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2026 Symposium Call For Papers | Art Works: Labor of Creation

Type: Calls For Papers [View all]
Posted by: University of Oregon
Deadline: Sun, February 15th, 2026

2026 Symposium Call For Papers

 

Theme: Art Works: Labor of Creation

Date: Friday, April 17th, 2026

Location: University of Oregon

 

The University of Oregon Art History Student Association invites graduate students to submit proposals for our upcoming symposium, Art Works: Labor of Creation. This symposium seeks to explore the intersections of artistic production and labor practices across chronologies and geographies.

 

While labor is central to artistic production, it can often be rendered invisible either as a result of the temporal distance between the production of the work and the contemporary audience and/or the notion of art as a self-fulfilling profession. These issues impact art’s reception, compensation, and socio-cultural significance. In the contemporary moment of economic concern characterized by gig work and an increased demand for collective organization, as well as in light of the 50th anniversary of the University of Oregon’s Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, this symposium aims to examine art historical forms of artistic labor, craft, collective production (workshops and guilds), and labor injustices.

 

 

Topics of Interest Include, but Are Not Limited to:

 

● Craft and domestic labor in artistic production

● Artist’s labor movements, unions, and collectives

● Artistic impacts on labor movements and injustices

● The visibility and invisibility of labor in artistic production

● Economic compensation for artists

● Enslaved and coerced artistic production

● Artistic theft

● Labor in the Fine Arts

● Physicality of labor in art

● Labor in “outsider art”

● Creative professions

● Traditional/Cultural labor practices

 

 

Submission Guidelines

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, a paper title, and a current CV to ahsa@uoregon.edu by February 15, 2026. Accepted papers and additional related types of scholarship will be presented in 15–20-minute sessions, followed by Q&A discussions.

 

We welcome submissions from a variety of disciplines, including art history, visual studies, media studies, sociology, anthropology, and political science.

 

 

Key Dates

● Submission Deadline: Feb 15, 2026

● Symposium Date: Friday, April 17th, 2026

 

 

We look forward to your contributions to what promises to be a thought-provoking and impactful symposium.

Posted on Thu, January 22nd, 2026
Expires on Sun, February 15th, 2026

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