Upcoming Event
Word Play National Juried Exhibition Nov 15 - Jan 10
Word Play invites artists to influence the viewer through the interplay between text and visual elements in contemporary art. Today, we no longer have the patience to read long blogs or books; we expect fast, attention-grabbing imagery and memes to stimulate our senses. In Word Play, we view artworks that creatively engage with text, whether through words, letters, phrases, or entire narratives. The text serves as a message, a visual texture, a conceptual element, or even as the main subject. The works selected by the juror explore the interaction between words and image, spanning themes such as language, identity, culture, politics, and beyond.
Exhibition: November 15, 2025 - January 10, 2026
Opening Reception: November 15, 7-9 PM at Arc Gallery, 1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco
Catalogs: Click the logo above or HERE to view the online catalog.
To order the print catalog from Amazon go HERE.
Sign Up For Zoom Artist Talk One
Nov 20 6-7 pm
Artist Talk One: Kimberley Campisano, Colette Crutcher, Rinat Goren, Tm Gratkowski, Thad Higa, Rob Hugel, Pantea Karimi, Lori Murphy, James Shefik, Elizabeth Sher, and John Sheridan
To listen to their conversation with Moderator Karen Gutfreund, please sign up through this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/xy8J7U3mRrmtiA88sa7K6w
Sign Up For Zoom Artist Talk Two
Dec 4 6-7 pm
Artist Talk Two: Carrington Arredondo, Jean Brodie, Beth Fein, Margaret Jo Feldman, Kay Kang, Leslie Kerby, Ling-lin Ku, TJ Mampalam, Roz Ritter, Catherine Sherman, and Tanya Wilkinson
To listen to their conversation with Moderator Karen Gutfreund, please sign up through this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wIXvlh8_RZ-gVzNutJFoyQ
Exhibition: November 15, 2025 - January 10, 2026
Opening Reception: November 15, 7-9 PM at Arc Gallery, 1246 Folsom Street, San Francisco
Catalogs: Click the logo above or HERE to view the online catalog.
To order the print catalog from Amazon go HERE.
Sign Up For Zoom Artist Talk One
Nov 20 6-7 pm
Artist Talk One: Kimberley Campisano, Colette Crutcher, Rinat Goren, Tm Gratkowski, Thad Higa, Rob Hugel, Pantea Karimi, Lori Murphy, James Shefik, Elizabeth Sher, and John Sheridan
To listen to their conversation with Moderator Karen Gutfreund, please sign up through this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/xy8J7U3mRrmtiA88sa7K6w
Sign Up For Zoom Artist Talk Two
Dec 4 6-7 pm
Artist Talk Two: Carrington Arredondo, Jean Brodie, Beth Fein, Margaret Jo Feldman, Kay Kang, Leslie Kerby, Ling-lin Ku, TJ Mampalam, Roz Ritter, Catherine Sherman, and Tanya Wilkinson
To listen to their conversation with Moderator Karen Gutfreund, please sign up through this link:
https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/wIXvlh8_RZ-gVzNutJFoyQ
JUROR'S STATEMENT
Jack Fischer, Jack Fischer Gallery
For a long time, I resisted text in art—whether painted or sculpted. I simply didn’t get it. I fought against it, tooth and nail. To me, words on a canvas felt like being pushed through a single doorway, forced into one interpretation that left me with nothing more to discover. The work seemed to do all the thinking for me, leaving me without agency, without curiosity, without room to explore. I had always believed art to be a two-way street—an exchange of emotions, ideas, and narratives between artist and viewer.
And yet, words carry their own undeniable power. Artists know this. Which leads to that revelatory moment: so that’s what text is.
Can a word, a letter, or a phrase hold the same multiplicity of meaning as a landscape, a portrait, or an abstraction? In art, language is never just text—it brings texture, tone, color, and attitude. It shifts us from merely looking to something closer to listening. In this way, composition—whether of words or images—satisfies our deep need for pattern and meaning.
Words, symbols, numbers, gestures, signs, and expressions—all of them transmit ideas and concepts. And yet, when text dominates as image, I often feel deprived of my own pathways into the work, cheated of the many doors ambiguity opens.
But when text begins to dissolve into abstraction, when letters and words transform into painted metaphors, semaphores pointing forward, that’s when the real magic begins. That’s when we ride the wave of imagery into new meanings, when ambiguity and word-play reemerge.
Perhaps the play between surface and depth—the balance between clarity and ambiguity—is the true key. It’s there we find the richest possibilities, the openings that keep art alive.
And yet, words carry their own undeniable power. Artists know this. Which leads to that revelatory moment: so that’s what text is.
Can a word, a letter, or a phrase hold the same multiplicity of meaning as a landscape, a portrait, or an abstraction? In art, language is never just text—it brings texture, tone, color, and attitude. It shifts us from merely looking to something closer to listening. In this way, composition—whether of words or images—satisfies our deep need for pattern and meaning.
Words, symbols, numbers, gestures, signs, and expressions—all of them transmit ideas and concepts. And yet, when text dominates as image, I often feel deprived of my own pathways into the work, cheated of the many doors ambiguity opens.
But when text begins to dissolve into abstraction, when letters and words transform into painted metaphors, semaphores pointing forward, that’s when the real magic begins. That’s when we ride the wave of imagery into new meanings, when ambiguity and word-play reemerge.
Perhaps the play between surface and depth—the balance between clarity and ambiguity—is the true key. It’s there we find the richest possibilities, the openings that keep art alive.
JURORS CHOICE ARTISTS
Martin Brief, Thad Higa, and Ling-Lin Ku
GALLERY ARTISTS
Carrington Arredondo, Will Ashford, Elizabeth Brandt, Jean Brodie, Kimberley Campisano, Richard L. Carson, Tyrus Clutter, Christine Crockett, Colette Crutcher, John Dickinson, Suzy Farren, Beth Fein, Margaret Jo Feldman, Nancy Garcia, Michael Goldman, Rinat Goren, Tm Gratkowski, Alison Heath, Rob Hugel, Sharka Hyland, Leonard Jewler, Kay Kang, Pantea Karimi, Rachel Katz, Leslie Kerby, TJ Mampalam, Daniel McClain, Dan McGarrah, Lori Murphy, Priscilla Otani, Stacy Pearl, Roz Ritter, Wendy Robushi, David Rockwell, Jenny Rosen, James Shefik, Elizabeth Sher, John Sheridan, Catherine Sherman, Joni Marie Theodorsen, Prince Varughese Thomas, Tanya Wilkinson.
ONLINE ARTISTS
Chai A'lilharder, Will Ashford, Jean Brodie, Kimberley Campisano, David Coons, Helene Paulette Cote, John Dickinson, Beth Fein, John Ferrell, Pilar Gagliasso, Michael Goldman, Sharka Hyland, Kay Kang, Ree Katrak, Patricia Leeds, Suki Liebow, Sara Lisch, David Mar, Wendy Marlatt, John Martin, Deanne McKeown, Cindy Ostroff, Doug Page, Stacy Pearl, Michael Rainey, David Rockwell, Elizabeth Sher, John Sheridan, Ruth-Anne Siegel, Robynn Smith, Sally Kristina Smith, Laurie Szujewska, Joni Marie Theodorsen, Prince Varughese Thomas, Jonathan Tibbit, Stuart Wagner, Tanya Wilkinson, Sheila Wood, Kat Wright.
Martin Brief, Thad Higa, and Ling-Lin Ku
GALLERY ARTISTS
Carrington Arredondo, Will Ashford, Elizabeth Brandt, Jean Brodie, Kimberley Campisano, Richard L. Carson, Tyrus Clutter, Christine Crockett, Colette Crutcher, John Dickinson, Suzy Farren, Beth Fein, Margaret Jo Feldman, Nancy Garcia, Michael Goldman, Rinat Goren, Tm Gratkowski, Alison Heath, Rob Hugel, Sharka Hyland, Leonard Jewler, Kay Kang, Pantea Karimi, Rachel Katz, Leslie Kerby, TJ Mampalam, Daniel McClain, Dan McGarrah, Lori Murphy, Priscilla Otani, Stacy Pearl, Roz Ritter, Wendy Robushi, David Rockwell, Jenny Rosen, James Shefik, Elizabeth Sher, John Sheridan, Catherine Sherman, Joni Marie Theodorsen, Prince Varughese Thomas, Tanya Wilkinson.
ONLINE ARTISTS
Chai A'lilharder, Will Ashford, Jean Brodie, Kimberley Campisano, David Coons, Helene Paulette Cote, John Dickinson, Beth Fein, John Ferrell, Pilar Gagliasso, Michael Goldman, Sharka Hyland, Kay Kang, Ree Katrak, Patricia Leeds, Suki Liebow, Sara Lisch, David Mar, Wendy Marlatt, John Martin, Deanne McKeown, Cindy Ostroff, Doug Page, Stacy Pearl, Michael Rainey, David Rockwell, Elizabeth Sher, John Sheridan, Ruth-Anne Siegel, Robynn Smith, Sally Kristina Smith, Laurie Szujewska, Joni Marie Theodorsen, Prince Varughese Thomas, Jonathan Tibbit, Stuart Wagner, Tanya Wilkinson, Sheila Wood, Kat Wright.
JURORS' CHOICE AWARDS: MARTIN BRIEF, THAD HIGA, LING-LIN KU
A SELECTION OF ARTWORKS BY GALLERY ARTISTS
A SELECTION OF ARTWORKS BY ONLINE ARTISTS
Arc Gallery is open 1-6PM on Wednesdays & Thursdays and 12-3PM on Saturdays.
