Arts of the Pamlico is putting the “arts” back into the Eastern Carolina Wildlife Arts Festival.

The arts nonprofit has put out a call to all wildlife artists — painter, photographers, sculptors and more — to submit three to five pieces of their work for display at the Turnage Theatre during the three-day festival in February.

While wildlife arts vendors will be exhibiting their work for sale at the Washington Civic Center,

Arts of the Pamlico’s Thad Aley said this call for more artists is part of the organization’s ongoing effort to give exposure to local artists.

“We wanted to open up the ability for those artists that aren’t ready to become vendors yet, but have coastal wildlife art as well,” Aley said. “We realized we had given a voice to those ready to have a vendor show, but hadn’t given a voice for those that are up and coming.”

The requirement is that the work be representative of coastal wildlife.

“It could be deer, bear, fowl — any of the animals you would find in the eastern coastal region of North Carolina,” Aley said. “We’re not looking for mountain shots. We’re looking for things that would be found here.”

The coastal wildlife requirement does not necessarily mean wildlife must be portrayed in the work, Aley said.

“We’ve kind of said, ‘If they bring it in and it looks right, we’ll take it,’” Aley said, adding that landscapes could fall into that category. “Some of the landscapes are the habitat for the wildlife; sometimes mixing that in with animals and photographs — a landscape might be perfect.”

Another requirement is that the work submitted must be for sale.

Aley said, in addition to the Turnage exhibit, arts will abound at the festival: at every venue, there will be visual art and performing art, an example of which is change of venue for the Beaufort County Traditional Music Association’s regular Saturday morning jam session at the Turnage. It’s now scheduled to be onstage at the civic center during the height of the festival.

“We’re always trying to celebrate the diversity in art,” Aley said. “We’re really excited about bringing back the Eastern Carolina Wildlife Festival, and being it’s AOP’s first time hosting the event, we want to make sure this is open to everyone.”

AOP will be accepting artists’ work until Jan. 30, when Aley plans to hang the show. The display will be on exhibit until Feb. 11.

For more information, contact Aley at t.aleyaop@gmail.com.