submitted
What if the answer to the question, “where are you from?” was not a place, but the thing that feels like home?
A handmade gift from a cherished friend. A favorite song that takes you back to your childhood. A photograph you look at every day.
Wisconsin residents living within 125 miles of the Arts Center and Arts Center members are invited to submit an object, artwork, or short story to the open call Home is a Teddy Bear exhibition, inspired by John Green’s essay, “Teddy Bears.” Green writes, “Home is a teddy bear, but only a certain teddy bear at a certain time.” The exhibition of submitted works will share the objects and stories that, at one time or currently, feel like home.
This year, the Arts Center’s Considering Kin theme asks visitors to reflect on how people connect with each other, nature, and other species. Often, these connections are foundational in creating places and feelings of home. Throughout a lifetime, humans look to objects, songs, stories, movies, and photographs to hold these feelings of connection and belonging.
The Home is a Teddy Bear call closes Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, 5:00 p.m. CST. Apply to share your object and stories here. Paper applications are available in the Social STUDIO at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center, 608 New York Ave., Sheboygan.
Home is a Teddy Bear opens late 2023, date to be announced. Objects must be delivered to the Arts Center by Wednesday, Nov. 1, 2023. Information about delivering objects to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center will be shared after the call closes to the email address provided in the application.
This call is not juried, and there is no fee to apply. It is open to all ages. Groups or families may create a submission together; however, group participants may not submit additional, individual entries. All submissions will be accepted at the discretion of Arts Center staff, based on adherence to the guidelines listed below. Work may be rejected if deemed inappropriate for family audiences.
Examples of objects and stories include:
- Handmade items and original artwork
- Photographs
- Household items and material culture, such as objects important to the person’s culture, books,clothing, jewelry, souvenirs, toys, artwork, decorative and functional objects
- Short videos or original songs (4 minutes or less)
- A story about a connection to a song.
Open Call Guidelines
Wisconsin residents who live within 125 miles of the Arts Center, or any Arts Center member, can submit one object and short story that represents a feeling or place they consider “home.”
• One object and story allowed per person. If the object is larger than 18x18x18 inches, contact Xoe Fiss at xfiss@jmkac.org to discuss your submission.
- If submitting both an object and a story, the story must be connected to the object.
- Stories can be up to 1,000 words.
- No natural items (bird nests, plants, etc.) or food allowed. If you feel the most connected to anatural object or food, we encourage you to use photography and storytelling to share yourconnection.
- Minors 17 and younger must complete a submission form with an adult/guardian.
- If submitting an object or artwork, the application must include an image of the object/artwork anddimensions.
- The Arts Center will monitor the exhibition, however there is no insurance covering the objects ondisplay in this gallery. All participants must sign a form waiving the Arts Center’s liability for anydamage to the submitted object.
- There is no compensation for participation, mileage, or shipping costs for drop off and pick up.Any related costs to participating are the responsibility of participant(s).
- Objects must be picked up no later than one month after the close of the exhibition in Spring2024, date to be announced. If the work is to be shipped back to the participant, a prepaid label must be provided with the object.
About the John Michael Kohler Arts Center
Founded in 1967, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) is dedicated to generating creative exchanges between an international community of artists and a diverse public. Central to its mission is promoting understanding and appreciation of the work of self-taught and contemporary artists through original exhibitions, commissioned works of art, performing arts, community arts initiatives, and publications.
The Arts Center’s collection focuses primarily on works by artist-environment builders, self-taught and folk artists, and works created in the Arts/Industry residency program. JMKAC is the world’s leading center for research and presentation of artist-built environments.
In June 2021, the Arts Center opened the Art Preserve, a satellite campus highlighting its collection of 25,000 individual works of art by more than 30 art-environment builders. The Art Preserve features immersive displays of art environments and curated visible storage of environment components. It also serves as a resource for research on art environments and the artists who create them.
The John Michael Kohler Arts Center is located at 608 New York Avenue, Sheboygan, WI. The Art Preserve is located at 3636 Lower Falls Road, Sheboygan. Admission to both is free. For more information, call 920-458-6144, or visit jmkac.org, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
The John Michael Kohler Arts Center is supported by corporate and foundation donors, government grants, and its many members. The Arts Center is not an entity of Kohler Co. or its subsidiaries.
Hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Thursday: 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday: 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.
Location
John Michael Kohler Arts Center: 608 New York Avenue, Sheboygan, WI Art Preserve: 3636 Lower Falls Road, Sheboygan, WI