This is a Call to Southern California-Based Surf Artists:

This is a call to Southern California-based artists who surf or are surf industry professionals to submit entries for Surf Art, a joint exhibition to take place at California Surf Museum (CSM) and Oceanside Museum of Art (OMA).

Exhibition on view at OMA: August 23, 2025–Feburary 1, 2026

Exhibition On View at CSM: September 13, 2025–February 1, 2026

This exhibition will explore art that has emerged from the surf-culture lifestyle and surfing’s influence on artists. Everyone who has experienced the feeling of riding a wave understands just how hard it is to describe that incredible sensation, referred to as “stoke”. It seems that only through creative self-expression can surfer-artists capture the essence of stoke and the inspiration that can be found between the surfer and the wave. Artists who surf may take this creative energy in many directions and may explore subjects outside of surfing and surf culture. This joint exhibition will feature a variety of media, from traditional art making methods to works in resin, murals, surfboards, graphic art, sculpture, or fabric, all with the goal to convey the creative power that all artists experience, on or off the wave. Luminaries in the surf art genre have been pre-selected as Featured Artists for the exhibition and will be represented at both museums. They include Drew Brophy, Nathan Gibbs, Avi Kiriaty, Howard Kirk, Wade Koniakowsky, Jesse Miller, Joshua Paskowitz, Philip D. Roberts, Kevin Short, and John Van Hamersveld. 

Review the full prospectus and submit here. Contact katie@oma-online.org with questions about this artwork submission opportunity after carefully reading the prospectus in full.

Artwork Parameters

• Artwork is not required to directly depict surfing, the ocean, or surf culture
• No photography, giclees, or other reproductions
• No videos or projections
• Artwork may be in any style or media not listed above
• All submissions must be original works of art
• Tasteful nudity is acceptable
• Two- or three-dimensional work, maximum 120” in any direction and 100 lbs
• Works on paper must be framed
• Edges of unframed two-dimensional artwork must be finished or gallery wrapped
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