Emerging Artist Program

The Downtown Festival & Arts Show’s Emerging Artist Program aims to create a pipeline for new talent to access and participate in the juried art show portion of the Downtown Festival & Art Show, Gainesville’s largest street festival and north central Florida’s largest celebration of fine art. Artists who have never shown their work at the Downtown Festival & Art Show before may apply to participate. Selection for this program prioritizes diversity and fresh perspectives, creating intentional space to welcome and celebrate BIPOC artists, immigrant artists, and other underrepresented voices.

Selected 2022 Emerging Artists will receive:

• Booth and application fee waiver ($311 value)
• Participation stipend ($200 cash)
• A borrowed tent to display and sell their work during the festival ($200+ value)
• The opportunity to show and sell their work, to experience the judging process, and to compete for a cash Emerging Artist Award ($500 value)
• An automatic invitation to participate in the 2023 Festival.
• Mentorship opportunities that include introductions to local curators and a meeting with a highly successful festival artist to discuss pricing, booth design, and other topics relevant to art fair success. 

To apply, each Emerging Artist must submit three images of their artwork and one image of a grouping of their art through Monochronicle.

2022 Deadline: September 30, 2022

Apply Here

The Emerging Artist Program would not be possible without the generous support of our community sponsors: Gainesville Fine Arts Association (GFAA) & Gallery, Sequential Artist Workshop (SAW), a private donor, and the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Arts and Culture, the Florida Council on Arts and Culture, and the National Endowment for the Arts.