EXHIBITING STATUS
Exhibiting membership is what makes an artist eligible to enter FCA juried exhibitions. It is not a tier you can buy — it is a portfolio jury.
Exhibiting Status serves as a pre-screening: before you can submit work for an exhibition jury, we ask that you apply for it first. There is a lot of information on this page, because it matters that you understand the process before you spend money on it.
The FCA runs two parallel streams. Exhibiting Status covers two-dimensional work; Exhibiting Status of Sculpture covers three-dimensional work. Each stream has its own membership type and its own intake dates, and entry to exhibitions is gated on the stream you hold.
Two streams, juried separately.
Exhibiting Status covers two-dimensional work — painting, drawing, printmaking, photography. Exhibiting Status of Sculpture covers three-dimensional work. Each stream carries its own membership type and runs its own intake on its own schedule, and entry to an exhibition is gated on the stream you hold — so apply to the one your practice actually sits in.
How to get your Exhibiting Status
Five steps, in order. Note that the money is the last step, not the qualifying step.
1. Join as a Supporting Member
Supporting Membership is $65 a year and is the entry point. There is no waiting period — apply as soon as your registration is complete.
2. Pay the $15 application fee
A non-refundable $15.00 application fee applies at the time of your submission, in Canadian dollars.
3. Submit ten images
Ten JPEGs through the same online system used for exhibition calls. Applications are processed as an intake, so check the closing date. Nothing is shipped — this stage is entirely online.
4. Three Signature members jury it
Your images are reviewed independently online by three Signature (SFCA) members. You will hear your result by email within two weeks of the intake closing date.
5. Pay the $30 upgrade fee
Only if you are successful. It is the difference between the $65 Supporting and $95 Exhibiting membership. Your Exhibiting Status Package is then emailed to you.
What the jury is looking for
Exhibiting Status is granted if the jury believes that the majority of the works submitted could reasonably be expected to be juried into an FCA exhibition. In practice that means at least 6 of your 10 images need to be suitable for FCA shows.
The FCA operates at a national level and you will be competing with visual artists throughout Canada. Competition is tough and standards are high — which is also what makes receiving your Exhibiting Status, and being accepted into an exhibition, mean that much more.
Jurors look for a working understanding of line, colour, composition, perspective, shape, light, proportion, and positive and negative space. They also look for evidence of progression, and of exploring, establishing and developing a personal style.
A word on selection
Present the strongest examples of your current body of work. Pick images that form a cohesive portfolio of subject matter or medium — not a portfolio showing the full breadth of your talent.
Media, specifications and the fine print
Check your work and your files against these before you pay the application fee.
Accepted — two-dimensional work
Oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastel, mixed media, graphite, ink, pen and pencil. Original hand-pulled prints are eligible in editions of up to 200. All artworks must be two-dimensional.
Not accepted — two-dimensional work
Photography, digital artworks, giclees (hand-modified or not), and mechanical reproductions.
Accepted — sculpture
Stone, metal, glass, clay, wood or ceramic. Include three photographs of each sculpture so jurors get a full view. Maximum size 36in x 24in x 24in and 30 lbs.
Not accepted — sculpture
Ivory, plaster, wax, modelling compound, found objects, electronics, holography, projected media, papier-mâché and salt dough.
Image specifications
JPEG only — other formats will not be converted for you. Minimum 1500 pixels on the longest side at 300 ppi; 2000 recommended. Minimum 24-bit colour, maximum 24MB. Crop so only the artwork shows, with no frame or background, and keep colour true to the original. Blurry, badly cropped or wrongly oriented images are declined.
After the jury
What Exhibiting Status unlocks
These five benefits are exactly what separates Exhibiting from Supporting membership. You become eligible to submit to FCA shows and exhibitions; eligible for titles, awards and prizes; your website is listed in the FCA Member Directory; you may use the FCA membership badge; and you may submit shrink-wraps for display at the gallery. Jury duty for the FCA remains open to Associate (AFCA) and Signature (SFCA) members only.
If you are not successful
Achieving Exhibiting Status is a real accomplishment and standards are high, so not getting it the first time should not hold you back. Members who do not receive their Exhibiting Status are invited to enrol free of charge in an Exhibiting Status Feedback Session, led online by one of our Signature Status jurors over Zoom. The instructor chooses some or all of the images you applied with and critiques them, offering insight into where you are in your practice and how to improve your next application. Each artist is allotted 10 minutes, and everyone stays on a first-name basis so as to respect their privacy. Sessions are recorded, so you can watch again afterwards. Unsuccessful applicants are encouraged to re-apply after six months with a different body of work.
Keeping your status
Exhibiting members must renew annually. All FCA memberships run the calendar year, 1 January to 31 December. If your membership lapsed more than a year ago you may either pay for the lapsed years to keep your status, or start again as a Supporting member and be juried afresh.
When you can apply
Exhibiting Status is not juried continuously. Applications are gathered into intakes that run roughly twice a month, so there is usually one opening soon.
Each intake has a closing date, and your ten images are juried together after it closes. If you miss one, the next is normally only a couple of weeks away, though it is still worth watching the calls page so you can prepare your portfolio before an intake opens rather than after.
Exhibiting Status of Sculpture runs as its own intake on its own schedule. Applying to one stream does not put you into the other.
If you are not successful, you are invited to a free feedback session over Zoom with a Signature juror, and you may re-apply after six months with a different body of work.
Ready to apply?
Applications open as intakes throughout the year. Make sure your Supporting membership is current, then watch the calls page for the next Exhibiting Status intake.
Watching for the next intake? See open calls.
Six of your ten
You send ten images. Exhibiting Status is granted when the jury believes at least six of them could reasonably be juried into an FCA exhibition. Not your six best — six out of the ten you chose to send.
That is why a portfolio of four strong pieces padded with six weaker ones fails, while ten consistent pieces pass. The four unfilled marks are the room you have to be wrong.
Must satisfy the juryRoom to be wrong