On Display September 24 – October 11, 2025

Closing Reception will be October 11 from 4 – 6 PM at Circle Gallery

Work on Display   Artists on Display   Watch The Virtual Awards Ceremony

Introducing the Fall Member Show

Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) invited all MFA members residing in the United States, DC, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Mexico to enter the 2025 Fall Member Show. All original 2D or 3D work created was considered. The selected works will be on display at MFA’s Circle Gallery from September 24 to October 11, 2025.

Click this icon to view and print the downloadable prospectus.

Juror: Caroline Lillian Schopp: Professor of the History of Art at Johns Hopkins University.

Caroline Lillian Schopp holds a PhD in Art History from the University of Chicago (December 2017), an MA in Cultural History and Theory from Humboldt University of Berlin (2010), and a BA in Art History and German from Harvard (2008). Before joining the faculty of Johns Hopkins, Caroline was Guest Professor of Art History, Art Theory & Aesthetics at the Berlin University of the Arts (UdK) and taught for several years in the Department of Art History at the University of Vienna. Current research and teaching focus on performance and body art, textile arts, public sculpture and memory culture, art and the critique of violence, and kitsch.

Juror’s Statement

It has been my sincere pleasure to serve as juror for the Maryland Federation of Art Fall 2025 Member Show. There were no limitations on media for the show, and the selection criteria were capacious, encompassing “communal meaning,” “openness,” and “stickiness.” Selecting from the nearly 400 submissions was a challenging task, and I commend all of the artists who submitted for doing so.

The works that captured and maintained my attention not only reflected the beauty and complexity of our present, but also intervened in and reoriented it. I was impressed in particular by works that articulated textured perspectives; works that practiced patience, whether in their formal construction or the careful framing of a relational ethos; and works that dwelled on moments enigmatic, fleeting, and funny, but also startling or bewildering.

Figural techniques and the assemblage of found materials offered arresting insights into the object relations that define our contemporary moment, often suggesting the significance of historical precedents and retrospective thinking. Meanwhile, abstraction – across diverse media – emerged as a strategy to re-constellate historical time: The deep past persisted as a fossil in flux, shaping the sense of futurity that informs our present. Many works confronted the present in all of its technological capacities, drawing on both concrete technological materials and the disembodying discourses of social media. Most compelling were those works that disclosed the contingency of such technologies on slowly unfolding ecological and environmental conditions. As exemplified by the works of the awardee of best in show, the fleshy body is uncannily implicated in the material and discursive structures of new technological media. Fragmentary yet undiminished, this body persists as a site of immense energy, longing, and tenderness.

In fraught times traversed by hasty speech and horrible expressions of violence, I was struck by the patience, care, and even optimism that pulsed through the submissions. I congratulate everyone in the exhibition, and share my gratitude with everyone who entered work for their creativity.

– Caroline Lillian Schopp

Awards

Awards total $700.

  • $500 is designated by the juror.
  • $100 Conley Award for 3D work chosen by Susi and Rob Conley.
  • $100 Friends of the Arts (FOTA) Award chosen by Wil Scott and announced at the end of the exhibition.

Best in Show

  • Ghosting and Social Climbing by Esperanza Alzona

Juror’s Choice

  • We’re Gonna Hafta Sow The Seeds and Tomorrow Will Be Kinder by Linda Popp
  • Focused, Fleeting and Flat Out Tired and Guard by Nancy Fishel
  • Unmasking by Zeinat Gelli

Honorable Mentions

  • Knitpicking by Rich Isaacman
  • curtiss/banjo and landscape/curtiss (VS-3) by Donald Weaver
  • Endlings 01: Dasyuromorphia by John Allen

Conley Award

  • Bend Back Composition by Warren Chambers

Information for Accepted Artists

Exhibition Schedule

Exhibition Schedule:

  • Jun 3 Online Entry Opens for Submissions
  • Jul 30 Entry Deadline
  • Aug 28 Notification @ 5 PM
  • Sept 17 – 21 Accepted and Shipped Work Must Arrive at MFA Circle Gallery from 11 AM – 4 PM
  • Sept 24 Exhibition Opens
  • Sept 28 Virtual Awards Ceremony from 4 – 5 PM via Zoom
  • Oct 11 Last Day of the Exhibition; Closing Reception at MFA Circle Gallery from 4 – 6 PM
  • Oct 12 – 13 Pick-up Hand-Delivered Work from 11 AM – 4 PM
  • Oct 16 Shipped Work Will Be Sent

NOTE: Should Circle Gallery or any other exhibition space be closed for reasons beyond our control, MFA reserves the right to move a planned physical exhibit to our online gallery.

Delivery and Shipping

Delivery

  • All work delivered to the gallery must have the following information affixed to the non-viewing side of the artwork:
    • Artist Name
    • Address, phone number, and email
    • Title of the work, medium, and price. Be specific with medium descriptions (e.g., oil on hardboard or canvas, not oil; chromogenic print or archival inkjet print, not photography or digital print; oil pastel on paper, not pastel; etc.)
  • Work must arrive on scheduled dates.
  • Paintings must be dry.
  • Measure to ensure work meets size limitations before delivery, include outer edges of frames. Work not in compliance will not be exhibited. No exceptions.
  • All shipped work must include a bar-coded shipping label. Do not send by United States Postal Service (USPS). We prefer UPS but accept FedEx. No shipping peanuts allowed.
  • Please affix packing/repacking instructions to OUTSIDE of the shipping box.
  • Tips on shipping can be viewed on the RedDotBlog

Pickup and Storage

Pickup and Storage

  • Work may not be removed from the exhibition early for any reason. Artists may pick up their work on the specified dates, or at 6 PM after the Closing Reception.
  • Unless previous arrangements have been made, work placed in storage after announced pickup dates will be subject to a fine of $10 per piece, per week. Work left in storage longer than two (2) weeks shall become MFA property and may be disposed of, or used for fundraising purposes. There are no exceptions.

Liability

Liability

All work will be handled with all possible care, but pieces submitted for the exhibition are at the artist’s risk. In the event of damage or theft, MFA will not be held liable. If insurance is desired, the artist must carry it.

Sales

Sales

  • All work entered into any exhibition must be for sale unless prior agreements are made, and marked either with a price or POR for Price On Request.
  • Artist members will retain 75% from sales. MFA will retain 25% commission on any work sold through MFA.
  • The sale of artwork is taxable and all sales tax processing will be handled by MFA.
  • Sold artwork requiring shipment will be handled by MFA with costs collected from the buyer. Buyers will be asked if the work may be retained until the exhibit ends. If the buyer disagrees, the Gallery will let the work go, and the artist will be informed.
  • MFA asks that artists donate 20% from any sale made through a direct referral from MFA within three months. All donations are used to help defray operating costs of the Maryland Federation of Art and are tax-deductible by the artists to the full extent of the law.

Notification

All entrants will receive notification by email. Accepted artists will also be posted on MFA’s website. Artists who have unsubscribed from MFA emails will not receive notification. The notice to accepted artists will include specific details and could vary from the prospectus. Please set your email account to recognize amani@mdfedart.org and info@mdfedart.org. Contact Circle Gallery if you do not receive notice by 6 PM on the day of notification.