Beloved Community Announces Open Call for Louisiana-based Artists
The Art of Labour: Past As Promise
July 31, 2026
(New Orleans, LA) Beloved Community invites Louisiana-based visual artists to apply for a unique opportunity to participate in The Art of Labour: Past As Promise, a one-night solo exhibition, artist talk, and private dinner experience bringing together artists, collectors, curators, and cultural leaders in celebration of New Orleans' enduring creative legacy.
Important Dates
Call for Artists Opens: July 31st, 2026
Application Deadline: August 24th, 2026
Artist Notification: September 4th, 2026
Artwork Drop-Off: October 3rd, 2026
Exhibition & Artist Talk Dinner: October 3rd, 2026
Pick-Up for Unsold Works: Evening of October 3rd, 2026
Submitted works will be reviewed by our esteemed New Orleans-based jurors Brandan "BMIKE" Odums of Studio BE and Martine Chaisson of Martine Chaisson Gallery. The selected artist will be notified via email on September 4, 2026. Applicants who are not selected are encouraged to apply for future Beloved Community exhibitions and programming. Click here to learn more about the Open Call and submit. For any questions or concerns please contact info@dcdgco.com.
About The Art of Labour
Launching in select cities throughout 2026, the Beloved Community Artist Talk Series centers visionary artists whose work explores themes of labour, work, value, sustainability, and contemporary life. Each event is designed as both an exhibition and a meaningful cultural exchange. Creating space for artists to share not only their work, but the ideas, stories, and lived experiences behind their practice.
For the 2026 New Orleans edition, The Art of Labour: Past As Promise, the series explores themes of inheritance, memory, cultural stewardship, and the visible and invisible forms of labor that shape communities across generations. Rooted in the understanding that New Orleans is both a living archive and an ever-evolving cultural landscape, this exhibition asks artists to consider how the past informs the present and how contemporary creative practices contribute to the city's unfolding future.
The selected artist will present a cohesive body of work within an intimate exhibition environment intentionally designed to foster dialogue, visibility, sales, and meaningful engagement. Throughout the evening, artists will participate in conversations with guests, sharing insights into their creative process, relationship to the exhibition theme, and interpretation of labor as both inheritance and responsibility.
Click here to learn more about the Open Call and submit.
About DCDG
DCDG is a cultural strategy and experiential agency that develops scalable art and culture initiatives across hospitality, entertainment, sports, architecture, and more.
Through experiential programming, submission based cultural platforms, and strategic partnerships, we help brands and institutions transform audiences, spaces, and existing IP into culturally relevant engagement and revenue opportunities.
About Beloved Community
Beloved Community is a New Orleans-based nonprofit that works on sustainable solutions for racial and economic equity. Beloved leverages two mutually-reinforcing bodies of work: capacity-building for leaders in education and workforce sectors and community-engaged research. The Art of Labor is an extension of Beloved’s work on good jobs and invites artists, collectors, and curators to lean into prescient discourse about contemporary labor issues.
Please subscribe to the Beloved Community newsletter for future open calls and announcements and follow on Instagram @WeAreBeloved_US and LinkedIn Beloved-Community-US
