either choose a different work or use your artist statement to make the bridge explicit.

Mistake 4: Incomplete or inaccurate artwork details

Leaving fields blank, entering approximate dimensions, or misspelling the title of your own work are small errors that signal carelessness. In a competitive selection, details matter.

Double-check before you submit:

Artwork title – exact spelling, capitalisation as you intend it
Medium and technique – be specific (e.g. “Acrylic on Canvas” rather than just “painting”)
Dimensions – width × height in cm or inches, as the form requests
Year of creation – the year the work was completed
Email address – check for typos; this is how the gallery will contact you

Also: fill in your website and social media links even if they’re marked optional. If your work is selected, these links appear in the exhibition and the catalogue, free, permanent visibility for your profile.

Mistake 5: Submitting at the last minute

Most galleries have a hard deadline – and “close to the deadline” is not the same as “before the deadline.” Technical issues happen: the upload fails, the form times out, your internet drops. Submitting in the final hours leaves little room to make fixes.

There’s also a subtler reason to submit early: you’re more likely to make good decisions about your work when you’re not rushing. Choosing the right piece, writing a considered statement, checking your image quality all of this benefits from time.

When you find an open call that interests you, set a reminder for three to five days before the deadline. Prepare everything: image, statement, details in advance, then submit when you’re calm and confident rather than under pressure.

A quick checklist before you hit submit

Artwork image: sharp, well-lit, minimum 1500px, no watermark
Artist statement: specific to this work and this theme, 80–150 words
Theme connection: visible in both the work and the statement
Artwork details: complete and accurate – title, medium, dimensions, year
Deadline: submitted at least a few days early

Ready to submit?

Marea Gallery runs themed open calls for visual artists worldwide. Each edition is built around a single theme and curated personally by Tamara Perusic. Browse the current open call and submit your work at Marea Gallery.

New to the submission process? Read our step-by-step guide: How to Submit Your Artwork to an Online Gallery