For immediate release: July 1, 2026
Lydia Art Salon
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS:
OVERDRIVE
Juried exhibition
Deadline: August 30, 2026
Jurors: Stacey Abel, Bijoy Goswami, Deanna Miesch
We are living in a time of moral upheaval. Political conflict, environmental catastrophe, technological change, and the accelerating pace of daily life all compete for our attention, often leaving us feeling overwhelmed, anxious, and exhausted.
What happens to individuals and communities when our collective nervous system is plunged into overdrive? Outrage will only get us so far.
How do we respond when events challenge our sense of justice, responsibility, moral clarity, and our very survival? What do engagement, resistance, or hope look like in a moment that often feels hopeless?
This exhibition invites artists to explore the tension between:
despair and hope
action and fatigue
alarm and resilience
Artists are encouraged to interpret the theme broadly through personal, political, social, environmental, or cultural lenses. We welcome work that asks difficult questions, sparks conversation, and explores what it means to remain awake and engaged in an increasingly destabilized and disorienting world.
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GUIDELINES
Member application (6 month minimum) application fee: free
Non-member application fee: $40
Submission guidelines: 1-3 works, 300 dpi jpg files, labeled with name, title, medium, dimensions, year of completion. Sculpture: 1-3 images per artwork. Applications should include a single page artist statement/ artist bio.
Open to all mediums and should be available for purchase. Artists are responsible for delivery or shipping and returns. Works will be listed on the gallery website & the gallery’s Artsy marketplace for up to one year. Artwork is insured within premises only. Local, regional and statewide artists are encouraged to apply. Call is open nationwide.
Gallery retains 35% commissions for one year for members.
Gallery retains 50% on commissions for one year for non-members.
Deadline: August 30.
Artists will be notified of acceptance by October 1.
Exhibition dates: November 14-December 20, 2026
Catalog of the exhibit will be produced and all exhibitors will receive one free copy.
Applications: info@lydiaartsalon.com, subject: OVERDRIVE submission
Payment: Invoice will be emailed upon receipt of application with payment options including: check, Zelle transfer or credit card (with additional surcharge).
Membership inquires: info@LydiaArtSalon.com, subject: membership
STACEY ABEL
Who Am I?
Writer
Dot Connector
Public Policy Strategist
Documentary Producer
Environmental & Energy Policy Analyst
Creative Consultant
Art Collector
Curatorial Board, Pecha Kucha Austin
Citizen Activist
I come from a family of activists who’ve worked for generations on behalf of peace, human rights, and the environment—from the streets to the halls of power. Now, as I watch so much of this country’s progress being systematically dismantled and vandalized, I find that I have no words for this moment. In the past, I’ve seen art speak where language fails—helping us bear witness, remember what matters, and imagine what might come next. Looking for that again.
BIJOY GOSWAMI
Bijoy was raised in India, Taiwan & Hong Kong, moving to the US in 1991 to attend Stanford, where he studied economics, history & computer science. As an Oxford scholar, he completed an Honors program in Science, Technology & Society. In Austin, he pursued a tech career spanning the mid 1990s to mid 2000s at Trilogy and Aviri. He started Bootstrap Austin - a community for entrepreneurs.
From this unique vantage point, Bijoy asks: "How do we steward personal meaning in an increasingly noisy and complex world?" Bijoy believes art began to answer this question in the late 19th century with the Impressionists followed by psychology. As modern art continues to reflect the evolution of this inquiry, Bijoy participates with occasional works and deep engagement.
This exploration also gave birth to a myriad of bodies of work exploring human motivation, meaning and philosophy :
• The Human Fabric- a book on how human beings fit together to create healthy communities
• Mystic Cab- A short film in the form of a modern parable
• His models serve as philosophical methodologies and paradigms. Layer Cake, Human Fugue and MRE, locate our unique moment, while the Bootstrap and JOurneY Methods help us move toward a joyous and resonant future.
DEANNA MIESCH
Artist, Art Therapist and gallerist of Lydia Art Salon,
Deanna Miesch holds a BFA in studio art from UT Austin, and a Master of Arts in Art Therapy (MAAT) from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She founded Art Therapy Austin in 2003 & Lydia Street Gallery in 2021. In late fall of 2025, the gallery rebranded as Lydia Art Salon, hosting theme-centered evenings within the redesigned art space, which continues to feature exhibits by some of the most exciting artists in the region.
Deanna works in a variety of mediums in her art practice: collage, drawing, fiber, painting, photography, sculpture (assemblage, ceramics, bronze). She explores memory, power, time, and things unsaid through the lens of fantasy.