BAU Gallery annual juried show call ‘DRIFT’

BAU Gallery invites you to apply to DRIFT 2026 Annual Juried Open + Awards Exhibition.

To drift is to let go, to surrender to a current; it is a state of being in slow motion. To drift is the serene space between leaving and arriving. DRIFT, our Annual Juried Open + Awards Exhibition, asks you to explore gradual movement, whether through the physical displacement of something or the wandering of thoughts or ideas. DRIFT investigates what happens when we let go. It examines the marks left behind by things that have passed or the blurring of a memory.

BAU Gallery invites artists 18+ to apply with work that relates to visual interpretations of DRIFT. All mediums accepted, 2D and 3D, abstract and representational.

JUROR: Ellen Hawley, Independent Curator

Ellen Hawley is an independent curator whose experience bridges art, marketing, and architecture. At the Flinn Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut, she has curated exhibitions for more than a decade, including extraORDINARY things, Biophilia, Home Sweet Home, GLOW, Hazardous Beauty, and Heidi Johnson: Animal Attraction, while also organizing independent curatorial projects such as the recent Twist and Shout at Metro Art Studios, Bridgeport, CT. Ellen is active on three non-profit art advisory boards and juries exhibitions throughout the region. Early in her art career, she volunteered at MoMA’s Education Center for seven years, where she honed Visual Thinking Strategies with visitors. Previously, Hawley built a career in advertising, developing brand strategy campaigns for clients including AT&T, IBM, NYSE, and L’Oréal in New York and Los Angeles. She holds a degree in Art History from Syracuse University, with a concentration in Architecture for non-majors and a minor in Advertising. After living and working in New York, Los Angeles, and Hong Kong, she settled in Cos Cob, CT. Her Instagram LinkTree offers more detail: @ellenhawley_curates.

PRIZES:

• First Prize* – A month-long solo show in the 2027 exhibition calendar in Gallery I at BAU Gallery.
• Two Runner-Up Prizes* – A month-long joint two-person show in Gallery II at BAU Gallery during the 2027 show calendar.

*The month will be selected by the Gallery for all prizes.