FESTIVAL RULES

Festival Rules
The application must be postmarked by May 16, 2008. Only completed application packages containing all items listed on the previous page will be accepted. No late applications will be considered. Artist notification will be mailed out by July 1, 2008. No status information will be given out in person, by mail or by telephone prior to that date.

Artists may withdraw from the Downtown Festival & Art Show and receive a refund of the booth fee (less $20), if a written request is received before September 5, 2008. No refunds will be issued after that date.

Artists must exhibit and be present during the complete show from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday, November 8 & 9, 2008. Work must be shown both days – no exceptions. All works must be original art done by the exhibiting artists and offered for sale. Only work represented by the artists’ slides will be allowed. Each space should display only the work of the exhibiting artist. Only one booth per artist is permitted, but if space becomes available, then a limited amount of double booths may be approved. If work is of a collaborative nature, all artists’ names must appear on the application. No dealers, agents, stand-ins or proxies allowed. The Festival Committee will retain artist’s slides until after the event to ensure against misrepresentation. The Festival will return the slides for the artists not selected by the pre-jurors. Festival Committee reserves the right to prohibit display of work it deems unacceptable. Failure to follow these rules make artists ineligible for prizes and admission to future shows.

Slides submitted for consideration must represent the kind of works exhibited. If exhibited works differ significantly from the slides submitted, the artist may be asked to leave and forfeit fees.

Booth fees are due on August 1, 2008. If fees are not paid by the deadline your booth will be given to an artist on the wait list. Artists will be notified by mail of their booth space number and location, along with exhibitor information about check-in, set-up and parking no later than August 18, 2008. Booth requests are fulfilled on a first-paid first-serve basis. Check-in and set-up is Saturday morning only – no set-up is allowed on Friday night. No changes in booth spaces will be allowed without approval of Linda Piper, Festival Coordinator.

Each exhibiting artist must check-in and provide picture I.D. on Saturday morning before set-up. Space will be forfeited if artist fails to appear with I.D. during check-in hours.

All work and artists’ belongings, including chairs, must be contained within the assigned booth space. Exhibitors are responsible for keeping their area clean and in order during and after the show. Electricity is not available for artists. Artists are required to display an official card bearing artist’s name, space number and city of residence.

Parking and traffic are not permitted in show area after 9 a.m. on Saturday. The streets will remain closed on Saturday night and security will be on site. Although artists, at their discretion, will be allowed to leave exhibit displays on the street overnight on Saturday, the City of Gainesville is not liable for any loss. The streets will reopen to the public at 7 p.m. on Sunday evening and all booths must be dismantled and removed by this time.

Country crafts are non-competitive only. The following are not eligible for exhibit: works which are mass-produced or manufactured, made from commercial molds, kits or patterns, commercial displays, taxidermy, crocheting, knitting, velvet painting, manufactured or kit jewelry, candles, ceramics cast from commercial molds and art supplies.

Bicycles, roller-skates, roller-blades and skateboards are prohibited at the Festival. There will be no animals permitted within the confines of the show. This rule will be strictly enforced.

Our reputation for enforcing the rules is deserved. The Festival staff will visit all displays at intervals throughout the Festival to ensure that exhibitors comply with all Festival rules. It is our exclusive right and responsibility to remove work that is not in compliance. Repeated non-compliance will result in expulsion and ineligibility for judging, awards and participation in future Festivals. Show committee reserves the right to make final interpretation of the rules.

The 2008 artist application can be downloaded using the links below. To obtain a hard copy, please send your address to piperlr@cityofgainesville.org to be added to the mailing list.

Downloadable Application
(Requires the free Adobe Acrobat)

City of Gainesville
Cultural Affairs
302 NE 6th Avenue
(352)393-8536
(352)334-2249-Fax

Mailing address: Station 30
PO Box 490
Gainesville, FL 32602

This year’s poster image captured the beauty of wildlife in Gainesville. Leslie Peebles, a local painter and printmaker who has been showing her artwork in North Central Florida for 12 years, has beautifully captured the image of Sandhill Cranes flying over Paynes Prairie. The medium, lino-cut block print involves a process of drawing the image then transferring it to a linoleum block. It took Peebles a total of 50 hours to carve and complete this project.

The particular scene on this year’s poster image is from a series of photographs Peebles took at Paynes Prairie. After noticing a large group of cranes, she stopped and walked back to photograph them. The cranes were startled after a couple of pictures, but she was able to get an amazing series of in-flight shots. The poster image is a combination of several photographs of both landscape details and cranes.

“I wanted the viewer to feel the drama of their migratory cycles and their connection to this amazing place,” Peebles said.

Downloadable Application
(Requires the free Adobe Acrobat)