Acquisitions
Acquisitions
The acquisition project collectionArtNB purchases artwork by professional New Brunswick artists approximately every two years.Eligibility
Eligible professional New Brunswick artists may be:- Emerging
- Mid-career, or
- Established
Description
collectionArtNB (formerly The New Brunswick Art Bank), established in 1968, celebrates the province’s excellence in the visual arts through its collection of artwork by New Brunswick artists.
collectionArtNB invites professional artists, living in New Brunswick for more than one year, to submit artwork for possible acquisition. We highly encourage artists from BIPOC communities to apply.
Application and Assessment Process
Applications submitted to collectionArtNB are first reviewed by a program consultant to confirm completeness and eligibility. Eligible submissions proceed to evaluation by a peer assessment committee composed of professional artists.
For each acquisition cycle, committee members are drawn from a master list of approved assessors. Professional artists interested in serving on a future committee can find the application form at Call for arts jurors - gnb.ca. Depending on the needs of the acquisition year, committees may be disciplinary or multidisciplinary. The Arts & Culture Branch strives to ensure fair representation across regions, languages, and identities reflected in the applicant pool.
All assessment committee deliberations are strictly confidential. Committee members must not disclose application materials, the identities or comments of fellow assessors, or any scores assigned to applications outside of official meetings.
The identities of committee members remain confidential until collectionArtNB publishes its Acquisition Catalogue, which includes the names and brief biographies of the assessors involved in that year’s selection process.
Assessment committee members are compensated for their professional expertise. All jury meetings are conducted online.
Application process:
The acquisition process has two streams GENERAL call & INDIGENOUS call.
“The INDIGENOUS call is reviewed by an all Indigenous peer assessment committee, while the GENERAL call is evaluated by a committee composed of both Indigenous and non Indigenous members.”
Application portal is open now: SmartSimple | Arts Culture NB
All applications must be submitted through the Arts & Culture Application Portal. Applications sent by email will not be accepted.
Submission process opens: January 16th 2026
Deadline for submission: February 23rd 2026
Acquisition Announcements: Early April 2026
Completed Online Submission Requirements:
- Completed application form. [Gallerists must confirm that in submitting work on behalf of an artist, they have obtained the artists’ awareness of, and approval for, the submission.]
- Three to five (3–5) artworks submitted for consideration. Clearly label each digital files [LASTNAME_TITLE_YEAR] in JPG and/or MP3 (voice) MP4 (video) format. Images: JPG files up to 1600 x 1600 pixels in size and/or up to 2MB in size.
- Artist biography (maximum 250 words).
- Description of media and artistic process (maximum 250 words), including any relevant presentation or display requirements.
