COVID - 19 + UNBOUND9!: What to Expect this Year

Good morning, photographers. 

Before we get to the reasons for writing, we truly hope that you and yours are well.  Personally, I am deleting a lot of Coronavirus related emails every day and I don’t write this one lightly.  We hope the best for you and in some small way we hope to keep on supporting artists and their works, especially in this difficult time.

With that said, we’re writing because we are extending the submission deadline for Unbound9! to May 1st, to create a little room for you should you happen to need it. 

AND WE WANT TO TELL YOU THE SHOW WILL GO ON.   

Unbound9! will be online only.  Before the pandemic announced its destabilizing intentions, we were on track for a solid number of Unbound! submissions.  We suspect we’ll be able to mount a great virtual show by any metric. There is a genuine sadness that we will not see the exhibition mounted in the gallery - there just is not much we can do about that. We are going to still fixate upon the object qualities of the work. And we expect to keep the works to 40-45 as in previous years.

Candela will still learn plenty on our end and by pushing a message of support for our artists, we will do our best to find collectors for the work, and with a little bit of improvisation, we hope to scare up a little bit of money for purposes of acquiring work and keep adding to the Candela Collection.  Because the Unbound! fundraising gala event will not happen, we’ll soon roll out news of a fundraising platform. Per our terms of submission, there are no fees to submit. But we may hit you up for a completely voluntary donation if you have it to spare.

We recognize that raising money for a photography collection, in this moment, may appear a bit awkward.  Our job will be to really emphasize that the money we manage to scrape together in the name of Unbound9! will go towards the acquisition of work.  This means sales for artists, and we know that artists still need this vital support in their own lives right now.  

The Unbound! exhibition has always been close to our heart for a few reasons.  Our gallery gets to work with a lot of artists, known and unknown. As most of our exhibitions throughout the year are feature shows and group shows, day to day, we are out looking for work that we wish to share in our world.  Unbound! allows us to sort of open the flood gates and see what work comes to us. And every year, we are pleasantly surprised. Surprised by great student work, surprised that accomplished photographers are following our efforts, surprised by new directions from artists we thought we knew well.  It is a healthy concept for us from the standpoint of artist relationships.

But the other important reason Candela mounts Unbound! every year, is that it has the feel of a non-profit, community-minded project.  We raise a bit of money by throwing a great party and we spend ALL of the proceeds from that event acquiring work from the exhibition. So we are building a collection on the strength of that annual fundraising event and, if you are following me this far, the money goes directly to photographers.  Each year, we purchase eight or ten works from photographers and now, nine years later, we have over 80 artworks and artists’ books in the collection. We have also promised to donate the work to a permanent collection somewhere eventually.  There are no announcements to make just yet, but we are discussing plans now.  Ashby Nickerson, Candela’s Director, and I have been busy spinning ideas for this collection and we think we may have a roadmap.  We hope to share news very soon, but the world, as you may have noticed, is completely upside down.

To that end, we are now trying to find a balance, identifying what we can still do as a gallery and what we need to set aside for a while.  The gallery, itself, is closed, except by appointment. We have plenty of housekeeping to do though. We have managed to shake a little bit of business loose in this dire climate and we are profoundly grateful to those collectors who are working with us now, even as everything else seems to have ground to a halt.  And then, most importantly, we are trying to take care of ourselves and our loved ones. Homeschooling, buying groceries, staying focused on health and the long term is our main hope. And you are part of our family, too. So we will keep on working and evolving in hopes of bringing you opportunities.

So, please stay tuned. And, please, get your submissions in by May 1st!

Stay well!
G