Summary: “Casa Familiar invites artists to submit work that thinks of metamorphosis as a boundless, enchanted form of transformation that can reshape people, animals, objects, and places. “Exquisite Potential” seeks entries in all types of media by women and non-binary identifying artists who wish to challenge oppressive realities and seek emancipatory sights, sounds, and spaces that emerge anew.”
Deadline: 2/1/26
Location: The Front Arte & Cultura, San Diego
Exhibition Dates: 3/7/26 - 5/19/26
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “The Japanese Friendship Garden & Museum calls for artists to submit original artwork inspired by the garden’s cherry blossom trees.  Selected artworks will be displayed from February 21, 2026 to April 21, 2026. Submissions are open to local, national, professional, and amateur artists with various mediums allowed.”
Deadline: 2/1/26
Location: Japanese Friendship Garden & Museum, San Diego
Exhibition Dates: 2/21/26 - 4/21/26
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “Chef’s Kiss is a curated exhibition celebrating artwork that hits just right...it's bold, clever, refined, unexpected, or quietly perfect. Works that stop us mid-scroll. Pieces that make us nod, smile, linger. Art that earns that unmistakable chef’s kiss gesture. The theme is open by design. Food-inspired work is welcome, but not required. We’re looking for strong, compelling pieces across all mediums that feel resolved, confident, and memorable. If it’s your best work, the kind you’d put your name behind without hesitation, we want to see it.”
Deadline: 2/1/26
Location: Covet Art Gallery, Oceanside
Exhibition Dates: 2/21/26 - 3/21/26
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: $25

Summary: “The Alhambra City Arts and Cultural Events Commission (C.A.C.E.) extends an invitation to individuals and groups, with priority given to Alhambra residents, to be considered for a month long exhibition in the Alhambra City Hall Lobby Art Gallery. Approved artists will receive notification from staff and assigned an exhibition month.”

Deadline: Ongoing

Location: Alhambra City Hall

Mediums: All hangable artworks

Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “This annual juried exhibit showcases artwork from all over the state of California and explores creative movements happening in the state. Open to all living artists ages 18+ residing in California. All entries must be original, completed in the past three years, and not previously shown at the Brea Gallery.”

Deadline: 2/6/26

Location: Brea Gallery, Brea

Exhibition Dates: 4/25/26 - 6/28/26

Mediums: All

Entry Fee: $10 per entry during the month of October 2025; $20 per entry beginning November 1st through the close of the call

Summary: “It’s a force that symbolizes love, passion, heat, intimacy and the pulse of life. Our reception for this show will be on Valentine’s Day...so bring on any of the above. NOTE: The color crimson does not need to dominate your piece as long as it’s prominent. Dip your brush into that deep, rich red and show us what you create!”
Deadline: 2/6/26
Location: Art on 30th, San Diego
Exhibition Dates: 2/14/26 - 3/20/26
Mediums: “All 2D artworks are welcome as well as any 3D artwork (glass/ceramic sculpture) that fits on a pedestal.”
Entry Fee: $35 for up to 2 pieces

Summary: “We are interested in photo-montages, vintage/antique and unique developing processes, photographs of interesting cultures (respectful images), photographs of bizarre and otherworldly subjects, photographs of incredible or extreme events and applications of photography in places where it doesn’t belong. If this is confusing… look at what we have exhibited previously to give yourself an idea of the aesthetics our curators like.”
Deadline: 2/7/26
Location: La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles
Exhibition Dates: 3/6/26 - 3/29/26
Mediums: Photography
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “Artists, collectives, and creatives are invited to submit their qualifications to create an exciting new civic art piece in Anaheim. Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center, in partnership with Center Housing Partners, is overseeing the effort to bring original, site specific artwork to be created as part of a larger development initiative that furthers the mission of the City of Anaheim to create a place for residents to live, work and play.”
Deadline: 2/8/26
Location: Anaheim
Mediums: Mural
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “Visions Museum of Textile Art (VMOTA) is proud to announce the call for entries for Quilt Visions 2026, the museum’s 27th international juried exhibition. Exhibition jurors will select work exemplifying art quilting at the highest level of quality, innovation, surface design techniques, excellence in composition, and craftsmanship.”

Deadline: 2/9/26

Location: Visions Museum of Textile Art, San Diego

Exhibition Dates: 10/23/26 - 1/16/27

Mediums: Textile art

Entry Fee: $40 for all VMOTA members and $50 for non-members (up to 3 works)

Summary: “Ask yourself the following question, what moves my soul? This open call is a love letter to your soul, inviting you to tap into any medium and show us those exact things that get your soul moving. It can be the passions that ignite your creativity, callings that give you a sense of purpose, or strong feelings that move you to action. If this question reminds you of what your soul has been missing, then reconnect with those things and share that with us through your art! We want to peek into what, or who, shapes your soul.”

Deadline: 2/9/26

Location: South Gate Art Gallery, South Gate

Exhibition Dates: 4/18/26 - 6/6/26

Mediums: All

Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “A vinyl toy art show, OPEN CALL for entries! Design your own blank MUNNY vinyl toy figure. Scribble, sculpt collage, customize it into anything your creativity can imagine!”
Deadline: 2/14/26
Location: Art Supply Warehouse, Westminster
Exhibition Dates: 2/24/26 - TBA
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “Curated by A. Laura Brody and Lisa Tomczeszyn. This is a call for wearable art, dipping into the world of fantasy, costume design, and fashion ideas that merge and float between art, fashion, and craftsmanship.”

Deadline: 2/15/26

Location: Los Angeles Makery, Los Angeles

Exhibition Dates: 4/2/26 - 5/26/26

Mediums: Wearable art

Entry Fee: $20

Summary: “We are excited to curate this exhibition highlighting water— the memory it holds, all the life it sustains, and most importantly, our collective responsibility to protect it. We invite you to share your art that speaks to all aspects of our relationship to water from daily life in our homes and neighborhoods, to encounters with bodies of water, to the ways water is protected and by who. Your pieces can speak to the past and present or can also reflect a vision you have for future water conditions. Through your stories and art, we hope to honor the labor and love poured into defending water here on Tongva territory (so-called Los Angeles), on Turtle Island and by communities around the globe.”
Deadline: 2/16/26
Location: Art Space HP, Huntington Park, CA
Exhibition Dates: 3/5/26 - 4/2/26
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “We’re excited to feature a wide range of work at City Hall! While we always love seeing paintings and photography, we’re now also accepting 3D mixed-media pieces (up to 30 lbs per piece) for display. We encourage artists of all experience levels to apply!”
Deadline: 2/20/26
Location: Whittier City Hall
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “This exhibition celebrates the enduring legacy, landscapes, and cultural imagery of the American West, inviting artists to reflect on its history, traditions, and evolving identity.”
Deadline: 2/22/26
Location: City of Santa Clarita City Hall, Valencia
Exhibition Dates: 3/4/26 - 5/20/26
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “Esperanza Community Housing is pleased to invite artists to submit work for an upcoming International Women’s Day exhibition centering grassroots immigrant women social leaders in the United States. Esperanza Community Housing is a social justice organization dedicated to comprehensive community development in South Los Angeles, uplifting voices that challenge inequality and celebrate resilience, dignity, and collective power. This exhibition highlights immigrant women from all ethnic backgrounds who are leading, organizing, caregiving, creating, and sustaining their communities. The exhibition honors women whose leadership often goes unseen yet remains foundational to social change. As we mark International Women’s Day, we celebrate immigrant women as visionaries shaping our present and future.”
Deadline: 2/23/26
Location: Esperanza Community Housing, Los Angeles
Exhibition Dates: 2/26/26 - 5/11/26
Mediums: All 2D artwork
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “A Woman’s Place: Framing the Future” envisions a woman’s place as an ever-expanding horizon—one that redefines the trajectory of our collective future. Informed by memory, story, and lived experience, this exhibition explores how shifting perspectives on womanhood are documented, questioned, and celebrated through art. The artists showcased in this exhibition will engage in a vital dialogue between past aspirations and present possibilities, forging new pathways for art and society alike. Their works both challenge traditional boundaries and honor the complexity of women's experiences across generations and cultures.”
Deadline: 2/24/26
Location: The Ebell of Los Angeles
Exhibition Dates: 3/19/26 - 4/22/26
Mediums: 2D artwork
Entry Fee: $25

Summary: “You Made It” invites artists to explore the moment of relief upon finding the threshold of home. Where weariness vanishes with an exhale, the sense of searching slows as the body finally relaxes; a sugar cube dissolving in tea. From your perspective as a queer artist, reflect on senses of safety, belonging, or quiet joy. Consider spaces, relationships, routines, or moments where identity feels affirmed and at rest. Let the work exist without tension or resolution, let it be rooted instead in comfort, presence, and being seen.”
Deadline: 2/27/26
Location: FOLD Gallery, Los Angeles
Exhibition Dates: 3/18/26 - 5/13/26
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “THEME: In the Present. In the Present calls on artists to respond to the urgency of now. This moment is marked by overlapping crises, rapid change, and negotiations of power, identity, survival, and resistance. We invite works that grapple with the socio-political and environmental realities shaping our present lives, from visible struggles to embodied experiences of living through uncertainty. This call welcomes bold, critical, and vulnerable artistic responses that refuse distance but reflect on the present.”
Deadline: 3/1/26
Location: Plaza de la Raza, Los Angeles
Exhibition Dates: 4/18/26 - 5/17/26
Mediums: Printmaking
Entry Fee: $35 for 1-3 prints, LAPS members: $25 for 1-3 prints

Summary: “The San Diego Art Directory, in collaboration with Hera Hub Carlsbad, invites artists to submit work for “Space to Exhale,” an exhibition exploring sanctuary not as escape, but as intentional refuge in response to a world that often feels overwhelming, unstable, or relentlessly demanding.”
Deadline: 3/1/26
Location: Hera Hub, Carlsbad
Exhibition Dates: March 2026 – September 2026
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: $22 for up to two pieces, $35 for up to four pieces

Summary: “The City of Laguna Beach Banner Competition is a project of the Arts Commission. Artists are provided with banner material on which to paint original artwork. The completed banners are displayed on lampposts throughout the city of Laguna Beach during June, July and August and celebrate the summer season. The completed banners are temporary and will be displayed when and where the City desires for up to 7 years or based on condition. Open to Orange County, CA residents, 18 years of age or older. $4,000 will be awarded for all completed banners selected.”

Deadline: 3/2/26

Location: Various locations throughout Laguna Beach

Mediums: Drawing, painting

Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “The City of Laguna Beach Council Chamber Banner Competition is a project of the Arts Commission. Selected artists are provided with banner material on which to paint original artwork. The completed banners are displayed in the City of Laguna Beach Council Chambers. Completed banners will be awarded a $900 honorarium.”
Deadline: 3/2/26
Location: Various locations throughout Laguna Beach
Mediums: Painting
Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “Art That’s Small At City Hall” is an open exhibition coordinated by the City of Laguna Beach Arts Commission. All works deemed acceptable will be exhibited at Laguna Beach City Hall, located at 505 Forest Avenue, from March 8 through April 15, 2021, and via online catalogue. Honorarium- First place $600, Second place $300, Third place $150, and City Hall Choice $100. Entries will be accepted from residents of Orange County ages 18 or older.”
Deadline: 3/6/26
Location: Laguna Beach City Hall
Exhibition Dates: 3/8/26 - 4/15/26
Mediums: Artwork may include oil, acrylic, watercolor, photography, drawing, mixed media and relief
Entry Fee: $15

Summary: “Shadows. There are none, without Light. Shadows tell of the unseen, yet of things that exist. Show us the Unseen-But-Known: the suspense that builds, the lazy, languid afternoon in long shadow, the shadow-self, veiled, or revealed to us; the secrets that await. Show us, our selves.”
Deadline: 3/8/26
Location: TAG, The Artists Gallery, Los Angeles
Exhibition Dates: 3/25/26 - 4/16/26
Mediums: “Artwork submissions can be in any of the following media: drawing, painting, photographs, digital art, mixed media, collage, and sculpture. No performance art or AI is accepted. For sculptures, the gallery has pedestals, which will be available on a first serve basis.”
Entry Fee: “One or two entries: $35.00 for CAL members with 2026 dues fully paid, and $55.00 for non-CAL members. The $20.00 surcharge for non-members is a one-time offer that gives the new artist membership into CAL at a discount.”

Summary: “We are not generally interested in ceramics where the sole focus is process and material. We are looking for ceramics that hold a narrative or figurative focus. Interesting processes and materials will be considered.”

Deadline: 3/22/26

Location: La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles

Exhibition Dates: 5/1/26 - 5/31/26

Mediums: Ceramics

Entry Fee: No fee

Summary: “Chemers Gallery is seeking submissions for a floral inspired juried show. April showers bring May flowers! We are looking for the best you have to offer in all styles and all mediums. A wide variety of submissions are acceptable ranging from traditional botanical and flowers to still-life, gardens and abstracted representation. This will be our 18th exhibit in conjunction with Tustin Area Council for Fine Arts (TACFA).”
Deadline: 3/28/26
Location: Chemers Gallery, Tustin
Exhibition Dates: 5/2/26 - 5/16/26
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: $40

Summary: “Barking Rabbit Art Collective invites all artists 18 and older residing in the Southern California Region to apply to our first annual open theme show, Locally Sourced.”
Deadline: 4/25/26
Location: Start Los Angeles
Exhibition Date: 5/30/26
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: $15

Summary: “The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild is seeking art at the edge and beyond the traditional. The Art of Now is our Call to California artists to submit work that pushes boundaries in contemporary art—what it is and what it can be. This is a great opportunity for artists to stretch their creative wings, and try something they have always wanted to bring to fruition.”
Deadline: 5/8/26
Location: Union Hall Gallery, San Diego
Exhibition Dates: 6/5/26 - 6/28/26
Mediums: Painting and drawing, video art, installation, mixed media, fiber art, photography, and sculpture
Entry Fee: Members of SDMAAG: $20, Non-members: $35

Summary: “The 9th Annual PROUD+ Exhibition will be held June 19 - July 31, 2026, during San Diego Pride Month, showcasing the work of LGBTQ+ artists from across the country. Produced by The Studio Door, this national exhibition celebrates the unique perspectives and voices of the LGBTQ+ community through contemporary art.”

Deadline: 5/9/26

Location: The Studio Door, San Diego

Exhibition Dates: 6/19/26 - 7/31/26

Mediums: “Painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, assemblage, collage, mixed media, fiber art, artist book, and sculpture. Please note some restrictions apply to glass, stained glass, ceramics, and stoneware due to unsafe shipping practices by FedEx, UPS, and USPS. Oversized jewelry that can be defined as fine art is acceptable for this show.”

Entry Fee: $35

Summary: “La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles, California, showcases figurative and narrative paintings and unusual sculptures. The Exhibition will take place on August 7, 2026 and run through August until the 31st, 2026. Artists need to be 18+ years of age to participate. Wall hanging artwork must not exceed 20 inches on the longest dimension. Sculpture work cannot exceed 20 inches in width or depth.” 
Deadline: 5/15/26
Location: La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles
Exhibition Dates: 8/7/26 - 8/31/26
Mediums: All
Entry Fee: No fee