Artist Application & Jury Process

Event Overview
General Information & Demographics
Application Instructions & Fees
Important Dates
Jury Details

EVENT OVERVIEW

Each October, the streets of Bethesda Row, are turned into an outdoor art gallery, featuring juried fine arts and fine crafts. About 200 leading artists nationwide come to Bethesda, MD’s Arts & Entertainment District to showcase their work. The Festival has been recognized as one of the top 200 fine art shows in the United States by Sunshine Artist magazine.

Additonally, the Arts Festival offers an Art Sale benefitting the NIH Children’s Charities, children’s art activities, live acoustic stage performances, street performers, and high-quality outdoor food vendors. Additionally, Bethesda Row features more than 50 fine shops, upscale galleries, and unique restaurants with outdoor seating.

GENERAL INFORMATION & ATTENDEE DEMOGRAPHICS

The Festival will take place Saturday, October 15th and Sunday, October 16th, 2011 on four streets of Bethesda Row, located in Bethesda, MD (Woodmont Ave, Bethesda Ave, Elm St & Bethesda Lane). These areas are closed to traffic throughout the weekeend, with set-up for the festival begining in the early-morning of Saturday, October 15th.

The fourteen media categories that are juried for the Bethesda Row Arts Festival are: ceramics, drawing & pastels, fiber, glass, graphics & printmaking, jewelry, metalwork, mixed media 2D, mixed media 3D, oil/acrylic painting, photography & digital art, sculpture, watercolor, and wood.

The approximately 45,000 attendees come from the Washington DC-metro area and the suburb of Bethesda, one of the nation’s most affluent regions. This area is ranked 6th in the nation for the number of households attending arts/cultural events, with 38% of households attending arts events and purchasing fine arts/antiques. (Source: SRDS, The Lifestyle Market Analysis 2006) Marketing through newspapers, magazines, television, radio, and on the web, is directed to these individuals with high disposable income and interest in fine arts. The Arts Festival is featured prominently in popular news outlets including The Washington Post, DC Examiner and Bethesda Magazine as well as on air with the local TV News of WJLA Channel 9. Over 10,000 promotional postcards & posters are placed in Bethesda Row merchant windows in addition to several large scale street banners that are hung at the entrances to downtown Bethesda.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

Deadline:
The application, images and jury fee should be submitted electronically by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, May 20th 2011. Mailed materials must be postmarked by May 20th, 2011. If submitted after May 20th you must include a late fee of $50 with your application.

We are not asking artists to submit booth fee payments with the application. Please ONLY send the $33 payment for the jury fee with your application. If accepted into the show then we will ask for payment of your booth fee.

The booth fee entitles you to one 10x10 space in the show. Each artist needs to provide their own tent. The festival recommends that you do not use inexpensive, pop-up tents, as they have the potential to be dangerous in high winds and inclement weather.
There are several double booth spaces available, which may be requested after acceptance. Booth sharing is not permitted.

Application Submission Options:

OPTION A: Apply Online 1. Fill out application form, upload your 5 images and submit them online. 2. You will receive a confirmation page once you submit your application, indicating we have received your application information and images. If you do not receive a confirmation page we have not received your application. 3. After submitting your application online you still must print out, sign and return the Artist Agreement for your application to be considered complete. You may fax this agreement or mail it with your checks or credit card approval form.

OPTION B: Apply by Mail 1. Download & print out the application. You will need Adobe Reader to view these files. To download Adobe Reader click here. 2. Fill out and mail to the address listed on the application (14803 Southlawn Lane Suite N, Rockville MD 20850) 3. Please remember to include a CD with your 5 images, your jury fee payment as well as your signed artist release form.

 

For your application to be considered complete, all artists must submit a jury fee, a late fee if applicable, and a signed Artist Release. A credit card approval form is included with the application for your convenience. If submitting your application online, you will have the opportunity to print the release form and credit card approval form after you complete the online application.

A non-refundable jury fee of $33 will be deposited or charged upon receipt of your check or credit card approval form. An additional $50 should be included if the application is postmarked or submitted After May 21st, 2011

Digital Images:

• Five images: 4 of artwork and 1 of artists’ booth display.
• Images can be submitted online, e-mailed or mailed as outlined in the application submission options above.
• Images are requested to be 1920 x 1920 pixels at 72 PPI (pixels per inch) saved as high-resolution, baseline JPG format. We recommend an file size of 400 KB or less for each image. Each image should be labeled with your name, medium and the image number (1-5).
• Images should be prepared in the sRGB (standardized Red Green Blue) color space. It the default color space for most digital cameras, projection devices, and for viewing images on a monitor and in a browser.
• If your image is not square, please mask your image with black to bring your image to 1920x1920 pixels as illustrated below.
• If you have questions regarding digital image preparation, the NAIA offers Digital Resources on preparing your images and recommendations on professionals offering digital imaging services, click here to read more.

Digital Image Upload:
You must submit five images (four of your artwork and one of your booth display) as JPEG files; your name should be in the filename of each image file (for instance last_first1.jpg). In the online application, you will have the opportunity to upload each image. If you will be submitting your images on a CD, please label each file clearly (ex: last_first1.jpg) and mail it to: Bethesda Row Arts Festival
14803 Southlawn Lane Suites L-N
Rockville, MD 20850

IMPORTANT DATES:
May 20th - Application Deadline
May 31st - Late Fee Application Deadline—we cannot accept any applications after this date!
June 30th - Notifications Sent
July 29th - Accepted Artists to Send in Booth Fee
September 1st - Booth Assignments Sent

JURY DETAILS

Jurors/Qualifications:
The three-paneled jury is composed two art professionals versed in a wide range of artistic media, usually an academic and curator, as well as a working peer artist. A new jury is impaneled each year to ensure the show remains fresh and eliminate any favoritism or bias. These jurors will also be on-site at the event to serve as a standards committee and select artist award winners.

Image Review Details:
The jury is live and conducted in one day. The identities of artists are not disclosed to the jurors. While all jurors are in the same room, discussion is not encouraged to eliminate any bias or influence from other jurors. Artists submit five digital images for the jury process; four images of their work and one image of their booth display. The images appear on the screen in two rows with images 1-3 on the top row, left to right, and image 4 and booth slide on the 2nd row, left to right. Each medium is reviewed in two rounds. Jurors will first review images within one category and not score. Jurors will then review artists’ images within that category and score each artist when displayed. Images can be enhanced if juror(s) requests a magnified view, and the process, materials, dimensions, and price point will also be made available to the jury upon request.

Available Exhibit Spaces:
Approximately 200 artists will exhibit at the 2011 Bethesda Row Arts Festival. A total of 18 artistic award winners from 2011 have been invited to return. The remainder of exhibit slots will be determined through the competitive jury process.
Artistic excellence of original work is the sole criteria for selection of exhibitors. The top 180 receive invitations with about 20 of the next highest scoring artists comprising the waiting list. The jury is asked to select a well-balanced show across the different artistic disciplines. Decisions of the jury panel are final.

QUESTIONS?
If the information contained in the application or listed above doesn’t answer your question, please contact us at info@bethesdarowarts.org or 301.637.5715. We aim to respond to inquiries within 24 hours during the standard business week.