THE CALL: "We Belong" MDC Community Stencil

 

ABOUT THE CALL:
CHAC current artist members are invited to submit a heart stencil design for Milagros del Corazón 2027. Two winning designs will be selected and reproduced as the official Milagros del Corazón 2027 community stencil — given free to community members across six Denver Metro counties, so that anyone can participate in painting a heart, regardless of artistic experience.​

CHAC was founded in 1978 because Latinx artists were shut out of Denver's mainstream galleries. That original act of exclusion — being told your work didn't belong on the wall — is the root of everything CHAC has built since. Nearly fifty years later, “We Belong” asks us to answer that history directly: not by describing exclusion, but by creating space wide enough for everyone to step into.

That's the heart of this call. A stencil removes the single biggest barrier to creative participation — “I'm not an artist.” When a community member picks up a free stencil at a workshop, traces it, and fills it in alongside neighbors, the message is the same one CHAC has carried since 1978: you don't need permission or credentials to belong here — you just need to show up and unleash your creativity.
 

​CONTACT: eventcoordinator@chacgallery.org ​​

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​WHAT MAKES A STRONG STENCIL?

This is a different design challenge than painting a heart yourself — keep these in mind:

• No painting experience required to complete it. Someone picking up a brush for the first time should be able to finish it and feel proud of the result.

• Clear, distinct sections. Bold outlines and defined shapes/zones, like a coloring-book structure) work better.

• Room for personalization. The strongest designs leave open space or simple repeatable elements (dots, stripes, rays, petals) that a beginner can vary in color and fill — so hundreds of participants painting the same stencil could still produce hundreds of distinct hearts.

• Reads clearly at heart scale. Should hold up at 9″ × 8″ Wooden Heart (22.8cm × 20.3cm) — not so intricate it gets lost when cut as a stencil, not so simple it feels like an afterthought.

• Cuttable as a physical stencil. Since this will be reproduced as a printed outline/cut stencil, avoid extremely thin connecting lines, isolated tiny shapes, or fully enclosed “islands” that can't hold together when cut. Think in terms of connected line work and solid, well-anchored shapes.

• Symbolically legible. The design itself should visually gesture toward “We Belong” — think motifs of connection, roots, multiplicity-within-one-shape, open arms, interlocking forms, community patterns (weaving, milagro/heart iconography, mosaic-like sectioning), etc.

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DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS:  

• Base heart dimensions: 9″ × 8″ × 0.6″ (22.8cm × 20.3cm × 1.5cm)

• Design format: Design must fit a landscape 8.5" × 11" US Letter page, sized so the stencil outline can overlay a wooden heart.  

• Submission format: Digital file (vector preferred — .AI, .EPS, .SVG, or high-resolution .PDF; .PNG accepted if vector isn't available)

• Reproduction method: Printed outline / cut stencil — design as line art/shape outlines, not a fully rendered or colored piece, since participants will trace and paint it themselves

• Color: Not applicable to the submitted design — stencils are line/shape-based so participants choose their own palette at the workshop

• Selection: Two designs will be selected for production and use across all six counties
   

SUBMISSION DEADLINES, DETAILS & REQUIREMENTS:  

• Call for Entry Begins: Sept. 8, 2026 

• One stencil design submission per artist (2 entries welcomed, but only one design selected, if a finalist)

• Artist name and a decription of your piece(s) connecting the design to “We Belong”

• Deadline to Submit: Sept. 15 @ 11:59pm

• Selected Artists notified: September 28, 2026

• Stencils goes into production and distributed: October 2026

• Honorarium: $100 artist honorarium for selected stencil
   

LIMITATIONS: 

• Eligibility: Must be a current CHAC Member

• Theme: "We Belong" In a time of growing social isolation and political division, we chose "We Belong" as our theme because community is the antidote. Milagros del Corazón brings people together through art — creating a space where everyone, no matter their background, has a place at the table, find their voice, and unleash their creativity. Side by side, hands painting hearts, we turn strangers into community through creativity and collective artmaking where everyone feels a sense of belonging.  

• Submission Limit: Artists may submit up to 2 piece, 1 may only be accepted

• Art must be family and community-friendly 

• If selected, artists agree to grant CHAC authorized use of the stencil for reproduction and use design as a part of the Milagros del Corazón Community art exhibition and fundraiser

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