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Event Information
VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival 2025
Logo for VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival 2025

Location:
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REQUIREMENTS:
Accepted Application Types:
Artist

Images: 5 (a booth shot is required)


Application Amount:
You can submit up to 2 applications for this show.

Emerging Artists:
This application does not accept applications from emerging artists.
Time Remaining:
The application deadline has passed.
Dates & Deadlines

  • Open Date


  • Application Deadline


  • Purchase Deadline


  • Event Start


  • Event End


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EVENT INFORMATION

The 13th Annual VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival invites you to showcase your original art, May 3-4, 2025. A premier event in a spectacular venue produced by VisArts - the largest visual arts center in Montgomery County Maryland. This festival will create a spectacular outdoor pedestrian gallery on the streets of Rockville Town Square where Every Booth is a Corner.

The Festival attracts 10-12,000+ high income attendees from the Washington, DC Metro Area, and surrounding suburbs of Rockville, Bethesda, and Chevy Chase. Cultural events are an important dynamic in this affluent community.

Our extensive marketing and PR campaigns include a dedicated PR team that is amazing at getting artist stories in the local papers and on television and partners with the 12 Rockville cultural organizations, invests heavily in social media, digital and print media.  Our media outreach is prolific and effective. 

RULES/REGULATIONS

Show Requirements
Adherence to the following rules during the show is necessary to maintain the quality of the show at a high level for artists and patrons. VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival considers the enforcement of its rules to be a necessity and a responsibility. Non-compliance with the rules, outlined below, can result in requests for work to be removed from display and for sale, and/or expulsion from the show. If an artist is removed from the show, no booth fee refunds will be issued.
  • Proof of Insurance Required. Artists are responsible for proper insurance and protection of work and booth. Proof of insurance is due 14 days before the show - if using ACT you will be on the portal and do not have to send additional paperwork. VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival is not responsible for damage to work or booth due to weather, accidents or unrelated incidents. If not using ACT you will need to have a COI sent via email to rmarkowitz@visartscenter.org and lising VisArts, 155 Gibbs Street, Rockville, MD 20850.
  • A photo ID (driver's license or passport) of the artist is required during check-in. In addition, the show has the right to check ID during the show.
  • Artists must be present during the entire event. No dealers, agents or representatives will be permitted.
  • Work done by a production studio is not acceptable. VisArts wants artwork made by the hands of the artists selling the work. If the hands of others make the artwork, please don’t apply to the show. You will not be accepted. If you are a production studio, the Rockville Arts Festival is not for you.
  • Buy-sell and/or imports, candles and weapons are not allowed. Work from kits, commercial designs, or done in classes/workshops are prohibited. Artists selling work that is not their own will be expelled from the show.
  • No sharing of booths is allowed. Only artists who have been juried will be allowed to display.
  • All artists' work on display must be for sale.
  • Professional Display. If you are selling 2D work it must be displayed on walls. Pro-panels, mesh and grids that are covered are acceptable. Easels are not allowed because they are hazards in the wind. 
  • Artists may only exhibit work in the category in which they were juried. Exhibited work must be consistent in style, quality, and method with juried images. (e.g., All jewelry must be juried in the jewelry category; no glass jewelry in a glass booth unless such has been juried)
  • Rockville Arts Festival Policy regarding "bread & butter" pieces. We realize that in order to make shows financially feasible, some artists must sell less expensive, "bread & butter" creations. Our guidelines regarding the sale of "bread & butter" pieces: 1) must NOT be the largest part of inventory that is displayed, and they should occupy only a small part of your booth and less than 10% of stock, 2) must be in the same style and category as the work you were accepted in. For example, a) note cards reproduced from an artist’s original work may be exhibited but in small quantity, or b) a wood turner may sell wooden pens provided they have created them and are displayed in small quantity. What you have juried with into the show should be the prime focus and occupy the vast majority of your booth.
  • Prohibited are: commercially manufactured or reproduced items; (For example: posters, mouse pads, magnets, etc.); T-Shirts and commercial clothing; any item that employs the use of commercially available molds or patterns; items that have been purchased and then embellished. No Candles.
  • 2D Reproductions: All reproductions must be clearly labeled "reproduction" on the front of the piece or clearly labeled on front of a display bin. If you are a painter, we expect at least 50% of the display to be paintings hanging and not more prints than paintings. 
  • An artist’s statement describing the techniques, materials, and processes used in the creation of work should be posted visibly in the booth. Our patrons will appreciate this.
  • Tents/Canopies (White) are required and must be professional grade (e.g. Trimline, Showoff, Lite dome, Caravan, Crafthut) with a minimum of 40-pound weights on each corner to provide safety to artists and guests.
  • No propping artwork outside your assigned space.
  • The Festival reserves the right to conduct multiple calls for entry until the event is sold out.
  • The Festival Director, or her appointed representative, has final authority to make necessary adjustments for the show's benefit and remove artists who do not follow the above rules or regulations.
  • Although we do not anticipate COVID or any other communicable disease being an issue, the Rose Squared Art Shows reserves the right to implement and enforce mitigation efforts. If such action is necessary, artists will be notified about specific requirements before the show.
Artist/Exhibitor(s), in submitting this application, represents, affirms and agrees, that he/she:
 
1.  has received, read, understands and is bound by the rules, regulations and guidelines in the Prospectus and Application for the VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival;
 
2.  accepts and will not in any way challenge decisions made by jurors and others regarding the selection or rejection of applicants for participation and the determination of recipients of prizes and awards; 
 
3.  has or will have been directly and materially involved in the creation of each and every item exhibited for sale by him/her at the event; Each exhibitor is responsible for the sale of his/her work. No agents or representatives are permitted. 

4. each artist must be present for the entire show. If accepted as collaboration, both artists must be present.
 
5.  consents to the VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival using and displaying, including by electronic media and other methods of  publication, for promotional and educational purposes any images of items submitted in the selection process or photographed during the event;
 
6.  acknowledges his/her obligation to immediately remove from the booth space and cease further exhibiting any work or item which Festival Director, in his or her sole discretion, finds not in conformity with to the Rules and Guidelines for Participation;
 
7.  acknowledges awareness of the broad range of risks of personal injury and property loss or damage inhering in and intrinsic to participation in this years event, including, but not limited to, those arising from negligent and other wrongful acts or omissions of other participants and attendees, those arising from adverse weather conditions, theft and vandalism, and those arising from failure, misuse or malfunction of electrical and other equipment, fixtures and facilities;
 
8.  voluntarily assumes all such risks and, in consideration of anticipated benefits from participating in the event, expressly releases from liability and waives all rights to bring causes of action or other legal process against the VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival, the City of Rockville, Montgomery County, Morguard, Metropolitian Visual Arts Center, Mayor and Council of Rockville, MD, its officers, directors, employees, volunteers and agents for any personal injuries and damage to or loss of property sustained by him/her and attributable to such risks; and
 
9.  accepts full responsibility for his/her own negligent and other wrongful acts and omissions, and those of his/her employees and/or assistants and agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival, the City of Rockville, Montgomery County, Morguard, Metropolitian Visual Arts Center, Mayor and Council of Rockville, MD, its officers, directors, employees, volunteers and agents from any and all claims, losses, causes of action, costs and expenses, arising from such negligent and other wrongful acts and omissions.1. Applicants must create 100% of all work displayed. Artwork on display must be consistent with the images submitted for jurying. Artists may only exhibit work in the medium (media) for which they were selected

BOOTH INFORMATION

1. Booths must be 10' square, white, covered tents. All tents must be appropriately secured by the use of substantial weights (minimum of 160 lbs - 40lbs per leg hung from the top of the frame). Exhibitors may not secure tents to the pavement or to Rockville Town Square property.

2. All artwork must be set up within the booth space. No art is to be displayed outside the allotted booth space. with out permission from the Festival Director.

3. Electric is NOT provided. The use of generators must be discussed prior to the show with the Festival Director. There are only a couple spaces that generators are allowed. If you need a generator, please send an email to rmarkowitz@visartscenter.org when accepted to the show.

4. 24 hour police security is provided by Festival Management, however anything left in the booth overnight is at the artist's own risk. Festival Management and their agents affiliated with the event will not be responsible for artwork and display left in booths overnight.

5. The use of the booth is restricted to the artist(s) to whom it is assigned.

REFUND POLICY

Your booth fee is your commitment to the show. If you withdraw from the show because you have been accepted into another event, your booth fee is forfeited (we do check). If you need to withdraw due to life circumstances, any withdrawal (by email) 60 days or more before the event you will receive a booth credit minus $80 adminstration fee. The show is rain or shine. Jury fees are nonrefundable. 

There are no rain dates for the show. We do not, at any time, issue refunds unless we have canceled a show with ample time prior to its scheduled date. If a show is canceled AFTER logistical and advertising arrangements have been made, refunds will not be issued under our rain or shine policy nor due to any forces of nature, (i.e., hurricanes, tornados, floods, earthquakes, pandemics, etc.). We understand that there are many unforeseen circumstances that may arise at the last minute, however, we cannot make exceptions to this policy. 

JURY DETAILS

Average number of applications submitted each year:
385
Average number of artists selected from the jury to participate in the event:
150
Average number of exempt from jury artists who are invited to participate in the event:
9
How returning artists are selected:
Received an award
Vendors that are excluded/ineligible:
VisArts' Rockville Arts Festival does not accept buy/sell, candles, production studio, kit making or artists without an outdoor booth image.
How images are viewed by jurors:
Computer monitor
Within a medium category, applications are sorted and viewed by:
Application Received (date the application was submitted)
Jurors score applications using the following scale:
1 - 7
Number of jurors scoring applications:
3
The show organizes the jurors for a:
Single jury panel that scores applications for all medium categories
Jurors score
Separately from various locations
Am I allowed to observe the jury process?
Jury process is closed