EXHIBITIOn THEME
BEFORE YOU is a multidisciplinary exhibition that traces the layered journeys leading up to and through the first year of motherhood from the experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) women. During this unique time, each woman evolves into a different lifeform, where joy, loss, and disorientation exist in conversation with one another. These experiences don’t sit alone; rather they are situated within larger systems that shape public policy, including access to wealth, immigration services, and healthcare.
For AAPI women, our stories about motherhood are often left out of mainstream representations, uplifting the model minority and downplaying our needs for basic human rights. In recent years, the federal government has actively eliminated funding for reproductive health, language access, local and national data collection, culturally responsive care, and more – all directly impacting AAPI communities. This reveals the silenced emotional and physical burdens that our communities face across the many stages of motherhood.
BEFORE YOU provides an artistic space for AAPI women to explore how their identities are reshaped, negotiated, and obscured in a time of metamorphosing and new life.
The exhibition is organized across three chapters:
I. The “choice” to mother or not: Some women choose to become mothers. Others do not. Sometimes, they can’t. Choice can include everything from infertility to IVF to adoption and more.
II. Pregnancy: The metamorphosing of the body is dramatic, emotional, and life changing. It often feels like a contradiction between creating “something”, sharing of space, and loss of individual identity. This chapter ends with the giving and receiving of life and the joys and trauma that comes with it.
III. The first year of motherhood: Once mothers survive the first nine months of creating life, they must endure the next twelve months of sustaining it. For some, this may be the cocoon to butterfly moment, while others take their time to find their footing. We end this chapter with a child’s first birthday with the chosen family.
We prioritize sincere, AAPI first-person experiences related to the chapters articulated above.
*Please note that we are not considering submissions related to the experience of being mothered (e.g. from a child's perspective).
Topics can include, but are not limited to:
Personal and professional priorities (e.g. deciding and/or not deciding to go back to work, stay at home mothers, marital relationships, in-law and parental relationships).
Reproductive health (e.g. IVF, miscarriage, abortion, etc).
Social and economic structures (e.g. declining birth rates, maternal health in the U.S., overturning of Roe v. Wade, incarceration, immigration, language, citizenship policies, parental leave, trends, etc).
Familial structures (e.g. adoption, foster system, surrogacy and gestational carriers, non-birthing partners, co-parents, polyamorous, platonic, transnational).
Cultural and religious expectations (e.g. traditions, religion, language, intergenerational trauma, navigating the American Dream).
Mental health (e.g. depression, anxiety, baby blues, isolation, post-partum).
ELIGIBILITY
AAWAA is accepting proposals for original artworks from those who identify as Pacific Islander, Native Hawaiian, and Asian American women, nonbinary, and gender-expansive individuals. Your submitted work(s) must respond to the exhibition’s themes and, if accepted for inclusion, must be available to be shown for the full duration of the exhibition. Artists must be at least 18 years old to apply.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Art forms eligible for consideration include:
2D (e.g. paintings, printmaking, illustrations, photography, collage, mixed media, etc)
3D (e.g. sculpture, assemblage, fiber arts, ceramics, pottery, crafts, site-specific installations, etc), and digital art (e.g. film/video, sound, digital illustrations, animation, AR/VR/interactive/spatial, etc.) will be considered.
Literary works (e.g. poetry, essays, book arts, etc.). In your application, please include a description of how the literary work would be displayed.
Artists may submit up to two (2) works for consideration. Please include an image (JPEG, PNG, PDF or link) or video of your piece(s) (mp4 or link with password), an artist statement (500 words), and what chapter of motherhood you are submitting for (see chapter descriptions).
For this exhibition, we will only consider original work and not AI-generated artwork. We also ask that you refrain from using AI for any of your artist statements.
We recommend that you write your answers on a separate document and copy them onto the entry form using a computer or laptop all at once.
The submission deadline is December 4, 2026 @ 11:59PM PT. Download the Full Prospectus here.
Questions?
Check out our FAQ here or send an email to info@aawaa.net if you have questions or need assistance with your application.
EXHIBITION INFO
Curator
Katie Quan
Venue
SOMArts Cultural Center - Main Gallery
934 Brannan Street, San Francisco, CA 94103
Important Dates
Install: April 12-16
Opening Reception: April 22
Exhibition Run: April 23 - May 23
Closing Reception: May 23
Deinstall: May 24-25
Artists selection
Up to 15 artists will be selected by the curator to participate in the exhibition.
ENTRY FEE
After submitting your application, please be sure to pay the sliding scale entry fee. Your $25-35 entry fee will go toward processing your application and the curator to review.
**If you are an artist experiencing any form of economic hardship, please feel free to contact us at exhibitions@aawaa.net for a partial or full fee waiver.
Membership discounts
All current AAWAA members will have their entry fee waived using the promo code sent through the membership listserv. If you are a member and did not receive the promo code, please email membership@aawaa.net.
Submissions are also FREE for new members who sign up for an annual membership now through December 4.
SUPPORT AN ARTIST
Subsidize an application fee for an artist by contributing at the button below (or pay for an additional entry fee if you are applying):
PRESENTATION PARTNERS
FUNDED BY
call for art faq
1. How are you defining AAPI?
At AAWAA, we recognize AAPI as inclusive of anyone of East Asian, South Asian, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Polynesian or Hawaiian descent and view “descent” as an expansive term that can describe the experiences of mixed, transnational, adopted and other forms of lineage and diaspora.
2. How are you defining women?
We welcome folx who identify as cisgender, transgender and nonbinary individuals, whose histories and experiences intersect in the struggles against racism, patriarchy, sexism and misogyny. We acknowledge that the ways in which these identities are defined and perceived can also be limited to our current understanding of gender and geopolitical borders that have been built through means of colonization, exploitation and imperialism across generations. The way we identify ourselves via race, gender, ethnicity and nationality is always in process.
3. How are you defining motherhood? Does it need to be biological?
Our definition of motherhood is intentionally expansive. We do not define motherhood by biology, but as a role that one chooses (or sometimes doesn’t choose) to take on. This includes the decision to have children, the decision not to, pregnancy loss, and every stage in between and after. You don’t have to currently be raising a child to be in scope, but rather, within these three stages.
4. How are you defining each chapter?
We are defining each chapter to be: The “choice” to mother or not, pregnancy, and the first year of motherhood.
5. I am a proud mother of 3 cats. Does this count?
Sadly, no. This exhibition is for mothers of human children and their lived experiences.
6. What if I’m not a mother or parent? Can I still submit my work?
Although we will prioritize first-hand AAPI experiences, you may submit your art if you have worked directly with mothers or the content of your pieces fits within the three chapters as defined in this prospectus. In our call for submissions, you will have the opportunity to further explain
7. What do you mean by “choice”?
We understand some may choose not to be a mother while for others, choice may not be optional (like infertility, death of a child, etc). If you feel your art piece fits into one of the three chapters, we encourage you to apply. In our call for submissions, you will have the opportunity to further explain.
8. How are the pieces selected?
All selections are at the curator’s discretion. The curator will be selecting up to 15 artists, looking for a variety of pieces that speak sincerely to diverse experiences of motherhood in all three stages. Examples that speak to contemporary experiences of motherhood while expanding and challenging a traditional narrative are of specific interest.
9. As an artist, can I submit more than one piece?
Yes, you can submit up to two pieces total.
10. How recent does the piece need to be?
Not recent at all! We welcome intergenerational discussions and reflections. The piece can be an older piece. As long as it represents one of the three chapters, the piece will be eligible for consideration.
11. Can I submit a piece that has already been shown at another exhibition or has been previously published?
Yes.
12. What mediums are you accepting? How should we submit?
Art forms eligible for consideration include:
2D (e.g. paintings, printmaking, illustrations, photography, collage, mixed media, etc)
3D (e.g. sculpture, assemblage, fiber arts, ceramics, pottery, crafts, site-specific installations, etc), and digital art (e.g. film/video, sound, digital illustrations, animation, AR/VR/interactive/spatial, etc.) will be considered.
Literary works (e.g. poetry, essays, book arts, etc.). In your application, please include a description of how the literary work will be displayed.
Artists may submit up to two (2) works for consideration.
All images should be uploaded directly into the application form. We accept JPEG, PNG, PDF or link. For all videos, we accept mp4 or link (password included as needed). Any sound works can be submitted as a mp3 file.
13. For visual pieces, what are the size limitations?
Proposed artwork should be no more than 6’ wide and 30’ tall. For pieces over 6’ tall, you will be asked to provide elevation sketches and a detailed installation plan.
14. Will you consider in-progress pieces?
No, we are not accepting in-progress artwork for this exhibition. We ask that all artwork be completed by the submission deadline.
15. Will I get feedback on my application?
No, we cannot give feedback on applications.
16. Can I sell my artwork?
You are not required to sell your artwork. However, if you choose to sell your artwork, 70% of the sale will go to you as the artist and 30% of the sale will go to AAWAA. Items sold must remain on exhibit for the duration of the show. Payment will be sent via check 4-6 weeks after the exhibition is deinstalled.