Applications Now Open for CAMH Teen Council Biennial Exhibit

The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), a non-collecting institution in the city’s Museum District, is now accepting applications for its 13th Teen Council-curated Biennial Exhibition. All artists aged 13-18 who reside in the Houston area are eligible to apply for the show, which will be curated by members of the museum’s Teen Council. Works in all media will be considered. The deadline to submit is November 29, 2022 at 4 PM. Submissions should be based on the following prompt, as stated on the CAMH website: 

“Consider a ‘personal rebirth’ of yours in which there was a ‘before’ and ‘after’ moment. What did you leave behind? What are you taking into your new reality? How have you been born anew?”

The CAMH Teen Council is a long-running program in which a group of teenage art enthusiasts work together to develop unique programming for the museum. While past events have included fashion shows, screenings, music festivals, and markets, the biennial is the Council’s major recurring project. The council currently has thirteen members and meets weekly. According to its website, the museum sees the group as its “vehicle for attracting the city’s teen population to CAMH and exposing them to the vibrant field of contemporary art.” The Teen Council is selected through an application process that opens in the spring, and includes the input of current members. 

Previous biennials have received positive coverage from the community. The 2021 event, Tune On, Tune In, Tap Out, saw the group responding to coronavirus lockdowns by meeting virtually and seeking out artwork that interrogated the “screen.” Twenty-five artists were selected for that exhibition, which the museum described as “a time capsule of the teenage experience during an era of viral, political, and mental turmoil.” In a Glasstire review of 2017’s rendition of the biennial, Origins of the Self, Michael Bise described the exhibition as “necessary and urgent.” 

Contemporary Art Museum Houston Teen Council-Curated 13 Biennial Exhibition Open Call

The as-of-yet-untitled forthcoming Teen Council Biennial will be on view on the lower level of CAMH from February 16–June 25, 2023. For more details, or to submit an application, go here.