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FCA Nanaimo: Fine Art Show 2026

There is no theme for the show. Last year, nearly 2000 visitors enjoyed the excellence and diversity of the artwork displayed. The Fine Art Show is open to members of the Nanaimo Chapter (Exhibiting, Associate and Signature members). We hope to be able to show 125 paintings this year, of course depending on the number of artworks juried in the show. Paintings cannot have been shown at any of the Nanaimo Fine Art Show before and should be fairly recent. 

Due to space restriction, the following width of artwork will be accepted, just as in 2025:

• Maximum of One (1) very wide painting - as wide as 62” including the frame
• One (1) wide painting - as wide as 42” including the frame
  • Two paintings as wide as 38” if you do not submit a painting that is wider than 42”
• Remaining paintings as wide as 32” including the frame  
• If all four paintings are less than 32” inches wide including the frame, then, all may be submitted   
• One (1) free, small, fifth painting:
  • As last year, if four (4) paintings are submitted, a fifth painting can be submitted  at no cost as long as it is less than 154 combined square inches  including the frame (for example 11” by 14”, 12” by 12”, or smaller).

We want to encourage the submission of smaller work  to have more diversity in the show. A two-piece piece submission, a diptych, cannot exceed the measurement as one submission, must be hung side by side and sold as one unit. Two paintings at 31” wide each would total 62” in width and that would be the maximum width for a diptych to be submitted.

This Exhibition will be taking place at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre in Nanaimo at the address: 

101 Gordon St, Nanaimo, BC

Important Dates:

Submissions Open: Aug 5, 2026

Submissions Close: Oct 5, 2026

Results Released By: Oct 22, 2026

Drop off Window: Nov 4, 2026 10:00AM - 12:00PM

Exhibition Opening Date: Nov 5, 2026

Closing Date: Nov 8, 2026

Jurors

Pricing:

GENERAL FCA SUBMISSION GUIDELINES COPYRIGHT AND STANDARDS:

FCA Standards 

Image Requirements

FCA Policy Manual

To enter this exhibition, you must be an Exhibiting or Elected member in good standing with the Federation of Canadian Artists in Vancouver and the hosting Chapter. To renew your Federation Membership at artists.ca, call 604-681-8534, or email membership@artists.ca. Supporting members and non-members are not permitted to enter Chapter exhibitions unless noted above.

Chapter Show Submissions are subject to the general Federation of Canadian Artists Submission Requirements, found in the policy manual. By submitting to this FCA Exhibition you are agreeing to abide by all of the guidelines as well as the FCA Policy Manual. 

Artwork that wins an award in any FCA exhibition may not be entered into any other Federation exhibition, except when the first exhibition was a Chapter exhibition and the following exhibition is a National Open Exhibition or an exhibition held at the Federation Gallery. If you have already successfully submitted artwork to an exhibition hosted by this Chapter, (the piece was included in some capacity, either live at a venue or in an online gallery), you cannot submit the same piece to a different exhibition hosted by the same Chapter, again.

Copyright and Standards: The following is taken from the Federation Policy:

7.1.5 "While using photos as a reference for painting is a long-held accepted practice, making substantive use of stock imagery or photos taken by professional photographers is not permissible, even with their permission. Photographs by professional photographers are considered artworks in and of themselves. Reference photos must be taken by the artist themselves or provided to them by an amateur photographer with their express consent. Stock images may only be referred to for anatomical study and must be incidental to the completed artwork to be permissible."

While an artist may have paid a licensing fee or retrieved explicit written permission that places them on the right side of copyright laws, Federation Standards do not permit the use of stock photography or reference material from another artist - even with permission or paid licensing. 

Federation Standards are different than copyright laws, submitting artists must adhere to both to avoid being removed from the exhibition - if in doubt about the source material of your artwork - do not submit it.

INSURANCE: The FCA does not provide insurance for artwork. Artists are responsible for arranging their own insurance.

JURY: Entries will be reviewed by two SFCA Members and one AFCA member. Please check the submission page for juror names. Images will be reviewed independently online by each juror. All artists will receive emailed notification of their results. Artists may not display artworks that have not been juried and may not send artworks unless they receive an acceptance email. Your submitted pieces will receive one of the following jury results: Accepted – artwork has been chosen for exhibition online and in gallery, Declined – artwork was not chosen for exhibition at this time.

SALES: Artwork is under contract with the Federation effective from the date notification emails are sent. Do not submit an artwork if you intend to sell it yourself outside of the exhibition. If artists have an interested client and they direct sales through the Federation before the exhibition start date, the artwork can still be exhibited in the exhibition as “sold” for the duration of the exhibition and artists can retain their  associated Elected Member Status point. 

SUBMITTING INFORMATION: Images submitted to the online submission system that are blurry, poorly cropped, display a background/frame, were made in error, or are the wrong orientation will be declined without refund. When submitting online, crop your image to exclude visible edges of substrate. The description of your piece should be one to two sentences long, aiming to enhance a viewer’s interest in the artwork. This description will be printed on your gallery label so please proofread and spell check it. Artists cannot change details on their submission after the deadline for entries has passed. Attempts to change submitted information (including prices or sizes) after the deadline, or when the artist delivers will not be honoured. The artist is responsible for ensuring that the information provided at the time of submission is correct and spelled correctly.

ENTRY FEES: are non-refundable and accepted in Canadian dollars. 

REMOVAL FROM EXHIBITION: The Federation reserves the right to remove artwork from any exhibition at any time. If an artist withdraws or sells an “Accepted” or “Recognized” artwork after receiving their notification email, for any reason, the artist is subject to a removal fee as determined by the Chapter. Artists will not be able to participate in future Federation exhibitions until this fee is paid.

CONDITIONS: Submission of entry to this exhibition automatically constitutes the entrant’s acceptance of the guidelines and rules outlined on this page. Due to the volume of entries, the FCA and their jurors do not provide individual feedback on submissions. The juror’s decision is final, submissions to this exhibition declares your acceptance of their decision.

Please watch the tutorial video here if you need assistance with your digital upload. Do not leave submitting until the last minute. We recommend submitting as early as possible, artists submitting at the last minute will not be able to receive the assistance they need. All entry fees are non-refundable.

Start Submission Process