Open Call

Add><Contact: 2026 Fob Alumni Exhibition

Printmaking relies on distinct methods in which images are reversed, inverted, separated, or diffused into patterns to create the structure from which prints are struck. Although this process often breaks an image down into parts, the final print ultimately depends on the moment of contact between the matrix and the support/substrate.

Printmakers come into contact with one another through their common use of facilities. This contact spawns networks of connection, friendship, and collaboration that reverse and invert patterns of competition and isolation to make new and robust communities based in mutual understanding and support. Add >< Contact highlights the enduring networks formed through the Fob Holder program, celebrating the ways artists continue to leave impressions on one another and on the Second State Press studio.

Second State Press invites current and previous Fob Holders to submit works to the 2026 Fob Alumni Exhibition, Add><Contact. This exhibition will bring together work by multiple generations of Fob Holders, each embracing the idea of contact. Whether through direct mark-making, layered processes, or conceptual approaches to touch and transmission, participating artists are invited to reflect on how contact shapes their work.

Participating artists will be paired with another current or former Fob Holder to establish a personal “contact”, furthering the theme of contact and expanding the layers of exchange through conversation. The exhibition will include documentation of these exchanges featured alongside the artworks.

Deadline: March 9th, 2026 at 11:59pm (ET). Artists will be notified of the work selected and the fob they will be establishing contact with by March 27th.

Important Dates:

Call Open: February 9th - March 9th

Pairs Notified by March 27th

Delivery Deadline: May 31st

Install: June 7th - 10th

Opening: June 11th, 6pm - 8pm

On view: through August 2nd

Deinstall : August 3rd + 4th

Eligibility

Participation is free and open to all current and former SSP Fob Holders. You do not need to be located in the Philadelphia area to participate. Up to two images may be submitted for review. 

Medium and Size

Applicants may submit works of any medium(s). Maximum dimensions are (HxWxD): 40”x30”x20”.