As an artist-led online project space Virga Gallery offers several opportunities for involvement. Some of these are fee-based, and all of them involve a selection process to ensure quality, relevance, and community standards. We operate a 10 month exhibition calendar. The months of August and December are reserved for scheduled periods of leave. Exhibitions are open on the first Monday of the month and close on the fourth Thursday of the month, with some exceptions where an exhibition is planned for a longer run. These spaces are designed for exhibition projects, research, and theoretical explorations. Media can include, images, video, sound, text, digital performance, and digital artworks. This is not and never will be a vanity project!
All enquires and proposals can be sent to virga_info@virgagallery.net
Open Calls
Our aim with open calls is to see the artwork that is currently being made, but which may not yet be featured in the art media. We make this as affordable as possible and give you the agency to present the work you feel communicates your narrative. Our calls are themed because we feel this is an important way to engage in community critical discourse.
Fee: £5 per image.
- enter one or more images, it is up to you, each image you enter is £5
- images should be in jpeg format, 2400px on the longest side, and 72dpi, which should bring the file under 1MB in size
- games, video pieces or other digital artworks hosted online should include a link to the work
- name the file in the this way: CALL TITLE_artist name_artwork title
- each entry should include the following information: artist name, pronouns, artwork title, date, medium
- include a short 200-word maximum statement of how the artwork relates to the theme of the call
- all entries can be sent to virga_info@virgagallery.net with the name of the call in the Subject field
Virga Studio Group
As an artist-led space, we are also an active studio community that stands apart. We offer our artists a supportive community of critical discourse and disciplinary development aimed at strengthening art practice through deeper theoretical understanding.
Fee: £35 monthly
Activities available to our studio artists are:
- monthly guest speakers
- monthly group discussions/crits
- group reading
- 1 solo and participation in 1 group exhibition per year at no cost*
- open studios and salon events where curators, collectors, and other arts professionals can meet our studio artists online**
- dedicated WhatsApp chat space for studio artists to communicate together
- open call opportunities through Virga are always free to our studio artists for participation
- [cloud] coaching fees are offered at an introductory 50% off rate through 31 October 2026
If you would like to become a studio artist, please send a current CV, artist statement/bio, and six images of your recent work in a single PDF (5MB max) to the email address above. Please include links to your website and social media portfolio sites.
* six months continuous membership is required before a studio artist can participate in a solo or group exhibition with Virga.
** open studios and salon events are facilitated through Zoom meeting rooms.
[cloud] coaching
Coaching is provided by Dr Jane Boyer. She is an artist, curator, and arts researcher. Her interdisciplinary PhD in Fine Art and Philosophy was awarded in 2021 by Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University. She exhibits, curates, and publishes widely. The purpose of these coaching sessions is to assist you in developing your critical skills for better mastery of making meaning through your artwork.
Whether it is guiding your exploration of art theory for the development of your practice; curatorial supervision for new work or career legacy planning; editorial guidance for academic and peer reviewed texts, and more, Jane is an experienced arts professional with a solid knowledge base in contemporary theory. Within all of these areas, Jane can help you to navigate the practicalities of presentation, marketing and sales, copyright protections, and other aspects important to being a professional artist. Find out more at [cloud].
Fee: Starting at £60 an hour
Virga Gallery 