Mutual Aid – Members Print Exchange

Apply by March 23rd, 2026

All Union Gallery & Cultivate Art Commons Members are invited to participate in our 2026 joint members print exchange on the theme of mutual aid. Join us for this opportunity to create a new edition of prints, exchange artwork, and celebrate our local community.

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Mutual Aid

“Mutual aid describes the work we do in social movements to directly support each other’s survival needs, based on a shared understanding that the crises we are facing are caused by the system that we’re living under, and are worsened by those systems. Mutual aid focuses on helping people get what they need right now, as we work to get to the root causes of these problems.” – Dean Spade

This print exchange explores the topic of community care: how we give and receive care from our neighbours, build pro-social behaviours, address a variety of emergent needs, and work around challenges to look after one another. We invite you to consider modes of responding to crises, including but not limited to:

  • food and housing insecurity; 

  • under-resourced and overburdened health care and education systems; 

  • working conditions under capitalism including the impacts of emerging technologies like AI; 

  • climate breakdown and its relationship to fascism and migration

How are we responding, organizing, persisting, resisting, and creating new possibilities in community? 

Guidelines

  • Participation will be limited to 20 artists total (maximum). Each artist will create an edition of identical prints so that each participant will receive one. Staff will collate and package the set of prints as a portfolio for collection by the artists. Please review the guidelines carefully before signing up.

  • Monday, March 23, 2026: Sign up - Staff will confirm participation shortly after

    Saturday, April 11, 2026 at 2pm: Info and work session at Union Gallery

    Saturday, June 6, 2026 by 4pm: Final submission of printed editions to Union Gallery

    Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 2pm: Social event & portfolio pick-up at Cultivate Art Commons

  • Please ensure that you have read and understood the guidelines before signing up to participate.

    1. Original Work
      All work submitted must be created specifically for this print exchange. You must own the intellectual property rights for all images submitted.

    2. Theme
      Your edition considers the theme in some way.

    3. Membership
      Your membership with Union Gallery and/or Cultivate Art Commons is active. We encourage folks to purchase a joint membership to take advantage of both organizations’ membership perks! Joint memberships can be purchased from either Cultivate Art Commons or Union Gallery.

    4. Paper Size
      8 by 10 inches (landscape or portrait orientation).

    5. Edition Size
      Be prepared to print a maximum edition size of 20 identical prints. Staff will confirm the total number of participants shortly following the close of sign-ups.

    6. Print Medium & Paper Selection
      Any editionable print technique is acceptable. This means that you are able to consistently produce multiples for an identical look. Please use quality printmaking materials like acid-free papers and archival inks. (See suggested materials below.)

    7. Signing and Editioning
      All prints must be signed, editioned, and dated. This may be one the front or back of the print.

    8. Presentation
      Prints must be dry. If heavily inked or prone to scuffing, please include an interleafing paper to avoid damage to other artists’ prints in the portfolio. Please handle your work with care to avoid denting or creasing the paper. For tips on how to prepare your paper, attend the info and work session open to all participants.

    9. Submission Deadline
      Prints must be dropped off at Union Gallery no later than 4pm on Saturday, June 6, 2026.

    10. Submission Form
      Complete the submission form with your personal information (name, pronouns, brief biography, website and/or social media, and email) by 11:59pm on Monday, March 23, 2026.  

    • Cotton rag paper such as Arnhem 1618 Printmaking Paper (Art Noise)

    • Acid-free paper

    • Japanese paper such as Kozuke White Heavy (Art Noise)

    • Speedball silkscreen inks

    • Cranfield Caligo Safe Wash relief inks

    • Speedball unmounted red baron linoleum for linocut (Art Noise)

    • ¼” baltic birch plywood for woodcut

    • Gamblin etching and relief inks