Exhibit at SAM
Images 1-5: SAM Open 2023: Home, SAM Open 2022: New Horizons, Aleisa Miksad: Between Scylla and Charybdis | Amphora (SAM Spotlight 2022), Tuesday Junction: After the Rain (SAM EOI/Selects 2023). Images 1, 3 & 4 by Leon Schoots, image 2 by Christian Capurro.
SAM is proud to offer three unique opportunities for the Greater Shepparton community to showcase their work at SAM across the year. Through exhibiting in our dedicated community gallery, the Hugh D. T. Williamson Community Gallery, local creatives are given the chance to work in a professional museum context and connect with new audiences across a range of exhibitions, public programs, and events.
Through three open callouts, creatives in the Greater Shepparton and Goulburn Valley region may apply for the following:
SAM Selects – Accepts proposals from artists, curators, creative practitioners and community groups to exhibit an original creative project or body of work.
About SAM Selects
SAM Selects accepts proposals from artists, curators, creative practitioners and community groups to exhibit an original creative project or body of work in the Community Gallery at SAM, offering a rare opportunity to present within a major art museum.
Eligibility
To be eligible for SAM Selects, applicants must either:
- Live, work or study within the Greater Shepparton and Goulburn Valley Region; or
- Have produced the artworks within the proposed exhibition in the region such as being created as part of a residency held within the Goulburn Valley region.
Applicants must be 20 years of age or older at the time of applying.
WATCH: SAM Selects Info Session (2023 recording)
Interested in applying for SAM Selects 2025? We invite you to learn more about the opportunity by watching our community information session, hosted by SAM Curator - Community Caroline Esbenshade in 2023.
Applications for our 2025 program have now closed. Applications for SAM Selects 2026 will open in August 2025.
SAM Spotlight – A paid solo exhibition opportunity for emerging artists living and working in the Goulburn Valley region.
About SAM Spotlight
SAM Spotlight is a paid solo exhibition opportunity dedicated to showcasing the work of an emerging artist living and working in the Goulburn Valley region. The successful SAM Spotlight artist will work closely with the SAM Curator – Community to create a new body of work and exhibition to be presented in the Hugh D.T Williamson Community Gallery at SAM.
Eligibility
SAM Spotlight is open to emerging artists that live, work or study within the Greater Shepparton and Goulburn Valley Region. Applicants must be 20 years of age or older at the time of applying.
WATCH: SAM Spotlight Info Session (2023 recording)
Interested in applying for SAM Spotlight 2025? We invite you to learn more about the opportunity by watching our community information session, hosted by SAM Curator - Community Caroline Esbenshade in 2023.
Applications for our 2025 program have now closed. Applications for SAM Spotlight 2026 will open in August 2025.
SAM Open: A group exhibition opportunity open to all local creatives aged 16+.
About SAM Open
SAM Open is an open-call group exhibition for artists aged 16+ that celebrates the artistic talent and creativity of our community.
SAM Open 2025 will have no set exhibition theme. Applicants are invited to submit an original artwork of their choosing for consideration by the SAM Curatorial Team. Artworks must have been created no earlier than March 2023 to be eligible.
Eligibility
Applicants must live, work, or study within the Greater Shepparton and Goulburn Valley Region and be 16 years of age or older at the time of applying. For full details, please review the SAM Open Guidelines.
Applications for SAM Open 2025 will open in March 2025.
NOTE: SAM Fresh will not take place in 2025. Local artists aged 16-25 are encouraged to apply to SAM Open.
About Hugh D.T. Williamson Community Gallery
The Hugh D. T. Williamson Community Gallery is located on Level 2 of the Shepparton Art Museum. The gallery takes its name from Hugh Dean Thomas Williamson, who grew up in country Victoria and at sixteen began his banking career as a teller for the Ballarat Banking Company. His steady achievements over the next 44 years in the banking industry saw him rise to become the General Manager of the ANZ Bank. Hard work and constancy were principles that informed his life and career; these principles gave rise to Williamson’s philanthropic commitment to others by supporting and strengthening community organisations.
Williamson was a founding trustee of the William Buckland Foundation, and for 21 years was the honorary treasurer to the Building Committee and Trust of the Victorian Arts Centre (Arts Centre Melbourne). Established in 1986, the Hugh Williamson Foundation generously supports the community gallery at SAM in recognition of Williamson’s lifelong commitment to supporting and strengthening opportunities to enhance the cultural life of all Victorians.
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