Greensboro will host a new multi-day art exhibit this fall.

black belt workshop a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the arts and arts education in the Black Belt region of Alabama, announced the Black Belt Biennial – a two-day multi-disciplinary arts competition and exhibition held at venues in downtown Greensboro, Ala.

According to a description on the exhibition’s website, the mission of the Black Belt Biennial, which takes place September 24-25, is to showcase the diverse landscape of the arts in the Black Belt region with events, including a juried art exhibition, a site-specific project by a contemporary artist and showcases of the performing arts. The artist chosen to commission the project will also give a keynote speech at the Biennale.

On the site, Black Belt Workshop describes the two-day arts event as an opportunity to promote the Black Belt as a stage for cultural innovation, as well as boost the economy and promote new community partnerships.

“While often identified only by its painful history – the forced displacement of indigenous populations, the extensive use of forced labor plantation and sharecropping systems – or its underserved present, the Black Belt is a region rich in cultural resources, in artistic innovation and spectacular adaptability,” reads another description on the exhibit’s website.

The juried portion of the Black Belt Biennial is open to artists over the age of 18 who are currently based, formerly based, or whose work has been influenced by a Black Belt connection to Alabama, including seventeen counties in the region. : Greene, Sumter, Choctaw, Hale, Marengo, Perry, Dallas, Wilcox, Lowndes, Butler, Crenshaw, Montgomery, Pike, Bullock, Macon, Barbour and Russell. Artists currently do not have to live in Black Belt to be considered for exposure.

Artists interested in applying to the Black Belt Biennial can submit up to three works for consideration, along with three images of each piece. Applications will close on Friday, April 8 at midnight.

There is an optional $25 registration fee, which Black Belt Workshop says will “directly help make the Black Belt Biennial a reality.”

Full application guidelines and instructions are available at blackbeltworkshop.org/biennial.

Notable and nationally known artists connected to the Black Belt region of Alabama include the Quilters of Gee’s Bend, folk artist and sculptor Charlie Lucas, who now resides in Selma, and photographer Jerry Siegel.