The Okotoks Art Gallery has put the call out to artists to make an exhibit submission for the 2018 season.

Each year the gallery gets anywhere from 40 to 70 applications to fill the 10 to 13 available openings for exhibits.

Allan Boss, culture and heritage manager for the Town of Okotoks, says it's a highly competitive selection process with two stages.

"We put together a large jury, I think there's 15 people on that, and they assess the submissions from basically an aesthetics standpoint. We narrow it down to about 20 and put together a smaller jury that starts to look at the qualifications of the artists."

Artists can be local, regional, national, and international.

Boss says there's no specific criteria they look for in the selection process but a connection to the community may be helpful.

"I can tell you the submissions that typically rise to the top are ones that have a good, somatic link to things that might be going on in Okotoks presently or will be going on."

The deadline for submissions is April 28.