Call for Submissions - Half a Century in Motion: Honoring Chicanx Dance, Art and Activism
This year marks the 50th anniversary of “Chicano Awareness Week”, held at the University of Utah in March 1975. The anniversary has inspired us to consider what this year could mean as an exploration of dance and social movement histories, as well as imagined futures, for undergraduate and graduate students at the U and our Salt Lake City communities. In honor of this anniversary, an exhibition highlighting research that explores these (his)stories and futures will be displayed in the Marriott Center for Dance lobby from September 15 to October 15, 2025, coinciding with Hispanic/Latinx Heritage Month and the School of Dance’s Fall I Concert featuring dance works by all Chicanx, Latinx/e, and Latin American choreographers. This exhibition offers an opportunity to reflect on historic representations and acknowledgments, as well as the Chicano Movement through a 50th anniversary lens—half a century in motion. The exhibition will showcase the outstanding work of undergraduate and graduate students from the School of Dance, as well as those from across campus and the local community. We hope to promote their development as artist-scholars and support their journeys as emerging (dance) historians who wish to share their public scholarship.
The curatorial collective for this exhibition comprises undergraduate, graduate, alumnae, and faculty members from the School of Dance. The collective aims to bring in many perspectives and essential voices to tell these stories.
The curatorial team is comprised of the following Artist-Scholars: Katherine Boyce (Undergraduate, Senior Class), Terra Killpack-Knutsen (Undergraduate, Senior Class), Alexia Maikidou Poutrino (MFA candidate), Roxanne Gray (Alumna), and Kiri Avelar (Faculty).
Exhibition Call for Submissions:
We are currently seeking submissions that speak to the exhibition's themes. Topics to explore may include, but are not limited to:
Personal, artistic expressions of identidad/identity (open to other forms of art beyond dance)
Historical timelines, cartographies, and contestations of the Chicano Movement, related social movements, or dance histories, both locally and nationally;
Examples of historical figures, including their careers and contributions;
Explorations of Rasquachismo (Tomás Ybarra-Frausto 1989), Domesticana (Amalia Mesa-Bains 1999), or other artistic sensibilities, aesthetics, and strategies;
Historical significance of the Chicano Movement and dance, considered through a Decolonial Imaginary, paying attention to the silences, the cracks, and the in between (Emma Pérez 1999);
Pedagogical and artistic borderlands, inspired by Gloria Anzaldúa’s work (1987);
Chicana Feminisms in research, teaching, and creative practice;
Chicanx/Latinx Educational Frameworks, Histories, Policies, and Curricular or Pedagogical Interventions
Art as an activist tool: building collective consciousness - mediums through which embodied knowledge and engaged citizenship are constructed and maintained (Gabriela Aceves Sepúlveda 2018), Chican@ Artivista Praxis (Martha Gonzalez 2020)
Who Can Submit Work?
We welcome submissions from people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds who are engaged with or interested in Chicanx art and activism, including:
Undergraduate students (School of Dance and other departments)
Graduate students (School of Dance and other departments)
Community members, artists, and scholars
Academic Research Submission Guidelines:
Submissions will be in the format of academic research posters. Non-poster visual art/research will also be considered (see below). If your work extends beyond the structure of the application form, please email Kiri Avelar (kiri.avelar@utah.edu) before the deadline.
The School of Dance Marketing Specialist has designed several poster templates and will organize your provided research into the template of your choice. All you need to do is submit the content of your work - no need to stress about creating your own poster from scratch! All sources should be cited in Chicago format.
Any images used should include a photograph citation. The image should be of high resolution. A maximum of 2-3 images per poster.
There will possibly be elective opportunities to speak about your research in pre/post Fall I Concert pláticas. This being said, the research presented on the posters should be concise - it should be able to stand on its own without verbal explanation.
Visual Art Submission Guidelines:
Examples of visual mediums that will be considered: timelines, drawings, paintings, photo essays, and more.
Work must be completed by submission deadline.
High quality images of the work must be provided upon acceptance to the exhibition. Original works will not be displayed. Instead the School of Dance Marketing Specialist will provide templates for printing the images on posters.
What Will Be Provided?
The curatorial collective will provide personalized feedback on your submission.
School of Dance (SoD) will provide the poster design, printing, and installation.
Students will receive the designed PDF of the poster.
Students will receive an official letter of participation to be used for their portfolio and CV.
(Academic Posters Only) Are you interested in submitting to present at the upcoming Utah Dance Education Organization Conference? The deadline to submit for UDEO presentation is July 15! By submitting to both, you will have two opportunities to present your poster and the benefit of support from the SoD to create your final poster.
--> Submissions are due by July 19, 2025. Selected submissions will be notified via email by July 27, 2025.
If you have any questions regarding this call for submissions and/or if you feel like your work does not fit into the scope of this submission form, please email Assistant Professor of Dance, Kiri Avelar, at kiri.avelar@utah.edu