OPEN CALL
FOR ART
Some Assembly Required: Exquisite Corpse by Mail
Farmhouse Art Collective invites artists and non-artists alike to participate in a collaborative drawing project conducted through the mail.
WHAT IS AN EXQUISITE CORPSE?
Exquisite Corpse is a collaborative drawing game developed by the Surrealists in the 1920s. Traditionally, one person begins a drawing on a folded sheet of paper, then conceals most of what they have drawn before passing it to the next person. Each participant adds another section without seeing the complete image.
When the paper is finally unfolded, the individual contributions become a single, unexpected figure—something that no one participant could have planned or created alone.
We’re doing it a little differently.
For this project, each participant will create one complete figure across three separate sheets of paper:
Sheet 1 — Head
Sheet 2 — Torso
Sheet 3 — Legs
We will provide a downloadable templates (above) with simple alignment points so that your sections line up with one another—and, more importantly, with everyone else’s. The dimensions are 11 inches wide x 8.5 inches tall. The connections are all 3 and 5/8th inches from the sides.
Draw a person. Draw a creature. Draw yourself. Draw something that doesn’t exist. Use pencil, ink, paint, collage, printmaking, or whatever else works on paper.
Then mail all three pieces to us.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Once the all the submissions arrive, we will separate the sets and reassemble them however we see fit.
Your head might end up on someone else’s torso.
Their torso might end up on another person’s legs.
The resulting figures will be collaborations between people who may have never met, never seen each other’s work, and never intended to make something together.
Chance, unexpected combinations, and surrendering some control over the finished work are all part of the process—and part of the tradition of Exquisite Corpse.
How to participate:
Download and print the three-page template. Or follow the same alignment points from the template on your paper.
Create a head, torso, and legs, one section on each sheet.
Keep your drawings aligned with the connection points indicated on the template.
Complete the submission form below,
Mail all three drawings to Farmhouse Art Collective.
We’ll take it from there.
Submission Deadline: 11/01/2026
Mail to:
Farmhouse Art Collective
1301 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
52401
Free to participate. Open to everyone.
Submitted drawings may be mixed, matched, rearranged, exhibited, photographed, and documented as part of the project. Participating artists will be credited as contributors.
The Exhibition: 11/07/2026 - 01/03/2027
Opening reception: 6:00pm - 9:00pm 11/07/2026
Staircase Gallery
1301 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, IA
52401
If you have any questions please email us at farmhouseartcollective@gmail.com
EXAMPLE DRAWING
