Springfield Regional Arts Council

About Artsfest

Artsfest 2010 - 30th Anniversary
"30 Years of Celebrating"

Every May for the past 29 years, the Springfield Regional Arts Council has presented Artsfest, a celebration of springtime, food, fun, and the performing and visual arts. The fine art festival is the cornerstone of Artsfest and attracts 30,000-35,000 people annually.

Artsfest is located on Walnut Street in Springfield, MO, amidst historic houses and tree-lined sidewalks.

Show Dates & Times For Artsfest 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010, 10:00 am - 6:00 pm
Sunday, May 2, 2010, 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Jurors for Artsfest 2010

Nathan Taylor - partner in BridgeBlue Sourcing Partners/ Obelisk Home

Dwaine Crigger - professor/foundations director and coordinator for Missouri State University Art and Design Department

Jan Horton - President Emeritus of Community Foundation of the Ozarks and co-founder / past co-chair of Artsfest

 

 

Dear Artist,

You recently received an invitation to join us at Artsfest on May 1 & 2, 2010. As we prepare to celebrate 30 years of Artsfest, we wanted to follow up with some exciting news about this year's festival. Artsfest is a two-day fine arts festival attracting over 25,000 people to Historic Walnut Street in Springfield, MO. Each year we ask artists and patrons for their feedback and then work diligently to turn your best ideas into creative additions to our festival. We hope you find these new additions as exciting as we do. After all, your success is our success!

1. We are increasing our advertising efforts. We have partnered with Midwest Family Radio as our exclusive radio sponsor. Beginning up to three weeks before the festival, Midwest Family will be running ads on their stations, 92.9 Bass Country, Star 105.1, Q102.1 and 104.7 The Cave. We are also working with KY3 & KSPR to run a PSA about Artsfest the two weeks prior to the festival. In addition, we have committed to purchase at least two billboards in strategic locations city-wide to promote the festival, and we are working with the Springfield News-Leader to receive over $4,000 worth of in-kind promotion for Artsfest. As much as possible, we will encourage the media to focus on the artists who will be attending the show.

2. We are increasing our web presence. We are very excited to announce that our first ever Artsfest website, will be launched March 15th. A dedicated website brings a huge number of advantages, but one of the most important will be the opportunity for patrons to view information on participating artists prior to the festival. We have also started a Facebook page (search for Artsfest on Historic Walnut Street) and Twitter account for Artsfest where we can provide up-to-the-minute news about the festival to artists and the community.

3. We are continuing to expand our use of pre-sold art coupons (Artbucks). As in past festivals, a drawing will take place on Saturday with the lucky winner receiving $500 in Artbucks to spend on Sunday. In addition, we are setting a goal to sell $5000 in Artbucks prior to the festival. Our objective is to encourage local businesses and art patrons to commit to supporting the arts at Artsfest.
4. We are planning a Champagne Brunch for local arts patrons on Saturday morning. It will be located within walking distance of the festival and will include opportunities to win Artbucks and obtain information about all participating artists.

5. We are encouraging patrons to buy art! Patrons who buy art will be given a sticker or button indicating that they purchased art that day. Working with local sponsors, we hope to use these stickers as an entry into a prize give-away. So if you buy art, you also have the opportunity to win a prize! We hope this encourages people to go ahead and buy that piece of art they have been admiring all day.

6. We are expanding the number of artist awards given. Artist awards will include $1000 Best of Show, $500 Best of 2D, $500 Best of 3D, People's Choice Award and multiple Awards of Excellence. Over $4,000 in artist cash awards will be presented at this year's festival.

We are excited about our 30th year and know it will be the best yet. We hope you will join us in celebrating Springfield's vibrant and growing arts community. Applications are still being accepted for Artsfest!

Sincerely,

Anna Squires
Artist Recruitment Committee