Building on the tremendous success of the inaugural The de Young Open in 2020, the second triennial of this juried community art exhibition celebrates the voices and visions of Bay Area artists. The 883 works on view were created by artists who live in the nine counties surrounding San Francisco Bay: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma. This year, 7,766 talented artists each submitted an artwork. Submissions were juried by eight curators, along with distinguished Bay Area artists Clare Rojas, Sunny Smith, Stephanie Syjuco, and Xiaoze Xie. Artworks are hung “salon style” — installed nearly edge to edge and floor to ceiling — and grouped by theme: political and social issues, the urban environment, the human figure, nature, abstraction, and surreal imagery. Designed to support our local arts communities, this exhibition allows artists to offer their works for sale and retain the proceeds. As in 2020, we will also acquire a selection of exhibition artworks for our permanent collection.
