Statesboro Festival of the Arts 2025 | Due Nov 1, 2024

Please join us for the Statesboro Festival for the Arts in the beautiful Market by Visit Statesboro and surrounding campus! This inaugural event is sure to be a fantastic weekend for artists and patrons, including juried art vendors, live acoustic music, activities for children, a food truck court, and southern hospitality.

Our event is committed to catering to the needs of the visual artist. Convenient set up all day on Friday, ending with an Artist’s Reception with heavy hors d’oeuvres, adult beverages, and live music in the Averitt Center for the Arts Main Gallery in historic downtown Statesboro.  Generous awards, booth sitters, shuttles to cars, low entry and booth fees are just some of our fabulous amenities for artists.  

The Market at Visit Statesboro boasts a 7,500 square feet facility with roll – up garage doors and an incredible view of the cultivated greenspace and picnic areas leading to a boardwalk and bridge that connects you to historic downtown Statesboro in just a short stroll. The Market will allow indoor space for 30 vendors and the ample Visit Statesboro campus has a spacious paved lot for additional outdoor vendors, a stage, and more.

Festival Site
The Market at Visit Statesboro and surrounding campus
228 South Main St.
Statesboro, GA 30458

Festival Dates
Friday, March 21-Sunday March 23, 2025

Application Deadline
November 1, 2024 11:59pm EDT

Application Submission Requirements

• The Statesboro Festival of the Arts (SFA) only accepts applications submitted through ZAPPlication.org.
• Each application must include five digital photographs: four photographs must clearly show work the artist intends to exhibit and one photo must be an image of the artist’s booth. Because the jurying process is blind, the booth shot must not have signage, branding, symbols, or attributes that reveal the artist’s identity.
• Each artist must pay a nonrefundable $15 fee for each application submitted.
• Artists pay the $15 application fee as part of the application process on ZAPPlication.org.
• Artists who want to present work in more than one medium will need to complete and submit applications and pay the application fee for each category.
• Collaborative teams of no more than two artists are welcome to apply.
• Applicants must be 18 years and older.

Admission

• Saturday and Sunday Admission (open to the public) –Free

Important Dates

• Friday, November 1, 2024 – Deadline for artists to submit applications.
• Friday, November 15, 2024 – SFA emails notification of acceptance to artists.
• Friday, December 13, 2024 – deadline for artists to submit booth fee and signed contract.
• Friday, January 31, 2025 – Final date when artists can cancel their festival participation and receive refund of their booth fee minus a $50 administrative charge.

Festival Hours

• Friday, March 21, 9am-4pm- Artist set up
• Saturday, March 22, 10 am-5 pm – open to the public
• Sunday, March23, 10 am-4 pm – open to the public

Festival Timeline

• 9 am-4 pm                 Artist check-in and register. Photo ID required at check-in.
• 6:00-8:00 pm             SFA hosts artist reception at the Averitt Center.

• ​10 am-5 pm               First day of festival.
• 10 am-3 pm              Judge visit booths to determine the award winners.

• 10 am-4 pm               Last day of festival.
• 4 pm-6 pm                 Festival closes and artists breakdown and load-out.

Artist Reception
We are pleased to host the Artist Reception at the Averitt Center for the Arts on Friday, March 21, 6- 8 pm. The reception will be held in the Main Gallery of the historic Averitt Center conveniently located in downtown Statesboro. We will provide heavy hors d’oeuvres, adult beverages, musical entertainment and, more. Sponsors of the Festival will be invited to attend.

Jury Process 
The Statesboro Festival of the Arts is proud to have Erin Dunn, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at Telfair Museums in Savannah, GA as a juror and the judge for the inaugural festival.
We are also pleased to have South Carolina visual artist Christine Patterson as our second juror.

• SFA invited two highly respected, art professionals to participate as members of the jury. Working independently and collaboratively, jurors evaluate each application without knowing the identity of the artist. The blind jury process ensures all work receives fair, open, and respectful attention and consideration.
• Jurors assess an applicant’s artwork by reviewing the digital photographs and the artist’s statement. The five digital photographs should be high quality images: four images must represent the body of work the artist intends to exhibit and one image must be a view of the artist’s booth. The booth photograph cannot feature signage, branding, symbols, or attributes that reveal the artist’s identity or trade name.
• Reflecting on aesthetic merit, originality, technical proficiency, and marketability, jurors review and assign scores using ZAPPlication.org. Each application receives a numerical score from each juror. The scores fall between one of the two ranges: 1-3 for lower scoring applications and 5-7 for higher scoring applications. This scoring system does not allow jurors to assign a score of 4. The scores are totaled and averaged for a final score. Jurors record scores anonymously.
• SFA will create a list of selected artist vendors and a wait list by category based on jury scores. Artist will be notified of theor status through Zapplication.
• Scores and comments are confidential and are not available for review by artists.

Awards
SFA celebrates the visual arts by distributing $5,000 in cash prizes. The 2025 judge has the discretionary privilege of selecting honorees and presenting the awards. The judge’s decisions are final.

Parking
After set-up, artists should move their vehicles into the spaces reserved for artist parking. SFA will provide a parking pass for one vehicle that artists should place inside their car on the driver’s side of the dashboard. Vehicles parked in handicap spaces during festival hours and that do not have official handicap tags will be towed at the owner’s expense. Shuttles to parking will be provided for artists.

Sales and Sales Tax
Exhibitors are responsible for overseeing the promotion and sale of their work during festival hours. All proceeds earned from sales belong to the artists. By law, artists must collect sales tax on work sold during SFA. The sales tax in Statesboro, Georgia is 8%. The State of Georgia Department of Revenue provides tax forms for artists on their website for easy access. We will also have copies at registration.

Security
SFA provides 24-hour security beginning at 5 pm on Friday, March 21^st, 2025, and continuing through the close of the festival at 5 pm on Sunday, March 23^rd, 2025. However, SFA and festival organizers urge artists to be diligent and alert by securing their booths as they would at any other event or festival. Exhibiting at the SFA is at the discretion of the artist and every artist participates at his or her own risk. The SFA, Averitt Center for the Arts, and The Market at Visit Statesboro do not insure the personal property of any exhibitor/artist. All exhibitors/artists participate as independent contractors.

Media Categories 

• 2-D and 3-D Mixed Media: Work created using more than one medium.
• Ceramics: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using clay and/or porcelain. Clay or porcelain jewelry will not be accepted in this category.
• Drawing: Work created using dry media such as pencil, charcoal, or chalk or made using fluid materials such as ink or washes that are applied by pen or brush.
• Fibers: Decorative, and/or sculptural work created using fiber.
• Furniture: Functional or decorative furniture.
• Glass: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using glass.
• Jewelry: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using precious and/or non-precious materials. Precious materials include but are not limited to 14K gold, sterling silver, precious stones, and enamels. Nonprecious materials include but are not limited to glass, ceramics, paper, fiber, wood, leather, polymer clay, and semi-precious stones.
• Metal: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using metals.
• Painting: Acrylic/Oil: Work created using acrylic or oil paint.
• Painting: Watercolor/Pastel: Work created using watercolors or pastels.
• Printmaking: Works created using traditional printmaking techniques that involve plates, stones, and/or screens. Artist produces each print as part of a limited edition series, using archival quality materials. Artist must sign and number each print. Artist must provide details about his or her technique and disclose his or her creative and printmaking processes.
• Photography/Digital Art: Work created using an artist’s original photographic negative or work created from an artist directing or supervising the digital image process. Artist must use archival quality materials and print images in limited edition series, signing and numbering each image. Artist must provide details about his or her technique and disclose his or her creative and printing processes.
• Sculpture: Three-dimensional work created by assembling, firing, welding, molding, casting, carving, shaping or combining materials such as plastic, text, light, stone, rock, marble, metal, glass, or wood.
• Wood: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using wood. Work must be hand-tooled, machine-worked, turned, or carved.

Learn more and apply here!