2026 APPLICATION
2026 APPLICATION
APPLICATIONS CLOSE OCTOBER 31, 2025
EWB 2026
MARCH 8TH — APRIL 11TH, 2026
PEN + BRUSH, NYC
PUNK-ROCK REVIVAL OF THE CARNIVALESQUE
WE'RE BACK! NEW HOME, NEW THEME, SAME BAD-ASS SALON STYLE SHOW!
A century ago, movements like Cabaret, Dada, and Surrealism were artists’ responses to social and political unrest. One hundred years later, we ask: What are we building in a troubled world that’s moving faster than we can grasp?
Our answer? SPECTALiA. In an age of distracting algorithms and spectacular seduction, we’re blurring binaries—of gender, canvas and screen, sense and nonsense.
We want your punk rock, carnivalesque absurdity, your abstraction, your spectacle, your strange and delightful, quiet resistance, your digital dissent. Here, joy becomes our most subversive act.
Think of these as suggestions, not literal directions or interpretations. We're looking for a broad scope of work that embodies your definition of the theme. Surprise us!
This isn’t just a show…it’s a world-building spell.
Join us!
WHO CAN APPLY
Open to women and non-binary artists of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities.
This year, choose from four categories.
Apply for as many as you like, but accepted artists will be selected in only one category.
VISUAL ARTS
painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, photography, textiles, mixed media
PERFORMANCE
music, spoken word, dance, performance art
INSTALLATION
large-scale, multi-part works (tech or analog)
NEW MEDIA ARTS
video, XR, projections, AI, interactive, physical, hybrid works