M&T Bank Clothesline Art Festival

The Memorial Art Gallery requires that all participating Clothesline artists and makers submit original work, either one-of-a-kind or limited-edition. The work must be conceived and designed solely by the artist or maker and show vision, imagination, and originality.

Not allowed: work made from commercial kits, patterns, stencils, or molds; bought and sold items; personal care items; edible items; candles; plants; flowers (fresh, dried, silk); beaded jewelry made solely by restringing commercially produced or purchased beads; work that is partisan in nature.

Reproductions of the artist or maker’s own work is limited to 30% of booth display.

In keeping with the Memorial Art Gallery’s commitment to present a high standard show with quality work, all entrants are subject to Clothesline eligibility criteria. Jurors do not provide individual critiques; all decisions are final.

All first-time applicants, or those who did not participate in last year’s Festival, must send examples of their work and artist space layout to jury.clothesline@mag.rochester.edu for selection. If you have exhibited at the festival in the past, work must be consistent in quality, style, and medium as in past years. If there have been any changes, please contact us at clothesline@mag.rochester.edu.

Materials:

1. One (1) to three (3) JPEG images which show the quality and style of your current work
2. One (1) JPEG image of your current booth display, showing the overall presentation and variety of the work you plan to exhibit

Please name the image files in this format: lastname1, lastname2, lastname3, lastnamebooth.

Please include a brief description (10-25 words) of your work, materials, and technique.

If you are submitting work in two categories, please send one email with separate images and descriptions for each category. You may exhibit work only in categories that have been reviewed and accepted by the jurors.

If you don’t have a photo of your artist space, please submit a photo showing all of your work together. We would like to see the scope of your work, how much you have, and how it would potentially look when exhibited.

The application fee for each artist is non-refundable. The last day to withdraw without forfeiting the artist space fee is July 1.

Application Fees

• $35 for all applicants (with a waiver for winners of 3+ Clothesline Merit Awards)
• Double artist spaces require both artists to pay the application fee

Artist Space Fees

• $330 for standard (10’ x 10’)
• $385 for a corner artist space
• $660 for double artist space (20’ x 10’)
• $770 for a endcap artist space
• $715 for a double artist space with the corner
• $565 for an indoor space (single only)
• $1165 for a double indoor space (single only)

NOTE: application fees are built into the prices for the single and shared artist spaces when applying online.

Artists are required to provide their own tent within their artist spaces. To ensure the safety for everyone, all tents must be secured and weighted.

If you are a returning artist requesting the same space as last year, make sure to submit your application by April 30. If your application is received after this deadline, we cannot guarantee that you will get the same location.

Requests for accessible parking must be indicated on your application by including your NYS permit number. Your permit must be displayed at all times while on MAG grounds. No vehicles will be allowed off the grounds on Sunday until all pedestrians have cleared the premises. Please be mindful of this and plan accordingly.

Up to two artists may share an artist space. When applying online, artists have the choice to choose a single artist space (with one artist fee built into the price) or a shared artist space (with two artist fees built into the price) for each kind of artist space. If submitting a paper application, each artist must submit a separate application with the $35 application fee and the appropriate percentage of the artist space fee.

Each artist must submit the requested materials for juror review. If one artist is not accepted into the show, the other artist is responsible for the entire artist space fee. There is one parking space allotted per artist space.

Artist space assignments will not be made until the Clothesline team has received all fees from all artists. Artist space numbers and other pertinent information will be updated on the website starting in August.

The last day to withdraw without forfeiting the artist space fee is July 1.

Three M&T Bank Clothesline Art Festival artists will receive awards recognizing extraordinary quality, craftsmanship, creativity and/or outstanding presentation. Each winner will receive a cash prize of $300. MAG will also recognize one first-time exhibitor based on the same criteria who will receive a cash prize of $100.

Judging will begin at 10 am on Saturday morning. All artists’ artist spaces will be viewed. Winners will be announced live on WXXI (91.5 FM) at 2:45 pm that day.