Inaugural Invitational
Translating reality: representational art as living tradition
The Inaugural Invitational marks the Academy’s first major initiative and establishes the foundation for its ongoing exhibition program. Conceived as a curated invitational rather than an open-call exhibition, it brings together a carefully selected group of contemporary representational artists whose work reflects a sustained commitment to artistic mastery, thoughtful practice, and the continued vitality of representational art.
While unified by a shared commitment to serious artistic practice, the exhibition is intended to encompass a broad range of media, subjects, and artistic sensibilities. The Invitational seeks not to promote a singular aesthetic position, but to present a carefully shaped exhibition grounded in curatorial discernment, artistic excellence, and meaningful engagement with representational practice in the contemporary period.
Exhibition Concept
Translating Reality: Representational Art as Living Tradition is conceived as a highly selective presentation bringing together contemporary women artists working across a range of representational media and disciplines. To “translate reality” is to transform a subject or source through selection, organization, emphasis, medium, scale, material process, and judgment. Exact fidelity does not suspend translation, just as visible departure does not automatically make a work more interpretive or distinguished. While artistic approaches, subject matter, and sensibilities may vary, the Invitational is unified by a shared commitment to serious artistic practice, clarity of vision, and mastery.
The Invitational is intended to highlight the continued vitality and diversity of contemporary representational art through the thoughtful placement of distinct artistic voices in relation to one another. Rather than seeking homogeneity or adherence to a singular aesthetic position, the exhibition emphasizes resonance across differences while preserving the individuality and character of each artist represented.
The exhibition’s cohesion will arise not from stylistic resemblance, but from the seriousness and distinction with which its artists translate reality into form through different habits of perception, bodies of knowledge, technical methods, expressive purposes, and acts of judgment. The goal is not simply to assemble exemplary individual works, but to construct a cohesive exhibition in which differing approaches to representation exist in active conversation, contributing to a broader reflection on the continued possibilities of representational art today.
Curatorial Vision
Central to the curatorial vision of the Invitational is the belief that exhibitions should encourage sustained attention, close observation, and a fuller awareness of how individual works relate to the exhibition in its entirety. Rather than overwhelming the viewer through scale or accumulation, the exhibition emphasizes pacing, visual clarity, and the experience of encountering works within a carefully shaped environment.
Particular consideration is given to the visual and atmospheric relationships that emerge through placement, scale, sequence, contrast, rhythm, and proximity. Works are placed according to both their individual qualities and the ways in which they strengthen, challenge, and illuminate one another within the exhibition as a whole.
The Invitational is conceived as an experience that unfolds gradually through reflection, continuity, and the thoughtful movement between works—encouraging viewers to engage not only with individual pieces, but also with the broader relationships and conversations that emerge across the exhibition space.
Advisory Council
To support the development and presentation of the Inaugural Invitational, the Academy has assembled an exhibition-specific Advisory Council composed of nationally and internationally recognized artists and an accomplished art historian and independent scholar.
The Council is not involved in selecting or inviting participating artists, and its members will serve in a non-exhibiting capacity. Once the participating artists have been confirmed, Council members will provide advisory feedback as the Curator selects the works to be exhibited. The Council will determine the Invitational’s award recipients.
The Inaugural Invitational Advisory Council is comprised of the following members:
Selection & Submission
Participation in the Inaugural Invitational is by invitation only and extended to artists whose work demonstrates technical mastery, clarity of vision, and a sustained commitment to serious representational practice.
Invited artists may submit up to three fully realized works representative of their current body of practice for curatorial consideration, though no more than one work will be selected for exhibition. The selection of works is informed in part by dialogue with the Inaugural Invitational Advisory Council, whose members bring professional expertise spanning painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, art education, scholarship, and varied representational traditions.
While multiple works may be considered, the Invitational remains intentionally focused in scope, with final selections shaped through careful consideration of each work’s individual achievement and its place within the exhibition as a whole. Each artist will be represented by one fully realized studio work.
Invitational Details
Venue: McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts
117 W. Lockwood Ave.
St. Louis, MO, 63119
Exhibition Dates: September 24-October 15, 2027
Opening Reception: Friday, September 24, 2027 from 6:00–9:00 PM
Additional information regarding participating artists and related programming will be announced as details are finalized.
Partial interior view of McCaughen & Burr Fine Arts