An artistic free-for-all: Your chance to show your stuff this weekend

A common complaint among many artists is not the problem of making the work, but of getting it out there. This weekend, the good people at Barnsdall Park are offering you the opportunity to change that.

It’s the annual Open Call L.A., courtesy the nation’s only municipal art gallery–an annual tradition in some form or fashion since 1950. You and several thousand of your closest fellow artists can waltz up with your work and take part in a gaggle-of-a-gallery-show.

It’s a “non-juried biennial exhibition open to all artists residing in Southern California,” according to the website. Think cattle casting call, but you don’t have to worry about your makeup. There are restrictions: No wet paint, no animals in the work, please, no old work. (Check here for a complete list of guidelines.)

It’s a Los Angeles tradition that dates back to 1950

Until there are 2,000 pieces on the walls, you’ve got your chance to hang. Submissions are due by this Saturday. You might even win a couple bucks in the process if the jury chooses your work best in show.

There’s possibly more to this than the gratification of saying you had a gallery show. Hutson Morris–Irvin, the vice-president of the LA Municipal Art Gallery, told me it’s not just looky-loos and fellow artists who show up to this event. Gallerists and owners of restaurants and other places that display art are among those who arrive, in search of the new new thing.

For those of us in none of those categories, the work will hang in the gallery from March 30-April 12th.