The New Art Center opens the call for the winter exhibition of the 2025 Winter New Art Curatorial Program, Sensory Garden.

Submission Deadline: 11:59 pm, Sunday December 1st, 2025.

Curated by Chenoa Baker, this exhibition is a literal and metaphorical exploration of connecting with nature, art, and ourselves through all our senses. Featuring elements of sight, smell, touch, and taste treated like a self-contained lush oasis from our lives. This user-friendly, experience-oriented show is a conduit for self-awareness and emotional healing. An organic exhibition of work that speaks to social and emotional learning. It seeks to cultivate a welcoming environment for various audiences holding multiple identities and their intersections, including the prioritization of mental health.

Sensory Garden will be held at the New Art Corridor, 245 Walnut St., Newton, MA 02446, a public space with 24-hour access and outfitted with security cameras. The gallery has a large flat screen tv to display digital media / virtual galleries, a 36ft wall, and an 8ft wall – both equipped with a track system including rods and security hooks for hanging. All mediums are welcome.

A reception will be hosted at the New Art Corridor, located at 245 Walnut St. Newtonville, MA 02460, on Monday, January 20th from 5-7 pm.

Eligibility

  • Artists may submit up to 5 works of art under this theme for consideration.
  • No New Art Center affiliation is required.
  • All work selected for in-person display must be gallery-ready with hanging hardware.
  • 2D works – The photo should be cropped to the artwork’s edges so only the artwork is visible.
  • Maximum size for 2D: 60″W x 65″H; maximum size for 3D: 12″W x 65″H x 12″D.
  • All work selected for in-person display must be gallery-ready with hanging hardware such as D-rings.
  • If selected for in-person exhibition, artists will be responsible for transporting work to and from the New Art Corridor.

About the Curator

Chenoa Baker (she/her) is a curator, wordsmith, and descendant of self-emancipators. All of the facets of her work can only be described as being a community art synergist. Being the Associate Curator at a gallery in Boston, adjunct professor of exhibitions and African American craft history, and a curatorial and education fellow at ICA/Boston were formative in her journey. Now, her independent curatorial portfolio extends from Massachusetts to Virginia and Pittsburgh. She’s working on Marie Gauthiez: TBD at Tephra ICA and the career retrospective of Ifé Franklin at the Fuller Craft Museum. She’s also worked on Gio Swaby: Fresh Up at PEM and Touching Roots: Black Ancestral Legacies in the Americas at MFA/Boston.

Baker was awarded the 2023 Young Critics Prize from the Association Internationale des Critiques d’Art (AICA) and the 2024 Maker Award from WBUR, Boston’s NPR. With Black craftways and liberatory history as a through-line, she edits for Sixty Inches From Center, Pigment Magazine, Boston Public Art Triennial, and most recently, freelance work with The National Gallery of Art, and The Corning Museum of Glass. She writes for Hyperallergic, The Brooklyn Rail, Public Parking, Material Intelligence, and Studio Potter. She’s also the Chief Architect of Elbow Grease, a grassroots forum and editorial collaborative that advocates for women and nonbinary labor in the arts.

Timeline

  • Call for art: The call is open through Sunday, December 1st, 2024.
  • Notification: Artists will be notified of their acceptance by Monday, June 9th, 2025.
  • Drop-off date: January 8th, 2025.
  • Exhibition Opens: Wednesday, January 15th, 2025.
  • Opening Reception: Monday, January 20th, 2025, from 5-7 pm.
  • Exhibition Closes: Wednesday, February 12th, 2025.
  • Pick-up Dates: February 18th – 20th, 2025.

Questions about the Call for Art? Reach out to the Exhibitions and Special Projects Manager at: [email protected]