D. Dominick Lombardi and QinZa Najm
July 27, 2026
OPEN CALL - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TIGHTROPE: THE MIDTERM ITCH
WhiteBox Portable @ MTA invites artists worldwide to respond to one of democracy's oldest traditions—and newest spectacles: the election season. Every two years, the Republic develops a peculiar itch. WhiteBox takes its pulse, chronicles the scratching, and invites artists to offer the cool compress. Candidates scratch it. Pollsters scratch it. Journalists scratch it. Pundits scratch it. Donors scratch it. Citizens scratch it. Commuters walk through it. Passersby catch it. The media scratches it until it bleeds.
Election Day arrives...and the itch simply migrates.
As the United States approaches the 250th anniversary of the Republic, TIGHTROPE: THE MIDTERM ITCH invites artists to explore democracy through satire, irony, humor, metaphor, caricature, and poetic imagination. This is not an exhibition about Republicans, Democrats, or Independents. It is about democracy itself—its rituals, contradictions, spectacles, anxieties, resilience, and the extraordinary challenge of keeping a republic in balance.
Inspired by the great tradition of political satire—from Francisco de Goya and Honoré Daumier to José Guadalupe Posada, George Grosz, Otto Dix, and Equipo Crónica—we seek works that reveal the theater of contemporary civic life rather than advocate for parties or candidates.
Every election begins with a small bite—a grievance, a headline, a scandal, a rumor, a promise. We scratch. It feels satisfying for a moment. Soon the wound becomes larger than the bite itself. Satire is not another fingernail. It is the cool compress. It interrupts the reflex to scratch, inviting us instead to examine the bite, understand it, and perhaps even laugh at it. Democracy does not need less disagreement. It needs fewer infected wounds.
Presented at WhiteBox Portable @ MTA, one of New York City's busiest public art venues, the exhibition transforms the daily commute into an unexpected encounter with contemporary art, where hundreds of thousands of passersby become part of the conversation.
Vote with your ballot. Speak with your art. Keep your sense of humor. Democracy needs it.
Fees: Submission fees have been waived through the generosity of the WhiteBox Board of Directors and Friends of WhiteBox.
Contact
info@whiteboxny.org
www.whiteboxny.org
Dates
Open Call Opens: August 6, 2026
International Submission Deadline: September 1, 2026, 11:59 PM (Eastern Time)
International Notifications: September 5, 2026
U.S. Submission Deadline: September 15, 2026, 11:59 PM (Eastern Time)
Notification of Results: September 18, 2026
In-Person Artwork Delivery (Hand Delivery): September 21–23, 2026
Installation: September 24–25, 2026
Opening Reception: September 30, 2026
Exhibition Dates: September 30 – November 3, 2026
Election Night Gathering: November 3, 2026, 6:00–10:00 PM
Artwork Pickup: November 4, 2026, 12:00–6:00 PM (No exceptions)