Open Call for UT Medical Exhibition
The HEART of Healing at UT Medical Center
Entries due by midnight on Sunday, January 3, 2027
On display February 2027 through July 2027 at UT Medical Center
1924 Alcoa Hwy, Knoxville, TN
Please find the online entry form at the bottom of the page.
Statement of Purpose
The heart is one of humanity’s most enduring symbols—representing love, compassion, vulnerability, connection, and life itself. Across cultures and generations, the heart has become a universal language for expressing what we feel, how we care for one another, the connections we cherish, and the places within us that seek healing.
The HEART of Healing invites artists to explore the many ways the heart can be expressed through art. The heart may reveal love and compassion, nurture and caring, health and vitality, resilience and healing, or the strength found in our community, nature and human connection.
This exhibit celebrates the heart not only as a physical organ or a shape, but as a source of emotional, creative and healing energy. It explores the ways art can nurture the spirit, encourage reflection, foster connection, inspire renewal, and bring comfort and joy. Through color, form, texture, movement, imagery, and personal expression, artists are invited to interpret what it means to heal, to care, and to connect.
Artists may explore themes of nurturing, compassion, reflection, connection, renewal, kindness, tenderness, vitality, restoration, resilience, community, transformation, and the healing power of art.
At its core, The HEART of Healing celebrates the capacity of art—and the human heart—to transform, restore, connect, and inspire.
New Quote Here:
“What a beautiful initiative! Bringing art into healing spaces has such a powerful impact on patients, families and care teams.” – UT Medical Patient
About the Exhibition Space
Approximately 40-50 works will comprise this HEART of Healing Exhibition. Work is exhibited on several walls main thoroughfares between the Heart Hospital entrance off fountain circle, the Boling Pavilion off flag circle and in the Heart Lung Vascular Institute lobby. The centrally-located, high traffic areas are located near lobbies, registration, the information desk, the cafeteria, the Health Information Center, Wood Auditorium and the team member respite garden area. It is available for viewing 24/7 by patients, visitors and team members of the Region’s Only Academic Health System.
Juror
David Butler has maintained an artistic practice for more than fifty years, sometimes actively and sometimes not so much. The pace of his activity has largely been determined by the restrictions imposed by his day job as a museum administrator, most recently at the Knoxville Museum of Art, where he served as executive director for nearly two decades. Even when the pace of his own production wasn’t exactly impressive, he was interacting with and learning from far more talented artists as part of his job. He has a lot of experience as a show juror, a task he approaches with humility and the deepest respect for every work submitted.
Awards
The Arts & Culture Alliance and UT Medical are excited to announce as part of the expansion of our partnership, there are award opportunities for artist submissions during this exhibition. The following awards will be presented at the Opening Reception of the HEART of Healing.
- Best In Show: $500.00
- Second Place: $300.00
- Third Place: $200.00
- Arts & Culture Alliance Award: $100
- Purchase Award: One Artwork to be placed in UT Medical’s Permanent Collection
Eligibility and Size Requirements
This exhibition is open to all artists 18 years and older residing in these 34 counties of East Tennessee: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Campbell, Carter, Claiborne, Cocke, Cumberland, Fentress, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hamilton, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Johnson, Knox, Loudon, McMinn, Marion, Meigs, Monroe, Morgan, Polk, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sevier, Sullivan, Unicoi, Union, and Washington.
Artists must be individual members of the Arts & Culture Alliance (there is a pay what you can option) by the entry deadline. Anyone may join! Join or renew here!
Entries must be 2-D original works in the following categories: Painting (oil, watercolor, acrylic, pastel, alcohol ink, digital, and mixed media); Graphic Arts (pencil, charcoal, pen and ink, conte, colored pencil, and printmaking); and Photography (color, black and white, digital). Giclees are ineligible. Electricity is not available. Artwork created in whole or in part using any artificial intelligence system is not eligible.
+ The maximum allowed size of framed artwork is 36” x 36”.
+ Weight is not to exceed 40 lbs.
+ At this time, diptychs and triptychs are not allowed.
WORKS MUST BE:
1) WIRED FOR SECURE INSTALLATION (UNWIRED WORKS WILL NOT BE HUNG), and
2) METAL FRAMES ARE PREFERRED WHEN POSSIBLE
These requirements are included because work is hanging in an area of high traffic for several months.
Entry Procedure
There is no entry fee for individual members of the Arts & Culture Alliance. If you are not a member, please visit our membership page to join for one year. If you are unsure of your membership status, please call 865-523-7543.
Works are juried by digital image only. Each 2-D work should be represented by one digital image.
Sales & Commission
All works will be included in the online shop at www.knoxalliance.store. WORK MUST BE FOR SALE and will remain on exhibition if it sells. All sales are handled by the Arts & Culture Alliance, who retains a 25% commission (20% for cash and check sales). To operate in accordance with the Tennessee Department of Revenue guidelines, the Alliance will add sales tax to the price of each work that sells from UT Medical Center and for which it collects payment. UT Medical Center will not receive any proceeds from the sale of artwork.
About the Arts & Culture Alliance
The Arts & Culture Alliance serves and supports a diverse community of artists, arts organizations, and cultural institutions. The Alliance receives financial support from the City of Knoxville, Knox County, the East Tennessee Foundation, and the Tennessee Arts Commission.
About UT Medical
UT Medical is East Tennessee’s only academic health system with a mission to serve through healing, education and discovery. As one of the region’s largest employers, UT Medical is committed to improving access across its 21-county service area. The system continues to grow, supported by a network of primary and specialty care practices, outpatient centers and urgent care locations. Its 710-bed, not-for-profit hospital, UT Medical Center, in Knoxville is nationally recognized as a Magnet® nursing organization, a Joint Commission–certified Comprehensive Stroke Center, the region’s only ACS-verified
HOW TO ENTER (2 steps)
1) If you are not currently an ACA Member, please make a secure card payment at our Membership Page for the $78 membership fee*. Membership is for one year. You will be prompted to make a MemberPress account.
*The Arts & Culture Alliance offers a Pay What You Can option.
2) Return to this page to complete the entry form below and upload your images. Be sure to click the submit button at the end of the form.
Upload digital images as files identified with entry form number (A through E) and title of work (example: A.Title.jpg, B.Title.jpg, etc.). Image size should be 1600 pixels on the longest side. Uploaded images must be JPEG, JPG, or PNG files and may not exceed 5 MB in size. For assistance resizing and renaming images please review: Resizing and Renaming Digital Photos
Upon successful submission of the entry form, you will receive a copy to the e-mail address you provided (and this page will refresh).
For assistance of any kind, please call (865) 523-7543 or email info@knoxalliance.com.