SCAD Atlanta welcomes exhibition inquiries and proposals from faculty of all departments to showcase current student artwork in Trois Gallery. 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, but priority will be given to exhibitions showcasing 2D work with intent to show during the Fall and Spring quarters. The SCAD Exhibitions Team will not accept exhibition inquiries that are submitted 2 months prior to the anticipated exhibition date.  

If accepted, the SCAD Exhibitions Team will offer guidance to the department on how best to realize the exhibition, including offering templates for wall labels and layouts/floor plans. SCAD Exhibitions Team will also oversee the maintenance and upkeep of the gallery space, schedule SCAD art handlers to install artworks, source pedestals (if needed), and create signage for the exhibition title. The department will be responsible for:

• Creating and advertising the call for entry, if needed
• Gathering student and artwork information to prepare a checklist
• Ensuring all exhibited work is properly framed
• Producing wall labels for each work on view
• Planning and covering expenses for the reception and catering, if desired
• Scheduling photography/exhibition documentation, if desired
• Ensuring all works are deinstalled after the closing date

PLEASE NOTE: This is not an application for current undergraduate students, alumni, or individual faculty members to propose solo projects or exhibitions. Current graduate students interested in showcasing their thesis exhibitions in Trois Gallery should submit their materials via the SCAD Submittable MFA Thesis Exhibition open call.

The Rides and Tides Surfboard and Skate deck Design Challenge is a juried exhibition and competition focusing on skills learned in Foundation Studies design classes. Entrants create two-dimensional surface graphics for application on surfboards or skate decks. Winning designs must be of high enough quality to be scaled to full size.

The top fifteen designs for each category (surfboard and skateboard) will be printed and mounted on substrates and displayed in Wallin Hall, Savannah, GA. The Grand Prize-winning surfboard and skateboard design will be printed on real boards and revealed at the reception. 

Theme: Unity in Motion

Unity in Motion celebrates the connection between movement, balance, and community. Students are invited to capture the rhythm of motion, whether inspired by ocean waves, city streets, or the act of moving forward, and translate it into visual form. Through skateboard and surfboard design, participants will explore how freedom, balance, and individuality merge to unite form, culture, and motion.

Open Call Dates:

Monday, January 12 - Sunday, February 15 at 11:59 p.m.

Workshop on Illustrator and Submission Process:

January 16, 2026 in Wallin Hall, lab room 102, at 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Email Notification of Acceptance: 

Monday, March 16

Exhibition

Monday, March 23 – Sunday, April 12

Reception

Friday, April 10, 4 - 6 p.m.

Award Categories:

Grand Prize Surfboard 

First Runner Up Surfboard 

Second Runner Up Surfboard

Honorable Mention Surfboard

Grand Prize Skateboard 

First Runner Up Skateboard

Second Runner Up Skateboard

Honorable Mention Skateboard 

Eligibility:

The Design Challenge is open to students who are enrolled in or have successfully completed a Foundation Studies course within the current academic year (Fall 2025 and/or Winter 2026). SCADnow students who meet the criteria are also eligible to enter.

Submission Requirements: Contestants must download and use the appropriate template for their preferred submission (Surfboard or Skate Deck). 

Please keep artwork inside the bleed lines (inside lines) of the template. 

Submissions must be ready for reproduction.

Contestants are responsible for pre-flighting their files for quality assurance. Technical issues that prevent the work from being printed at full size may disqualify the submission. The committee reserves the right to reject improperly formatted or incorrectly named files.

Files need to be: JPEG (quality 12), 300 dpi, Adobe RGB 1998

Click on the following link to download template for the designs: Rides & Tides Illustrator Templates 

AI Disclosure: For the Rides and Tides competition, student participants are allowed, but limited, in using AI as a Consultative and Transformative tool. For example, participants are allowed to use AI to help brainstorm ideas and color palettes, as well as help visualize style changes. Student participants are NOT allowed to use AI as a Generative Primary: AI-generated text, images, audio, video, code, data that materially shape the submission. Student participants must add an AI Disclosure Note on any AI-involved submission (tool, version/date, what AI did, key prompts). Keep process evidence: drafts, sketches, notes, prompt/output logs; provided on request. Student participants are responsible for accuracy, originality, and ethics in your work. 

• Disclosure: If used, add an AI Disclosure Note (tool, version/date, and key prompts). Keep a brief log of prompts and outputs.
• Original work first: AI can support brainstorming or refinement; it cannot do the work for you.
• Verify & cite: Verify all facts in original sources; build your own citations/reference lists. Don’t submit AI-generated bibliographies.
• Integrity: Undisclosed or unauthorized use of AI (or fabrication of sources) constitutes academic misconduct and will result in automatic disqualification and other sanctions. 

Examples: outline with ChatGPT; generate mood-board thumbnails with Adobe Firefly; get a code refactor suggestion and then write tests yourself.

The AI Disclosure Note should follow the following format(s): 

Text: “Used ChatGPT (Aug 2025) to brainstorm 3 thesis ideas and suggest two transitions. Prompts/outputs attached. I verified all facts.”

Image: “Generated 6 studies with Adobe Firefly (2025-08-12). Selected one, composited with my photo, repainted edges in Procreate. Prompt log attached.”

Code: “Used Claude Code (2025-08-10) to propose a refactor of my function. I wrote 5 tests and documented changes. 

Final Notes: Contestants may enter into one or both categories. Anyone who enters into both is eligible for only one (1) award total across both categories. The Exhibition committee holds the right to refuse any applicant that does not complete all of the required materials.

For more information, email Professor Nikki Zuaro, nzuaro@scad.edu