Room for Grief
Living with Loss in America
Call for Submissions
Gallery show at Cherry Street Pier - June 2026 - Applications Accepted Through
March 17th extended to FRIDAY APRIL 3rd
The Vision:Room For Grief is a group show curated by Chelsea Dalsey, C. Sage, and Mandy in the Gallery at Cherry Street Pier scheduled for June 2026 exploring grief, loss and bereavement in the United States.
In a country built upon death and loss, the space to grieve is alarmingly absent. Our society leaves little physical or existential room for us to experience let alone process loss. This project points directly at this omission by creating literal Room For Grief - dedicated, intentional space where these themes can be expressed, witnessed and held in community.
We want to share the ways we are living, healing, struggling, coping and offer a sanctuary for mourning at a time where the burden of grief in daily life is overwhelming. This is an opportunity to platform artists with diverse lived experiences of dealing with loss in the United States of America. We are looking for those of you grieving anything: deaths, identity, health, security, safety, freedom, democracy, the fulfillment of promises that were made to us generationally. We want to hold the doors wide and hold up the walls together to create Room For Grief.
The Space: This show is in The Gallery at Cherry Street Pier 121 N. Columbus Blvd Philadelphia (see photos below). CSP is a beautiful, highly trafficked space on Delaware Waterfront just under the Ben Franklin Bridge. Home to 15 artists studios and the backdrop for tons of arts and cultural programming, it is a huge draw for locals and tourists. It is also located blocks away from where the Declaration of Independence was signed in the weeks leading up to the celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the country.
The Setup: We are looking to subdivide The Gallery space into 6-10 rooms surrounding a central area featuring a hearth (with 2 story chimney) and an altar. This space is large and open, and we hope to showcase a wide range of mediums and ideas - paintings, mixed media, sculptures, installations, projection, experiential or immersive elements, sound, light, text, and beyond. (We are open to giving over complete control of a room to an individual, existing org or collectives of artists, or gathering the work of multiple artists to appoint rooms with unified themes. Additionally, we are open to performance based activations such as dance, open mic/poetry nights.
Our goal is representation and visibility, including for those who may not be physically able to attend in person. In these circumstances we will take responsibility for accommodating and safely exhibiting the work and supporting artists throughout the process.
The Numbers: there is no cost to apply, and while we are raising funds, crowdsourcing and networking to help with materials as need is determined, there is no financial compensation to curators, artists, or to CSP for any aspect of this show. You are able to list your work for sale within the gallery show, we are happy to display your pricing and contact information to handle transactions directly with patrons.
Whether your piece is a new concept or an existing work, we encourage you to explore grief’s many dimensions and help us build a compassionate, dynamic community space for reflection and connection. We want to know how you feel, how you cope, how you envision community care, and what it looks like to live with loss.
The show will be installed June 3rd-4th, Opening Night is First Friday June 5th, there is a planned activation open to the public on Thursday June 25th and deinstallation is June 28th-29th - more dates TBD.