CALL FOR YOUTH ARTISTS 2024

From November 5th until the January 31 deadline, a candidate may begin their application by clicking HERE. To find more information about the application process, go to Apply Now - Youth Artists. Questions and assistance will also be available on the PAF Help Line at [email protected]

If you are between 14 and 19 years of age, live in the Niagara Region, are enrolled in a Provincially recognized secondary school education program and have a passion for creating art, this a great opportunity for you!

We at the PAF believe that up-and-coming youth artists will benefit from having a real Art Show experience. So at this year’s Festival, we are making available a double booth of four 6’ x 8’ panels to exhibit a collection of the best youth artwork from across the Region. The cost per applicant will be a non-refundable $10 application fee for submissions by the January 31, 2024 deadline; a non-refundable $20 application fee for late submisions between February 1- 15th and any costs needed to make artwork show-ready. (ex. framing )

If an artwork sells, the PAF will collect a 15% commission as part of its fundraising commitment, the same practice for every artist participating in the Festival. The PAF is a not-for-profit corporation that provides annual donations from funds raised at the Festival in support of the Lincoln Pelham Library System, Visual Art scholarships and community arts activities.

Each youth artist will follow the same process that regular artists do when applying to the Festival. As part of your application process, you will be required to submit digitally, at this Online platform:

                       • 3 images of original artwork created by you in the last 3 years

                       • a bio/artist statement ( 500 characters long) and

                       • an artwork description (200 characters long)

Art genres accepted into the Pelham Art Festival include painting, printmaking, photography and digital media, illustration, glasswork, textile design, jewelry, woodturning, ceramics, sculpture and mixed media.

All submissions will be juried to select exceptional artwork for a limited number of spaces available in a double booth at the Festival. All jury decisions will be final. 

Successful applicants will also have an Online gallery on the PAF e-commerce website and will automatically be eligible to sell their work via the Online Festival from May 1-31st. Artists will be able to keep their galleries up and continue to make sales for a year until just before next year’s Festival when all the galleries from the 2024 PAF come down. More details about this will be forthcoming later.

The Niagara Youth Artists will have an opportunity to be recognized for exceptional work and to be considered for the Best in Youth Artists award, selected by a qualified judge at the In-person Festival. 

IMPORTANT!!  Artists accepted into the PAF will be expected to share the responsibility of manning the group’s booth throughout the 3 days of the Festival based on a group-generated and agreed-upon schedule. If you are not available to share attendance at the booth for one of the three days of the Onsite show, then you shouldn’t be applying.

The public and artists' attendance hours of the Festival are:
Friday Opening, 7 pm - 10 pm
Saturday, 10 am - 5 pm
Sunday, 10 am - 4:30 pm