CALL FOR ARTISTS: CHICAGO’S 57th STREET ART FAIR SEEKS
2020 APPLICANTS BY JANUARY 15, 2021
Artists To Apply For 74th Annual Juried Art Fair

CHICAGO, IL (November 5, 2020) – The 57th Street Art Fair invites artists with high quality, handmade, original work to apply to be part of the 74th annual juried event in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, June 5+6, 2021. This two day event showcases a range of original work in glass, jewelry, leather, photography, printmaking, painting, sculpture, wood, ceramics and fiber art entirely designed, created and exhibited by artists from around the country. No reproductions, unlimited editions, or mass-produced works, please. Applications must be received by January 15, 2021 to be considered for the jury.

Known as the Midwest’s oldest and juried art fair, the 57th Street Art Fair attracted almost 200 artists and thousands of attendees in 2019. While the 2020 in-person Fair was cancelled due to COVID-19, the volunteer board carried out a “Virtual Fair” for artists accepted, highlighting all via their website and social media in order to continue to promote their work.

The upcoming two-day IN-PERSON fair is scheduled for June 5 and 6 and headlines Chicago’s busiest festival season. The fair provides an outstanding opportunity for exhibiting artists to sell to thousands of enthusiastic shoppers. The team is planning as if the fair will definitely be on-site in 2021, but will be prepared to pivot virtually once again should COVID-19 restrictions be in place.

For information on regulation and policies, please visit http://www.57thstreetartfair.org/regulations–policies. Artists interested in applying are asked to visit http://www.57thstreetartfair.org/application-process and can also apply via www.zapplication.org. Artists may apply in more than one category, but must submit a separate application and separate images for each medium. If accepted, the artist may exhibit only in that category for which they have been juried. Artists may not apply more than once in the same category.

A selection committee will jury applications. The jury comprised of professionals working within the art community review a set of three images provided by each artist. The process, materials, dimensions for each image and artist information statements are made available to the jury. Artistic excellence is the primary criteria for selection of exhibitors. The panel is convened to discuss their rankings and the artists with the top scores will receive invitations to exhibit. High-scoring artists who are not initially invited to exhibit due to limited space will be added to a wait list and offered the opportunity to exhibit should an invited artist decline to participate in the Fair.

No artwork from mass-produced studios, collectives, or items made with commercial kits, molds, patterns, plans or pre-fabricated pieces are allowed. Artists may not exhibit work purchased in part or in entirety from other artists for resale. Artwork must be first and foremost an artistic expression. Utilitarian purposes must be secondary. Only original artwork produced by the exhibiting artist or co-artists’ hands may be exhibited. Neither reproductions nor work produced by assistants are allowed at the 57th Street Art Fair. Work assembled substantially from commercially produced units is also disallowed. Artists may have postcards, posters or other promotional material to give customers, but such items may not be sold in the booth. The Fair does allow a limited number of notecards of work being exhibited to be sold.

ART MEDIA CATEGORIES

Ceramics
This includes original clay and porcelain work, functional or sculptural. No artwork from mass-produced studios, collectives, or items made with commercial kits, molds, patterns, plans, or prefabricated pieces are allowed. Artists may not exhibit work purchased in part or in entirety from other artists for resale.
Digital Art
Includes any original work in which the original image, or the manipulation of other source material, was executed by the artist using the computer. (Digital photo editing within the confines of what could be done in the darkroom is allowed in the photography category.) Work must be signed and numbered limited editions, using archival papers, inks, and emulsions.
Drawing
Acceptable art includes items created using dry media such as chalk, charcoal, pastels, pencil, wax, crayons, etc. or a fluid medium of ink on archival material. Reproduction prints are not allowed.
Fiber
Unique, one of a kind artwork crafted from fibers, including embroidery, basketry, weaving, and tapestry created by the exhibiting artist alone are accepted. This includes one-of-a-kind wearable art. No machine-tooled work, machine- screen printing or other forms of mass production are accepted.
Glass
Functional and sculptural work using kiln forming, blowing, molding or casting as well as cold working processes are permitted. No forms of mass production or reproductions are permitted.
Jewelry
Jewelers must be the designers and hands-on makers of their one of a kind work. No commercial casts, molds, or production studio work. No reproductions.
Leather
One of a kind unique pieces created by the exhibiting artist are welcome. No machine tooled, machine-screen printed or other forms of mass production accepted. No factory-produced wearable items, regardless of additional modification or enhancement by the artist, are allowed. No reproductions.
Mixed Media
This category includes works, both two and three-dimensional, that incorporate more than one type of physical material to produce. Includes non-sculptural work as determined by the artist. Original one of a kind pieces are accepted. No reproductions are permitted.
Painting
Acrylic oil, gouache, and watercolors are accepted in this medium. Reproduction prints are not allowed.
Paper
Flat and three-dimensional, unique, one of a kind works made with paper by the exhibiting artist are accepted. No reproductions are permitted.
Photography
Includes traditional film photography, hand colored images, emulsion transfers, and digital photography that has not been manipulated to achieve results beyond what could be done in a traditional darkroom. Only artist’s original source material is acceptable. Work must be in limited editions, signed and numbered on archival material and all work displayed in the booth must before sale. Signage of an overtly commercial nature listing the availability of numerous sizes, print surfaces, and/or other framing options is prohibited.
Printmaking
Only hand pulled original monoprint, serigraph, lithograph, etching, woodcut and other relief techniques allowed. Prints must be in limited editions, signed and numbered on archival material.

Sculpture
Unique, one of a kind, art that is three-dimensionally sculptural and original work done in any medium by the exhibiting artist is welcome. No reproductions or mass-produced work.
Wood Objects/Hand-Crafted Furniture
Unique, one of a kind, original hand-tooled, machine worked or carved work made entirely by the exhibiting artist is accepted. No reproductions or mass-produced work.
Collaborative Work and Multiple Applications
Artists may apply in more than one category, but you must submit a separate application and separate images for each medium. If you apply in more than one category, the artist must have a booth shot for each media application.

If artists apply and are accepted as a team, they may only exhibit the collaborative work they were accepted for. No more than two artists may collaborate on work. Both must be included on and sign the application. Both must be present at check-in and throughout the Art Fair. The collaborative work must have the signature or mark of both collaborators. A description of each member’s involvement in the creation of the artwork must be in the Artist Statement. A collaborating Artist is defined as participating in the creation of artwork; not a business manager/partner, spouse, or assistant.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are accepted, you may exhibit only in that category for which you have been juried. Artists may not apply more than once in the same category.

ABOUT 57TH STREET ART FAIR
The 57th Street Art Fair is a two-day outdoor celebration of the visual arts held in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago, adjacent to the University of Chicago campus and President Barak Obama’s home. Considered the oldest juried art fair in the Midwest, the fair typically features the work of nearly 200 exhibitors. Most are returning artists, but each year between 50 and 75 new exhibitors are invited to participate by a jury made up of collectors, critics, curators and artists. The goal of the 57th Street Art Fair committee, comprised entirely of volunteers, is to provide a venue for creators of quality fine art and fine craft to meet with the art-buying public. The 57th Street Art Fair is an Illinois not for profit corporation organization and all proceeds are used to produce the annual Fair.

For more information, please visit http://www.57thstreetartfair.org