Artists' Booths

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 12/1/05

With the city’s red brick buildings and cobblestone streets providing the backdrop, artists and fine crafts people from all around the Northeast will be able to set up their tents and display the best of their talent... paintings, sculptures, photography, ceramics, jewelry, and more.

We’re inviting you to participate in what is sure to become an exciting annual tradition.

CALENDAR

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AMENITIES AND SERVICES

Artists are able to unload adjacent to their booths during set up and teardown, morning and evening. Many booths have behind-the-booth storage. Overnight Private Security and Lowell City Police will patrol the booths and Arts District to ensure all artists’ work is secure. On the evening of June 9th, artists can gather together at the Welcome Reception for refreshments and live entertainment. During the festival, there will be a designated area stocked with morning coffee and bagels, complimentary cold water, and general information about the city and local venues. Volunteer booth sitters will be available so that artists can take advantage of these amenities. Every effort will be made to make your stay in Lowell an enjoyable one.

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MARKETING

The Lowell Arts Festival marketing committee is dedicated to creating a strong web presence in order to distribute information about the festival and its participants. We reserve the right to use samples of participating artists’ works in order to advertise the depth and variety of artwork that will be shown at the festival. In addition, the festival will be marketed in local and regional newspapers, arts and crafts magazines, and on local radio. Promotional materials (posters, postcards, flyers) will appear throughout the city in local businesses (buses and trolleys, restaurants, cafes, specialty shops, etc.)

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JURYING PROCESS

Approximately 125 spaces are available. Artist applicants remain anonymous during jurying. Scoring is based on originality and creativity, design, technique, craftsmanship, and production methodolgy. All scores are combined and averaged. Five images are viewed together in a horizontal pattern. The Jury Advisory
Group views the top choices selected from all media. All openings are filled from the artists selected by the jurors in each category, in accordance with the scores given by the panel. There are no quotas in any medium. The advisory jury balances the number of artists in each medium, taking into account the uniqueness of the work when compared to the work of artists already invited and the appropriateness of work for the fair. Final selections are made and a waitlist is established.

JURORS: A panel of jurors, plus at least two members of the Jury Advisory Group, are invited - one to jury media categories that feature predominantly 2D work, and one to jury media categories featuring 3D work. Jurors, primarily from Massachusetts, are selected for their experience and expertise in a specific medium. A diversity of backgrounds and skills is sought, including artists, educators, and museum owners/directors. Panelist profiles will be posted at http://www.lowellartsfestival.org.

JURY ADVISORY GROUP: Five artists from the Lowell area serve as volunteer consultants to the jury, representing a range of media and diverse visual art professionals. The Jury Advisory Group member profiles will be posted to the website as well.

JURYING FOR AWARDS: The Jury Advisory Group will evaluate the work of the artists in the fair and together select award winners on Saturday, June 10th. Awards will be given for outstanding work in any medium (specific awards will be announced in November 2005).

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BOOTHS AND FEES

APPLICATION FEES: $30 Application Fee (non-refundable per application). A separate application
fee is required for each category (one per category, three category limit, substantially different work required
for each).

BOOTH FEES: $225. Do not send booth fees with your application. Additional $50 for corner space, which will be assigned by lottery. The corner fee will be invoiced if assigned.

ARTIST’S CANOPY: 10’ X 12’ space is allotted. Artists must supply their own 10’ X 10’ white canopy. Rentals are available for an additional fee (TBD).

ELECTRICAL SERVICE: Provided.

ADMINISTRATIVE FEE: $25 if an accepted artist cancels following payment of booth fees.

TAXES: Artists are responsible for collection and reporting of all taxes, including 5% Mass. Sales Tax.

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RULES FOR PARTICIPATION

Before applying, please make sure your work meets the following criteria. By applying, you agree to abide by the rules, policies, and decisions of the festival.

The Lowell Arts Festival is a highly selective fine arts fair. Participating artists’ booths will be visited periodically throughout the fair by the Jury Advisory Group to ensure compliance with the rules.

1. All work must be original, hand-crafted work.
2. No commercial reproductions or embellished commercial products are allowed.
3. If you produce work in editions, you must disclose edition numbers to the festival audience and include them in your slide description.
4. Artists may only show work in categories approved by the jury (categories listed in the application form). All work exhibited must be of the quality and type of those slides submit-
   ted to be juried.
5. Artists must be present with their work for the entire two days of the festival. If the work is collaborative, each collaborator must be present.

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SPECIAL MEDIA NOTES

PRINTMAKING: ONLY hand-pulled original prints (signed and numbered limited editions) are acceptable in the printmaking
category.
PHOTOGRAPHY: ONLY limited edition emulsion or archival giclee prints (signed and numbered) are acceptable in the photography category.
JEWELRY: Only those artists accepted in the jewelry category may display or sell jewelry.
DIGITAL ART: Includes any original work in which the original image, or the manipulation of other source material, was executed by the artist using the computer. Limited edition archival giclee prints are acceptable.
SCULPTURE: If your sculptures are not one-off originals then ONLY numbered, limited edition castings are acceptable. No mass-produced castings are allowed.

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More information about other festival events that may interest you:

The Big Tent art exhibit

Art Organizations

Music and Performance