News

CALL FOR ARTISTS

October 31, 2022

Pelham Art Festival jurors welcome individual artists and artisans working in all mediums (with formal or informal training): painting, photography, sculpture, glass, wood, textiles, jewellery and more to submit their application for the juried 36th Annual In-person and Online 2023 Pelham Art Festivals.

Call for Submissions:

• Before making your jury application, we ask you to go to APPLY NOW for full information to start the setup process.  Applicants for the In-person Festival agree to offer sales from their booth from Friday, May 12 at 7:00 pm to Sunday, May 14 at 5:00 pm and for Pelham Art Festival Online from May 8 to 18, 2023. 

• Artists have the choice to sell their new work in person at the Meridian Community Centre, or, at PAF Online, or BOTH! When the application choice is for BOTH, there is no additional Online Festival cost.

• Pelham Art Festival Online artists' galleries of artwork remain online for a year until May 2024. After the Online Festival concludes artists sell their artworks commission free with their own advertising.

Pelham Art Festival is a not-for-profit corporation and is recognized as one of the premier spring Art Festivals in Ontario. We host nationally and internationally acclaimed Canadian artists and welcome thousands of visitors, art lovers, and collectors to the Festival every year. Collectively our visitors spend over $50,000 annually on buying art, contributing to the economic prosperity of the participating artists and the cultural vibrancy of Pelham.

Important Dates:

36th Pelham Art Festival – In-person Show

November 1, 2022 – Accepting Applications
February 1, 2023 – Application Deadline at 11:59 PM
April 15, 2023 – Final day to cancel your participation for a refund – There will be a $25 non-refundable application handling fee
May 12-14, 2023 – 36th Pelham Art Festival at Meridian Community Centre 

Pelham Art Festival – Online Show

November 1, 2022 – Accepting Applications
February 1, 2023 – Application Deadline at 11:59 PM            
April 15, 2023 – Final day to cancel your participation for a refund – There will be a $25 non-refundable application handling fee
May 8-18, 2023 – Pelham Art Festival Online 

2023 Festival Guidelines:

• Returning and new artists working in all mediums; painting, photography, sculpture, glass, woodturning, textiles, jewellery and more, are welcome to apply. Your work will be juried for quality and to ensure that a wide variety of mediums are showcased, all artwork submitted for jurying must be for sale. 

• Artists are encouraged to submit artwork created within the last three years.

• Pelham Art Festival accepts 80% original artworks and 20% may be reproductions such as giclée or limited-edition prints. All works must be hand-made by the artist. Machine-made or mass-produced works are not permitted and will result in an automatic disqualification. 

• Read our Reproduction Policy carefully before an application is submitted.

• PAF reserves the right to make adjustments to the show to be in accordance with the Provincial and Regional Public Health guidelines.

Why take part in the Pelham Art Festival?

• We welcome 2,000+ visitors in-person, and 5300+ online visitors to our Festivals annually.

• We offer artists the opportunity to learn how to provide good quality images to promote work for the Online Festival and Pelham Art Festival through extra training and support as needed. 

• Plus, an additional opportunity to be showcased through our social media channels on Facebook and Instagram with an engaged audience that continues to grow.

• Pelham Art Festival and our Online Festival: PAF is a well-respected Festival. Our network of artists says they love the atmosphere and feel warmly welcomed. Our online community continues exponentially, and we expect an even more expansive reach in 2023.

• Ongoing professional development: Dedicated support and guidance from our team through application workshops, juried art, and social media workshops (how to grow your digital outreach and social media skills) as needed.

Online Festival:

• Introduced in 2020, the Online Festival runs the week before, during, and the week after our In-person Festival.

• Online sales experience: Showcase your artwork in our Online Festival May 8-18, 2023 on our user-friendly e-commerce platform.

• Free Pelham Art Festival and online resources and support: Assistance and troubleshooting for your artist and product pages, training, instructional videos, volunteers to assist you in setting up your PAF booth display and comprehensive artist information is available.

• You can choose to join the Pelham Art Festivals from anywhere in Canada and beyond. Participating artists can sell artworks and tap into the Niagara art market with our Online Festival safely from the comfort of their homes.

Marketing of the Festival

• Every effort is made to help you promote and sell your artwork and for art lovers to see and purchase pieces both in-person and online.

• We offer a successful and comprehensive marketing campaign: Benefit from our multi-platform marketing and promotions that resulted in a Facebook reach of 33,653 and an Instagram reach of 2,046 reached for the month of May 2022.

• Our social media ad campaign, which is included in your entry fee, reached 26,312 during the Festival with 59,284 paid impressions.

• We are committed to the artists who participate in Pelham Art Festivals and as such, want to assure you that a strong social media, digital and ad print campaign is implemented before and during the Festivals to garner attention and interest in both the In-person Pelham Art Festival and Online Festival.

Where Do I Find Support?

Admin support will be available for you if you need it through [email protected]
Please state the title of your question in the heading of your email so your question will be forwarded to the person who can help you. 
with the subject line: PAF 2023 Photographing Your Art for the Online Application + Your Name 
with the subject line: PAF 2023 Artist Gallery Setup Support + Your Name 
with the subject line: ​PAF 2023 General Support + Your Name

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Pelham Art Festival Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation.