Baton Rouge Gallery Announces Open Call to Artists for Surreal Salon 19 with Special Guest Juror, Artist Lauren YS
What happens when imagination steps beyond the boundaries of the ordinary? Everything shifts, the familiar becomes something else, the lines between what’s possible and impossible begin to blur, and suddenly the ordinary becomes extraordinary. In the spirit of creative expression and connection, read on to learn about Baton Rouge Gallery’s Surreal Salon 19 Call to Artists and discover how you can submit your work!
Article provided by Baton Rouge Gallery Press Release
Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (“BRG”) is proud to announce it is now accepting submissions for Surreal Salon 19, the juried international exhibition celebrating pop-surrealist and lowbrow art. Artists worldwide – working in all media – are invited to submit up to three works for consideration by Special Guest Juror, Lauren YS.
“I’m hugely honored to be selected as the Juror for such an exciting event, and to be able to take part in / give back to the art community I’ve been a part of for over a decade! I’m so looking forward to lending my eye to the many creations of such talented and hard-working artists, and to get to spend some time in this magical part of the country. I can’t wait to see what everyone has been working on, to step into their personal visions, and to honor and celebrate so many unique voices.” – Lauren YS
Lauren YS joins the roster of well-respected jurors for Surreal Salon – including internationally-renowned artists such as Ron English, Camille Rose Garcia, Marco Mazzoni, Beth Cavener, Elizabeth McGrath, and last year’s special guest juror Caledonia Curry, aka SWOON.
Artists selected for inclusion in the exhibition will be in the running for more than $2,000 in cash prizes as well as an online editorial feature with Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. The deadline for submissions is November 7, 2026.
Submit your work today!
Now in its 19th year, Surreal Salon continues to engage audiences with an immersive art experience unlike any other in the region, highlighting the growing popularity and exceptional quality of the pop-surrealist/lowbrow movement. Submissions will be reviewed via a blind jurying process that will ensure the works are selected based solely on their artistic merit.
Artists interested in being a part of this unique and exciting exhibition can find more information at batonrougegallery.org/surreal-salon.
The exhibition will be on view January 2-25, 202, (free and open to the public Tuesday–Sunday (12–6 p.m.)) at BRG located in BREC’s City-Brooks Community Park.
BATON ROUGE GALLERY – center for contemporary art
1515 Dalrymple Dr, Baton Rouge, LA 70808 | (225) 383-1470
Baton Rouge Gallery extends its thanks to this year’s sponsors: Lynne Petit Pisto, John G. Turner & Hango G. Fischer, Louisiana Blue, BREC, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, the Louisiana Department of Tourism, Radio Bar as well as longtime partner, LSU School of Art.
Opportunity Summary //
Surreal Salon – the annual exhibition celebrating the pop-surrealist/lowbrow movement – will return to Baton Rouge Gallery (“BRG”) for its 19th year in January 2027! The exhibition, held in partnership with the LSU School of Art, will share the work of dozens of artists from across the globe, each hand-picked by the show’s Special Guest Juror, Lauren YS, via a blind jurying process.
Artists interested in having their work considered for inclusion in January 2027’s Surreal Salon 19 at Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art, are encouraged to submit their work here!
Important Dates //
Submission deadline: November 7, 2026, at midnight CST.
Notification: by November 18, 2026
Delivery deadline for selected work: December 19, 2026, at 6 pm
First Day of Surreal Salon 19: January 2, 2027
Final day of Surreal Salon 19: January 24, 2027
Pick-up Artwork: January 26 – February 14, 2027 (Tue-Sun)
All uncollected works after February 14 will be assessed a $10 storage fee per day. Any work not picked up from Baton Rouge Gallery by April 1, 2027, will be considered abandoned and the property of BRGCCA.
About Special Guest Juror Lauren YS (they/them) //
Lauren YS is a Los Angeles-based artist whose work is influenced by multiple stages of focus, both geographically and in practice. Carrying a B.A. in English and Fine Art from Stanford University, Lauren applies their dynamic bouts in academics, literature, illustration, comics and animation to their role in the urban art sphere as a queer Asian-American femme with a deep passion for visual storytelling.
Their signature style of high-chroma design elements interwoven with dynamic portraiture creates lush, florid pictorial portals to worlds that are as just as they are visually captivating. Lauren’s work seeks to bring an element of the fantastical and narrative fluidity to the dignity of their characters’ person-hoods, with a specific passion for creating space for queer and BIPOC stories.
From large scale murals to multi-layered works on canvas, Lauren’s work draws inspiration from queer worlds, mythology, dreams, psychedelia, animation, cybernetic organisms, travel, nature, human dignity, metaphysical wonderings and their mixed Asian-American heritage. Lauren’s vision encapsulates the lifetime search for identity and self-hood, a love of local myth, and the constant pursuit of promoting anti-racism and just futures.
About Baton Rouge Gallery //
In 2021, Baton Rouge Gallery – center for contemporary art (“BRG”) celebrated fifty-five years of art exhibitions and programming, all aimed at bringing together artists and audiences in the Greater Baton Rouge area.
The nonprofit gallery actually had its beginnings in a private, for-profit, artist-cooperative gallery in 1965 called Unit 8 Gallery. A year after Unit 8’s opening, the eight artists who founded the gallery welcomed four additional local artists to their ranks, incorporated as a nonprofit organization, and Baton Rouge Gallery was born.
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