Chance Encounter – National Open Call Exhibition
at Second State Press
Open Call: June 24th – August 7th
Exhibition on view: October 8 — November 29, 2026
How can art reflect the influence of shared space, collective knowledge, and chance encounters?
Second State Press presents Chance Encounter, our 2026 national open call as part of Collective Futures. At its core, this exhibition understands community not as a fixed identity, but as an outcome, and centers printmaking as a site of multiplicity: where material practice, shared space and human interaction converge.
Community print studios are active systems in which networks can seed, collide and accumulate. Within this dynamic, print is not just a medium, but a network of people, knowledge and evolving relationships.
We are seeking works that embrace this condition of “in-between”: between control and chance, individual and collective, intention and encounter and invite artists who work with and through space and who allow their practice to be shaped by others.
Artists whose work emerges from sustained relationships with spaces such as community studios, workshops, collectives, or other sites of shared production, and who view these environments as active collaborators in their process are encouraged to apply.
Chance Encounter welcomes guest jurors Amze Emmons and Eva Wylie.
Learn more and apply: https://www.secondstatepress.org/chance-encounter-open-call
About Second State Press
Founded in 2010 and located in the Crane Arts Building, Second State Press is a nonprofit 501(c)3 community printmaking studio whose mission is to foster the development of ideas and innovation in printmaking by providing our neighborhood with a professional, affordable, and supportive workspace.
SSP advances the growth of a sustainable printmaking community by offering professional facilities through membership, affordable communal workspace for emerging and mid-career artists, community arts programming and professional development opportunities.