We Like Short-Shorts: A Festival of 10-Minute Plays is accepting submissions from July 1 through midnight on July 18 for our 14th annual festival to be presented on March 6 and 7, 2027. A blind panel of judges with broad theatre experience will select 8-10 plays to be presented as concert readings and will choose a first place and a second place winner. Plays should be no longer than 10 minutes with no more than 5 characters. Award-winning playwrights and all playwrights to be included in the festival reading will be notified by email by January 31, 2027. All information is on our website.

Location
Waxhaw, NC

Fees or awards
$100 for first place winner; $75 for second place winner

FRESH is Artspace's biennial open survey exhibition, juried competition, and fundraiser featuring new work by North Carolina artists. Unlike a traditional juried exhibition, every eligible submission will first be exhibited in the FRESH Open Survey before juror Lia Newman makes selections for the FRESH Juried Exhibition.

Artists may submit one artwork. All submitted artworks must be available for sale.

Location
Raleigh, NC

Fees or awards
$25 application fee for Artspace Members / $35 for non-members. Prizes: 1st place ($1000), 2nd place ($500), 3rd place ($250), and People's Choice ($250).

The Sustainability Virtual Art Residency supports artists who imagine a more sustainable and equitable future. The program welcomes creators exploring the interconnected well-being of our lands, waters, oceans, and communities, along with the environmental, social, cultural, and economic systems that shape daily life. Through this global virtual space, artists can exchange ideas, develop new work, and contribute to more resilient and inclusive communities.

• 8 weeks
• 2 invited speakers
• Virtual Open Studio & Exhibition

Fees or awards
The total cost of this program is $450 USD.

The Schwa Show is Emerge Gallery & Art Center's iconic show. The gallery's logo is a schwa, which is part of the phonetic spelling of emerge. This juried exhibition has grown to a national presence and includes artwork of all mediums and subject matter.

Location
Greenville, NC

Fees or awards
$20 entry fee; up to $1,000 in awards

The Blu Sky Artist Award: August 2026 Edition is an international art award hosted by Ten Moir Gallery, created for artists seeking meaningful visibility, professional recognition, and real promotional value. Two artists will each receive a $500 cash award, one in traditional or mixed media and one in photography or digital, with additional finalists selected for feature opportunities. The award package includes artist interviews, press releases, collector-focused catalogue inclusion, certificates, and permanent feature in our archive of past winners and finalists.

Fees or awards
$28 entry fee; $1,000 in awards

The Literary Arts Fund will award a total of $1 million in grants in 2026 to literary arts nonprofits for new, one-time, and forward-thinking projects that aim to address critical infrastructural/structural challenges that, if improved or solved, would ultimately strengthen literary arts nonprofits’ abilities to serve creative writers. Proposed projects, which may be collaborative, should align with this description and goal and have impact beyond the project timeline.

Projects must commence some time after January 1, 2027, and conclude before or by December 31, 2027.

Fees or awards
Grant requests may range from $25,000 to $100,000 as determined by the project budget.

The Caldwell Arts Council invites you to participate in the 40th Annual Sculpture Celebration on September 12, 2026. Join emerging and established sculptors to compete for a total of $11,000 in cash awards. Sculptors can enter up to three works.

Registration includes free admission to the Friday Night Welcome Dinner and a continental breakfast on Saturday morning. Sales of competition entries and commissions are encouraged, with 100% of proceeds going to the sculptors. All mediums are accepted, including metals, glass, stone, wood, paper, plastic, fiber, found objects, natural and recycled materials, etc.

Event details
September 12, 2026
Broyhill Walking Park
Lenoir, NC 28645

Fees or awards
Registration fees vary. $35 for students and $50 for non-students if registered by June 30, 2026. $11,000 in total cash awards.

Wayne Art Center is seeking submissions for CraftForms 2026, the 31st International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Fine Craft, in the following mediums: basketry, ceramics, fiber, furniture, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, paper, wearable art, and wood. Works created utilizing CAD/CAM technologies and 3D printing tools are also eligible.

Selected works will be on display in the Davenport Gallery of Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania from December 6, 2026 through January 23, 2027. This year’s jurors, Dr. Robert K. Liu and Patrick Benesh-Liu of Ornament Magazine, will present $12,000+ in prize awards funded by Wayne Art Center.

Location
Wayne, PA

Fees or awards
$50 entry fee; $12,000+ in awards

The 31st annual season of the Twin Rivers Media Festival will celebrate this year screening the latest and greatest in independent features, documentaries, short and animated films. 28 countries were represented last year in the 60 films selected for screenings. The festival will screen winners on September 25th and 26th, 2026 at the Flood Fine Arts Center in Asheville, NC.

Two new categories will be featured this year highlighting:
Anti-War and Anti War-Tax films
Films By and About Asheville, NC

Location
Asheville, NC

Fees or awards
Submission fees vary. Submit early for lowest fees. 20% of all fees awarded to the different categories.

Waterworks Visual Arts Center is a nationally accredited, non-collecting art museum presenting three rotating exhibitions of contemporary fine art and craft each year by local, regional, national, and international artists. Submissions from established and emerging artists with credentials are accepted and reviewed within 60–90 days following the deadlines of January 30 and September 30. Exhibitions are planned 18–24 months in advance, and submission review does not ensure inclusion.

Location
Salisbury, NC

Fees or awards
Submission Fee: $10