On Display January 5 – 24, 2026

Notification was made December 4, 2025

Virtual Awards Ceremony will be January 11, 2026 from 4 – 5 PM via Zoom

View the Web Gallery   Participating Artists   Watch the Virtual Award Ceremony

Introducing the Winter Member Show

Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) invites all MFA Members residing in any of the states or territories of the US, Canada, and Mexico to enter our Winter Member Show 2026. Any original 2D or 3D work will be considered and works selected by the juror will be exhibited in MFA’s Circle Gallery from January 5 – 24, 2026.

Click this icon to view and print the downloadable prospectus.

Juror: Megan Rook-Koepsel: Julio Fine Arts Gallery Director at Loyola University

Megan Rook-Koepsel (she/her), is the Director of the Julio Fine Arts Gallery at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore, where she leads the gallery’s exhibitions, programs, artist residencies, and many art related campus collaborations. Her work centers on contemporary practices that connect artists, particularly those living and working in the DC/Maryland Region, and audiences through research, teaching, and community engagement.  She is a champion of artists and lover of process. Outside of her work at Loyola University, Rook-Koepsel has curated and organized numerous exhibitions in the Washington, DC and Maryland region, including among them Disidentifications (Stamp Gallery, 2009), Constructed Place (Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center, 2010), WPA SELECT (2014), Homeward Bound (Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, 2015), King of the Forest: Adventures in Bioperversity (Museum of Contemporary Art, Arlington, 2016), Performing the Border (Alper Initiative for Washington Art, American University Museum, 2017), and Juxtaposed (Torpedo Factory Art Center, 2018). She previously served as Exhibitions Manager at Arlington Arts Center, Graduate Coordinator for the Stamp Gallery and mentor to the Contemporary Art Purchasing Program at the University of Maryland, and held curatorial internships at the Rose Art Museum and the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Rook-Koepsel holds a B.A. in Art History from Brandeis University and an M.A. in Art History with a focus on Contemporary Art and Theory from the University of Maryland, College Park.

Juror’s Statement

As the juror of The Winter Member Show 2026, I have had the honor and privilege to see a great number of wonderful artworks. I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone who applied for their work and their dedication to the arts. As I went through the submissions, I was struck by the many creative approaches to different media, subject matter, and aesthetic choices. I found myself immersed in many moments, some small and some grand, but all contemplative. The immersive moments in these works transported me to a specific time or place, or compelled me to linger and consider, or brought me back to look again and again. As I kept looking, the works that created this response most intensely quickly became my top choices. Each of the works in the show feels like a pause, a capturing, a fleeting moment creating intimacy between viewer and work. What’s better yet, is that these ‘pauses’ happen across a wide variety of media and processes. As you look through the selections for the Winter Member Show 2026, I invite you too to slow down and try to step into the moment of each artwork, to pause and consider. Congratulations to all the artists selected for this exhibition!

Megan Rook-Koepsel

Awards

Awards designated by the juror total $700.

Best in Show:

  • Golden Hair Band by Troy Bunch

Juror’s Choice:

  • Lifeline by Esperanza Alzona
  • Silky Circuit Brain by ShoS
  • I Start With Fabric, and Make the Environment Sing by Julie O’Connor

Honorable Mentions:

  • Tulip Dance by Smita Parida
  • A Higher Authority by John Verdi
  • Sicily 2 by Jane Mann
  • Interrupted Dream by Sara Doolittle

Friends of the Arts Award:

  • Same Old Same Old by Melanie Berry

Conley Award:

  • Monument by C. McCormick

 

  • $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.

Information for Accepted Artists

Exhibition Schedule

Exhibition Schedule

  • Sept 2 Online Entry Opens for Submissions
  • Nov 5 Entry Deadline
  • Dec 4 Notification @ 5 PM
  • Dec 27 – 30 Accepted and Shipped Work Must Arrive at MFA Circle Gallery from 12 PM – 4
  • Jan 5 Exhibition Opens
  • Jan 11 Virtual Awards Ceremony from 4 – 5 PM via Zoom
  • Jan 24 Last Day of the Exhibition; Closing Reception at MFA Circle Gallery from 4 – 6 PM
  • Jan 25 – 26 Pick-up Hand-Delivered Work from 11 AM – 4 PM
  • Jan 29 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 with the exhibition guidelines and MFA’s General Guidelines will not be exhibited. No exceptions. Work delivered must correspond with the images submitted to the juror.
  • 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

  • Artist members will retain 75% from sales. MFA will retain 25% commission on any work sold through MFA.
  • Work must be for sale. Work may be set to Price on Request (POR).

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.