2026 Wild & Scenic Art Exhibition

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival, in collaboration with Nevada County Arts Council, invites artists to submit their artwork for possible inclusion at the 24th annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival, February 19-23, 2026.

Wild & Scenic uses environmental and adventure films to inspire activism, and we are seeking art submissions that do the same. Artists are encouraged to submit pieces that address a broad interpretation of the theme of “environment.” The featured artwork enhances the immersive nature of the festival experience.

“Our community is lucky to have such a vibrant and robust artistic community that values and embraces the power of the arts to communicate, educate, and uplift. Each year many dozens of artists harness this power and bring attendees their vision for the joint exhibition presented by Wild & Scenic and the Arts Council. We are grateful to be able to continue to bring this artistic inspiration to Wild & Scenic attendees and the community at large and I can’t wait to another great exhibition embracing the 2026 Mobilize theme this coming year” says Festival Director Eric Dunn.

Exhibition Information

Juried art will be showcased at the Granucci Gallery, located at The Center for the Arts in Grass Valley and the Rood Center in Nevada City in 2026. Western Nevada County is home to more than 100 arts-related organizations producing upwards of a thousand events a year, scores of annual festivals, street fairs, art walks, studio tours, and a generous base of artists and makers. All this and much more is happening in the Grass Valley-Nevada City Cultural District, designated by the California Arts Council as one of 14 cultural districts for our thriving cultural diversity and unique artistic identities within California.

We are thrilled to provide artists passionate about the environment an opportunity to showcase their best and share a meaningful message conveyed through their unique artistic visions.

Submission & Award Information

Categories
Submissions are accepted in three categories: 3-Dimensional, 2-Dimensional, and Photography.

Artists can submit up to 3 pieces per entry in a single category. All artwork must be for sale.

Details about the three categories:
2-D: Paintings, prints, collages, mixed media, and panels with 1.5 inches or less of depth variation
3-D: Sculpture and pieces with depth variations greater than 1.5 inches
Photography: All photography, including digital and film, color, black and white

Theme
While all artwork will be considered, we are especially interested in pieces that interpret our theme this year, Mobilize. The theme is a rallying cry. It honors the energy of collective action and the momentum of big and small movements that shape a better world.

Awards
Selected artists will exhibit their work in person at the 23rd annual Wild & Scenic Film Festival in front of thousands of environmental filmmakers, celebrities, social activists, and attendees. Artworks on display at the Granucci Gallery will be eligible for the following awards (artworks on display at the Rood Center are not eligible for award):

• Top submission in each category; 2-Dimensional, 3-Dimensional, and Photography
• Best of Theme: “Mobilize”
• Emerging Artist
• Judges’ Awards

The Jury will look for work that stands out within the greater themes of the festival, which is a fundraising driver of the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL), a non-profit organization whose mission is to unite the community to protect and restore the Yuba River watershed. Award-winners will be recognized and presented with certificates at the virtual Artists Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony.

2026 Art Venues

Granucci Gallery at the Grass Valley Center for the Arts (314 W Main St), during fest Thu-Sun 2-8 pm*, and Tue-Fri 12-4 pm on other dates. 

• Artwork install will take place on February 16th – artwork can be dropped off between 9am and 1pm
• Artwork pickup will take place March 16 between 11am and 1pm
• The artwork will be on display for the general public starting on February 19th at the Granucci Gallery (314 W Main St, Grass Valley), and will run until March 15th
• All sales are split with 60% to the artist, 20% to the Granucci Gallery, and 20% to SYRCL to help fund our many projects year-round. Sales will be facilitated by the Center for the Arts.

Rood Center at 950 Maidu Ave, Nevada City, CA 95959

• Artwork drop-off: January 12, 9am – 11am at the Rood Center, Nevada City
• Artwork pick-up: May 4, 10am – 12pm at the Rood Center, Nevada City
• The artwork will be on display for the general public starting on January 16th at the Rood Center at 950 Maidu Ave and will run until May 1st
• All sales are split with 80% to the artist, 20% to Wild & Scenic Film Festival, with the artist being responsible for the sales and remittance of payment

2026 Art Reception & Awards Ceremony

On February 19th, please join us to kick off the Wild & Scenic Film Festival and the Art Exhibition with a Reception and Awards Ceremony from 4:30 to 6:30 pm at the Granucci Gallery at the Grass Valley Center for the Arts (314 W Main St.).

On January 30th we will host the opening of the Rood Center exhibition at the Rood Center in Nevada City at 4:30pm

The event is FREE and open to the public. Stay tuned for more info.

2026 Art Judges

Austin Pratt is an artist, curator, and educator. He is currently the Curator and Manager of Sheppard Contemporary & University Galleries at the University of Nevada, Reno, where he also teaches courses Painting, Drawing, Gallery Practices, and in the low-residency MFA-Interdisciplinary Arts program. Recent curatorial practice includes the exhibitions, Wet Incantation: Poetics of Water & Language, and Toward a Tangled Turn: Knots, Nets, Threads, & Loops at Sheppard Contemporary. His work exists primarily through a studio painting practice and as the frontman for the collective psych/hardcore-punk outfit Spitting Image, which he cofounded in 2010. Not wholly dissimilar, his poetic writing and paintings reprocess fragmented image and pattern, with research interests in perception psychology and cultural geography. Pratt received an MFA in Painting+Drawing from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His work has been featured in New American Paintings, and he has been a recipient of the Visual Arts Fellowship from the Nevada Arts Council.

Sara Morris is the Ruth Rippon Curator of Ceramics at the Crocker Art Museum and a PhD candidate in the History of Art & Architecture Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara with a doctoral emphasis in feminist studies. Her research focuses on craft and material culture of the United States, with specific concentration on California’s contributions to ceramics. At the Crocker, her duties include research into the collection, acquiring artworks, and organizing contemporary and historic ceramics exhibitions and publications. Morris brings a wealth of experience, having previously worked in museums and galleries across the country, including the Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.

Submission Deadlines & Important Dates:

November 30 – Final Deadline, $45

December 15 – Notification Date

January 30 – Rood Center Opens 

February 19 – Granucci Gallery Art Exhibition Opens/Film Festival begins

Granucci Exhibition Dates: February 19 to March 15, 2026

Rood Center Exhibition Dates: January 16 to May 1, 2026

If you have any questions about submitting your art, please reach out to art@wildandscenicfilmfestival.org

Terms & Conditions – Wild & Scenic Art Exhibition Submission

By submitting your artwork to this exhibition, you agree to the following terms and conditions.

Artwork Eligibility & Artist Responsibility

• All submissions must be original works of art created by the submitting artist.
• Artists are responsible for ensuring their work is ready for display. This includes framing/matting with proper hanging hardware or ready to display on a pedestal.
• Artists are responsible for the delivery and pick-up of their artwork on the specified dates and times.

Selection and Exhibition Process

• A selection committee will review all submissions to determine which artworks are accepted into the exhibition.
• The exhibition will be displayed across two separate venues. The main gallery will be at The Granucci Gallery in Grass Valley, with a secondary exhibition space at the Rood Center in Nevada City.
• Artists with two or more accepted artworks may have one of their pieces displayed at the second venue. The placement of all artwork is at the sole discretion of the selection committee.
• Awards will be determined by a group of judges separate from the selection committee. Artworks on display at the Rood Center will not be eligible for awards.

Sales and Commissions

• All artworks must be for sale.
• Sales at The Granucci Gallery will be handled by The Center for the Arts staff with 60% of the sale going to the artist, 20% to Wild & Scenic Film Festival, and 20% to The Center for the Arts.
• Sales at the Rood Center will be handled by the artist with 100% of the sale going to the artist. We ask that the artist submits 20% of the sale as a donation to Wild & Scenic Film Festival.

Agreement

• Submitting your work constitutes your full agreement to all terms and conditions listed above. Failure to comply with these terms may result in the disqualification of your submission.