CALL FOR ENTRIES - TIME SENSITIVE :
Todd Edward Herman, director of East Window Gallery in North Boulder, Colorado, is seeking artworks for inclusion in a collaborative exhibit titled Living The Dream (a dissociative thing), exploring the concept and experience of “derealization”— a dissociative and unsettling sensation that the world around us has become strange, out of balance with our own experiences, distant, unreal, disconnected and hopeless. 

••••••••••••

CONCEPT :
For many, the experience of derealization emerges through trauma, grief, depression, anxiety, media saturation, political upheaval, violence, isolation, or the gradual erosion of community and cultural memory. It is an experience that can devastate, yet it can also be interrupted. A conversation with an elder. Time spent with a child. Shared meals. Ritual. Protest. Care. Art. Human connection.

Have you ever experienced derealization or something similar to it? How do you recognize it? How do you combat it? What helps you return to the world? What does connection look like in an era marked by loneliness, distraction, political division, and the constant presence of violence? How do family histories, cultural traditions, intergenerational dialogue, friendship, or collective action help ground us? What is lost when those connections disappear?

Artists working in any medium are encouraged to submit works that respond to these questions. Submissions may be literal, symbolic, documentary, abstract, personal, political…

••••••••••••

IMPORTANT DATES :
Living The Dream (a dissociative thing)
•Deadline for entries: Sunday, June 28, 2026, 11:59pm
•Artists working in any medium may enter
•Exhibit dates: July 17 – August 8, 2026
•Notification: June 30, 2026

••••••••••••

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES :
•No entry fee to submit works
•Any medium accepted
•All entries must be emailed as JPEGs or PDFs
•East Window will print your work so you don't have to
•Files must be a minimum of 6x9 inch at 300 dpi
•Submit up to 3 works

•Your email should include include:
  -Artist name
  -Title of work
  -Year
  -Your email address

•Your file name should include your name and work title.
(example: Jane_Doe_Work_Title.JPEG / PDF)

••••••••••••

EXHIBITION INFORMATION
Living The Dream (a dissociative thing) will be included as part of the exhibit, Flipping Scripts II:
Exhibition of Colorado Curators, organized by Dan Drossman.

Flipping Scripts II: Exhibition of Colorado Curators
The Bitfactory Gallery
851 Santa Fe Drive, Denver CO, 80204
July 17 – August 8, 2026
Opening Reception: July 17, 2026, 6–9 PM

••••••••••••

Submit works HERE

We're looking forward to receiving your works.
The deadline to enter is approaching soon!

••••••••••••

ABOUT TODD EDWARD HERMAN 
Todd Edward Herman is a visual artist and curator. He is the founding director of East Window Gallery in North Boulder, Colorado and co-founder of Sins Invalid a performance project that incubates, celebrates and centralizes artists with disabilities, artists of color, queer and gender-variant artists. Todd has been the recipient of many awards for his work including, the San Francisco International Film Festival New Visions Award, The Art Council of Northern Ireland, San Francisco Film Arts Foundation, Western States Regional Media Arts Fellowship, The Arts Commission, Community Foundation and Arts Alliance of Boulder County, and the Emerging Curator Award from The San Francisco Art Commission. He has presented his films and photographs at such venues as The International Film Festival Rotterdam, San Francisco International Film Festival, Southbank Centre, Design Museum of Chicago, New Benaki Museum, Kharkiv Holocaust Museum, Melbourne Museum of Art, Anthology Film Archives, San Francisco Cinematheque, Pacific Film Archives, RedLine Contemporary Art Center, The Dairy Arts Center, Arvada Center for Arts & Humanities, Vicki Myhren Gallery and Leon Gallery. Todd currently lives in Boulder Colorado with his family.