M&T Bank Clothesline Art Festival

The M&T Bank Clothesline Art Festival has been MAG’s largest annual fundraiser and biggest celebration of the arts for almost 70 years. Over 300 artists from across the country offer their work for sale at this two-day festival, held on the beautiful grounds of the Memorial Art Gallery. Clothesline is also the place to experience all-day live entertainment, sample food from some of Rochester’s favorite food trucks and vendors, enjoy free family art activities, and visit the museum.

Artist applications for the 2026 M&T Bank Clothesline Art Festival are now open!

Want to see your design all over Rochester? Participate in MAG’s Merch Madness, a friendly competition of artists to see who can design the best graphic for our M&T Bank Clothesline Art Festival! Artists will submit their designs, and then you, the public, will decide who the winner is during Merch Madness in May!

The winner will get either $350 in prize money or a free both space at the festival.

Dates to know:

• Monday, February 2: submissions open
• Sunday, March 1: submissions close at 11:59 pm
• Monday, May 4: Merch Madness bracket public voting starts to decide the best design
• Monday, June 1: Winner announced

Design Requirements:

• Must say: “M&T Bank Clothesline Art Festival”
• Must incorporate the year (2026)
• Must include/incorporate a clothespin in the design
• Must use 5 or fewer colors
• Space that’s at least 3″ wide by 2″ tall must be reserved for MAG logo (we’ll add it for you!)
• Any text should aim for a minimum font size of 8-9 pt, with a thick stroke for standard apparel
• Final dimensions should fit within 8-12″ wide by 10-14″ tall, at 300 DPI
• Final design should be one of these file formats: .AI, .EPS, .PDF, .PSD, or .TIF
• Image submission must be a full size JPG or PNG at 72 DPI (we’ll contact the winner for the final design file)

MAG reserves the right to ask for changes to the final design.

Want to become a Food Truck/Tent Vendor at the M&T Bank Clothesline Art Festival? We are now accepting applications for the 2026 festival. We are pleased to announce that, in addition to food trucks, we will be hosting food tents and carts at the festival this year.

Please fill out the survey using the link below with your information. A staff member from the Memorial Art Gallery will be in touch with you soon about your application. If you have any questions, let us know. If you are new to the festival this year, please include your email address in the contact section.