The College's annual Small Works national juried exhibition highlights work selected from entries by artists from across the country. The show features a wide array of media, ranging from photography and prints to painting and sculpture.
Call for Artists and 2026 Exhibition Calendar
All Small Works entries will be judged from digital files. Before entering, prepare the following:
1. Required Artwork Information for each entry:
2. Required Digital Image File
One $30 nonrefundable fee entitles each artist to submit up to three entries.
Accepted entries will be posted on this web page by July 10, 2026. Individual notification will NOT be sent. Please check this webpage for the jury results.
Presentation: All works must be delivered to Harper ready for hanging/ installation/display. For framed work, use Plexiglas only. Original work not accurately represented by the digital file may be declined at the discretion of the Juror. All work will be insured during the exhibition for the artist’s stated valuation.
Shipping: Work must be shipped in sturdy, reusable cardboard containers to arrive at Harper College no later than July 27, 2026. DO NOT use loose Styrofoam “peanut” packing. Works should not require special handling or instructions.
Works will be returned in original containers via UPS as soon as possible after the close of the exhibition. The Exhibition will pay for return shipping, insuring containers per stated valuations.
In conjunction with the Small Works exhibition, a color catalog will be produced. Each participating artist will receive catalogs by mail after the exhibition closes. Harper College will not retain commission on sales. Consent to reproduction for publicity purposes for this or future Harper national exhibitions is considered granted.
Before clicking on the entry button, be sure you have prepared all required artwork information and digital image file(s) with required file and naming formats listed above.
Dan Devening
Chicago-based artist, educator, curator, gallerist and writer
Dan Devening is a Chicago-based artist, educator, curator, gallerist and writer. He is currently Professor, Adj. in the Department of Painting and Drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and owner/director of Devening Projects, a gallery based in Chicago featuring emerging and established national and international artists.
His paintings, works on paper, and installations have been exhibited extensively, including recent shows in New York at Geary Contemporary, Launch F18, Apex Art, and Printed Matter, Inc.; in Chicago at 65Grand, LVL3, Heaven Gallery, Autumn Space, ebersmoore gallery, Roy Boyd Gallery, and Julius Caesar; and in Los Angeles at Kinkead Contemporary, among other national venues. His recent international projects include exhibitions in Germany at the Kunstmuseum Ahlen, Galerie Grölle in Wuppertal, Kunstverein Recklinghausen, the Museum Kurhaus in Kleve, dok25A in Düsseldorf, Renate Schroeder Gallery in Cologne, and galerie oqbo, Schau Fenster, Scotty Enterprises, and Neues Problem in Berlin. He has also exhibited work in Vienna, Austria; Brussels, Belgium; Tokyo, Japan; Toronto, Canada; Monterrey, Mexico; Melbourne, Australia; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Devening has curated exhibitions both nationally and internationally, including projects at galerie oqbo in Berlin, dok25A in Düsseldorf, Hagiwara Projects in Tokyo, the Hyde Park Art Center, and the Block Museum of Art in Chicago, among many others. He recently completed the installation of a major public art commission for the CTA Irving Park Blue Line train station.
His essays have appeared in several recent publications, including Out of Place: Artists, Pedagogy and Purpose, edited by Zoë Charlton and Tim Doud; Clay Pop: What’s New in Clay, in a chapter on the work of Wade Tullier; and Where the Echo Drifts, an essay on the work of Leipzig artist Dagmar Varady, published in Expanded Studio by Snoek Publishing.
He is a MacDowell, Yaddo and Dora Maar Cultural Center Fellow and has received grants from the Hallie Ford Family Foundation; the Illinois Arts Council; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the MacArthur Foundation (International Connections), among others.
For more information about Small Works, contact us by email at: smallworks@harpercollege.edu
