ROAR: The Art of Cats 2025

Description

ROAR, the Art of Cats, International Call for Art

Prospectus
Submit your art and photography that features cats. ROAR is about everything feline.
Enter artwork of wild cats, stray cats, and/or pet cats. For this exhibition, we want to show artwork that fully embodies what it is to be a cat. Cats of all shapes, sizes, and feline species are welcome. They can roar, purr, play, prowl, nap, or simply be the epitome of Cat.
Feel free to submit contemporary abstract works as well as traditional forms of animal/wildlife art and photography. We really do love everything from Pop Art to Hyperrealism and everything outside that range as well.
All entries must feature a cat and must be the original artwork of the submitting artist.
Deadline for Entries: October 20, 2025
All cat species are welcomeWild, domesticated, pet, feral, and rural cats are all welcome!2D and 3D artwork, printmaking, sculpture, original digital art (no AI), and photographyAny style and genre as long there is an animal in itAll entries must be the original artwork of the submitting artistThis art call is for a virtual art exhibitionTutorial for how to use this ArtCall site is at the bottom of this pageWe embrace realism as fully as abstraction. We love loose brush strokes as much as highly detailed photographs. We live for finely crafted ceramics as much as mixed media experiments. We. Love. Art.

We are looking for 2D and 3D artwork, sculpture, and photography that falls into a variety of art style and genre categories: Abstraction, Portraiture, Surrealism, Realism, Pop Art, Expressionism, Assemblage, and more! Our mission is to promote wildlife and animal art in both non-traditional and traditional forms. We exist to honor, promote, and uplift it.

As always, art may include more than just animals. Feel free to incorporate humans, objects, landscapes, shapes, space, or anything else. The work needs to fit the theme, and the focus needs to be on the animal(s).

Be as literal or as creative with the theme as you like. Originality is one of the components we use to score entries.AwardsBest in Show ($350 cash award)Best Wild Cat Art ($100 cash award)
Best Domestic Cat Art ($100 cash award)
Artivism Award ($50)Overall Honorable MentionsFinalists

For more information about our awards, please see the Awards page.CategoriesBe as accurate as you can with the category.* Category selection helps the judges quickly identify what they are looking at and assess a work appropriately.

Drawing and PastelsMixed MediaOther MediaPaintingPhotographyPrintmakingSculpture

*If you aren't sure what the best category is, use Other Media. We receive so few digital art entries, that we decided to remove that category; please use Other Media for any digital works (no AI allowed).It's okay if something is put into the wrong category on accident. It happens. It will not negatively impact your entry.

Important Dates

Deadline for Entries: November 20, 2025, 5:59pm Pacific Time ZoneNotification of Jury Results: December 1-2, 2025Virtual Show Dates: December 2025

Artist Entry RequirementsArtwork must be the original art of the submitting artistArtwork MUST NOT HAVE BEEN INCLUDED in Wild Heart Gallery's shows on wildheartgallery.com previously. If the gallery showed your art piece only on artcall.org, you may submit that art piece againArtwork entered in this call for art is not required to be for sale Any inquiries about a piece will be directed to the artist. We do not take any commission for this call for art/exhibitionPlease submit a quality image of the work for jurying. Blur, poor cropping, glare, and other elements that distract from the art piece will negatively impact its scoreCompetitions are open to all artists age 18 or olderEntries must follow each individual competition themeEach piece must be an original and submitted by the artist who created it. No AIThis call for art is internationalFiles must be in JPG, GIF, or PNG formatFiles may not exceed 5MBArtwork images must be represented in a professional manner: cropped, no glare, no frames, no watermarks. (Feel free to sign your artwork. In fact, we love it when artists sign their art. It's an excellent marketing tactic.) Reminder: Blur, poor cropping, glare, and other elements that distract from the art piece will negatively impact its scoreNot mandatory, but it is preferred that artwork be completed within the last 2 yearsEntry fee based on the competitionEntry fees are non-refundable. No exceptions

Policy: No nudity (private parts must be covered), no profanity, no animal cruelty, no gore, and no political artwork will be accepted for jury. Topics of animal conservation and environmental protection are not considered political for the purposes of Wild Heart Gallery, and they are suitable topics for the Artivism Award.Please NoteThis is an art competition. Not all entries will be accepted. Only the award recipients will be in the online group exhibition on wildheartgallery.com. In some instances, we may opt to include a section for "Selected Works" in the online group exhibition. This is at the discretion of our Lead Juror, Sarah Soward. There is no set number of entries that will be included in "Selected Works."Thanks to constructive feedback from our artists, we now create a separate page on artcall.org for additional works of merit. This may be all of the pieces that made it to the Final Round of judging, or it may be the Top Juried Entries of a certain number, at the discretion of our lead juror Sarah Soward. There is no set number of entries decided upon beforehand that will be included on the artcall.org page.

Image Requirements

You may submit up to 2 separate art pieces. Use the "Add Submission" button to add your second art piece.

*For sculpture entries only, you may submit up to 2 additional views/images per art piece.
*For photographs, please note the make and model of the camera used and whether is film or digital.

Accepted File Types: JPG, PNG, GIFMaximum File Size: 5 MBMinumum File Size: 500 KBMinimum Image Width or Height: 1000 px

Entry Fees (non-refundable)

$17 for 1-2 imagesJury Process

Artwork for the exhibition will be selected by industry professionals, referred to as jurors. The jurors will vote based on the number of entries, criteria for this event (theme), originality, technique, skill, and quality of work.Jury Selection begins within 7 days after final entry date and ends within 15 days after final entry date.Award recipients are the entered into an online group award exhibition that is published at a date sometime after final entry date.

The Juror(s) of the art competition are art industry professionals.

There are several criteria for selection for the award exhibition. These include relevance to the theme, originality, quality of work, technique, and technical skill. The goal is to have a cohesive, high quality virtual art exhibition that embraces various genres of animal and wildlife art. To make the experience enjoyable and worthwhile to artists, visitors, and more, we strive to select and display the artwork that best represents animal and wildlife art today. ***Please remember that this is a competition; only the best art will be selected for exhibition. Not all art that was entered will be included.***

Copyright

The artist retains all copyrights to their artwork without exception.Non-exclusive PermissionsBy entering this art competition, you are granting Wild Heart Gallery a non-exclusive perpetual license to reproduce images of your artwork on wildheartgallery.com, and to publish the winners and accepted entries on Facebook and Instagram as well as other media outlets. Wild Heart Gallery also has permission to crop or re-size images to fit the needs of wildheartgallery.com and other media outlets. All award-winning entries will be displayed on wildheartgallery.com. Each awarded image becomes part of the public archival online exhibition catalog for up to one year and possibly longer.Limit of LiabilityYou will not hold Wild Heart Gallery or any of its affiliates, jurors, or members liable for anything.All entry fees are non-refundable without exception.OtherAll dollar amounts listed are in USD.If you have a moment, pleaseFollow us on Instagram @wildheartartgallerySign up for our mailing list at wildheartgallery.comFollow us on Facebook
Artist Tutorial: How to Enter the Call for Art
Wild Heart Gallery is now using artcall.org for art call submissions and jurying. If you have questions about how this works or get stuck during the submission process, watch this video.