Stillwater Arts Festival 2026

Stillwater, Oklahoma

Application Fee: $25

Contact Information

Oklahoma State University, Prairie Arts Center

Contact Email: Infoartscenter@okstate.edu

Contact Phone: 405-744-1535

Requirement Overview

Eligible Applicant Types: Artist
Emerging Artists: Emerging artists may apply.
Submission Limit: 20

Media Requirements

Images | Min: 5, Max: 5
Total | Max: 5

Opportunity Summary

The Prairie Arts Center and the Stillwater Arts Council are proud to present the 2026 Stillwater Arts Festival (SAF), happening April 17–18, 2026, in the heart of Stillwater, Oklahoma. Now celebrating more than 40 years, SAF continues its longstanding tradition of kicking off Oklahoma’s spring arts festival season.

Recognized for exceptional artist hospitality, the festival is a juried show featuring up to 60 regional and national artists and awarding $2,000 in prizes. Formerly known as the “Run for the Arts,” SAF has grown into a beloved regional event, drawing visitors from Stillwater and neighboring communities—an area with a combined population of approximately 60,000.

Home to Oklahoma State University and affectionately called the “Friendliest College Town,” Stillwater offers an inviting backdrop for artists and festivalgoers alike. The Prairie Arts Center team, the Stillwater Arts Council, and the City of Stillwater are committed to creating a warm, inclusive, and vibrant festival experience for all.

General Information

IMPORTANT DATES:
Application Dates: November 18, 2025– January 13, 2026
Jury Process: January 13-25, 2026
Notifications: January 30, 2026
Accept Invitation & Booth Purchase Deadline: February 17, 2026
Cancellation Deadline: April 1, 2026
Event Dates: April 17-18, 2026
Show Hours: Friday 12:00 pm --8:00 pm; Saturday 9:00 am -- 6:00 pm
Venue: Prairie Art Center, 1001 S. Duck Street.
Jury Fee: $25
Spaces: 10x10 booth spaces
Booth Fee: $125
Set-Up: Friday 8am - 12pm
Parking: Available for RVs and standard size vehicles
Public Admission: Free
Security: Overnight security will be onsite Friday night

Application Requirements

Prairie only accepts applications submitted through ZAPPlication.org. Prairie will reject paper applications and slides.
Artists must submit a completed application with five photographs (including 1 booth shot) and pay a nonrefundable $25 application fee by the deadline date in order to be eligible for consideration by the SAF jury panel. Applications must be received by midnight, CST, January 13, 2026.
Artists pay the application fee using ZAPPlication.org.
Artists who want to present work in more than one medium will need to complete and submit an application and pay the application fee for each media category (up to 2 categories)
If an artist submits multiple applications in the same media category, they immediately become disqualified, and Prairie will remove their application from consideration.
Applicants may not revise their applications after the deadline date.

Jury Panel Convenes: January 13 - 27, 2026

Jurors convene to review applications and select artists.
All decisions made by the jury panel are final, and the scoring process is confidential.
Prairie will not release jury scores or notes.

Notification to Artists: January 30, 2026

Prairie will notify all applicants through ZAPPlication.org of their status by 6 pm CST on January 30, 2026
Please do not try to call the Prairie office.
Artists who advance to the final round of jurying but are not selected to exhibit become alternates and are placed on the festival waitlist.

Artist Acceptance Deadline: February 17, 2026

Artists must accept their invitation to participate in SAF by 6 p.m. on February 17, 2025.
Artists who do not accept by the deadline will have their invitations rescinded; an invitation to an alternate on the festival waitlist will be made immediately thereafter.
All booth payments are due February 17, 2026

Cancellation Deadline: April 1, 2026

In order to receive a 50% refund of the booth fee less a $25 processing charge, artists must cancel their participation by 6 pm on April 1, 2025.
Prairie will not refund booth fees for cancellations after the deadline date.

Artist Merit Awards
Prairie celebrates the visual arts through its Artist Merit Awards, which provides 7 prizes, totaling $2,000, to SAF exhibitors in multiple media. Jurying for the Artist Merit Awards will take place on Saturday, April 18, 2025 during regular festival hours. The 2025 SAF jurors have the discretionary privilege of considering and choosing the 2026 honorees. All decisions related to the Artist Merit Awards are final.

Festival Audience Profile and Anticipated Attendance
For more than four decades, the Stillwater Arts Festival has welcomed residents and visitors alike to celebrate creativity in the heart of downtown Stillwater. This well-respected juried event features up to 60 regional and national artists and is known for its exceptional hospitality and artist-centered experience. The festival draws a broad audience from Stillwater and surrounding communities and offers a family-friendly atmosphere with hands-on art activities, artist demonstrations, food vendors, and an indoor exhibition showcasing work from local schools and community groups. Together, the Prairie Arts Center, the Stillwater Arts Council, and the City of Stillwater create an inclusive, well-organized event that highlights the creative energy of the “Friendliest College Town.”

Festival Hospitality and Artist Amenities
To ensure artists have a positive festival experience, Prairie offers artists complimentary meals on the following dates.

Dinner: Friday, April 17, 6:00pm to 7:30pm, available inside Prairie.
Lunch: Saturday, April 18, 11:30am to 1:00pm (Boxed Lunches, available inside Prairie Arts Center)

Complimentary beverages and snacks are available throughout the festival inside the Prairie Arts Center. Local hotels support Prairie and the festival by offering artists discounted rates; discounted room block info will be included in artist notifications. Prairie provides booth sitters to artists requesting this service.

Security
Prairie will provide overnight security beginning at 7 pm on Friday, April 17, and continuing through the opening of the festival at 9am on Saturday, April 19. However, Prairie and festival organizers urge artists to be diligent and alert. Exhibiting at the SAF is at the discretion of the artist and every artist participates at their own risk. Prairie does not insure the personal property of any exhibitor/artist. All exhibitors/artists participate in SAF as independent contractors.

Sales and Sales Tax
Exhibitors are responsible for overseeing the promotion and sale of their work during festival hours. All proceeds earned from sales belong to the artists. By law, artists must collect and remit sales tax on work sold during SAF. The sales tax in Stillwater, Oklahoma is 9.31%. Artists will find a tax instruction form in the packet they receive at registration.

Jury Process
Prairie invites two to five highly respected, credentialed art professionals to participate as members of the SAF jury panel. Jurors evaluate artwork based solely on the five digital images submitted with each application. Four photographs must represent the artist’s current work, and one photograph features the artist’s booth. Because jurors do not know the identity of applicants, the jurying process is blind, allowing for fair consideration of all artwork. Reflecting on originality, quality, and marketability for a wide variety of buyers, jurors review applications in the order they were submitted into the ZAPPlication system. Lastly, jurors study and assess applications on computer screens, which are calibrated to correspond to ZAPPlicpation.org specifications.

Images of Artwork: Artists must provide four photographs that accurately represent the body of work they plan to show.
Image of Booth Display: Artists must provide one photograph that accurately represents how the artwork will be presented during the festival. Applications that do not include a photograph of an artist's booth will be removed from consideration. The artist's name or trade identity cannot be visible in the booth photograph.
Scoring: Each juror must review every application and assign a numerical score between one of the two ranges: 1-3 for lower scoring applications and 5-7 for higher scoring applications. Because each application must receive a score that will distinctly indicate a status, the jurying process removes 4 from the scoring. Every application receives one score from each juror, and the three scores are totaled and averaged for a final score. Jurors review applications and record scores anonymously. If necessary, jurors can access pertinent details that describe the artist's process, the materials used, and artwork size.

Disclaimer: Committed to maintaining and sustaining a successful community event, Prairie and the committee overseeing the Stillwater Arts Festival reserve the right to present a show that is welcoming, balanced and responsive to the festival's wide variety of buyers. In order to preserve SAF's long-standing success, organizers have the authority to take the following actions.

To invite artists on the waitlist to participate as festival exhibitors; and
To refuse to extend an invitation to a returning artist whose previous interactions and behaviors at SAF were considered to be unethical or unprofessional.

Media Categories

Basketry: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created from materials that are woven or plaited.
Clay/Porcelain: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using clay and/or porcelain. Clay or porcelain jewelry will not be accepted in this category. All work must be original; therefore, machine-made and/or mass-produced work is prohibited. An artist presenting multiple pieces of the same design should sign and number each piece.
Fiber/Leather: Functional, decorative, and/or decorative work created using fiber and/or leather. Wall hangings, quilts, rugs, wearable items, belts, handbags and sculpture qualify if the primary materials used are fiber and/or leather.
Glass: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using glass. All work must be original; therefore, machine-made and/or mass-produced work is prohibited.
Jewelry: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using precious and/or non-precious materials. Precious materials include but are not limited to 14K gold, sterling silver, precious stones, and enamels. Nonprecious materials include but are not limited to glass, ceramics, paper, fiber, wood, leather, polymer clay, and semi-precious stones. All work must be original; therefore, machine-made and/or mass-produced work is prohibited. Work created from commercial casts and/or molds are prohibited.
Painting/Drawing: Work created using oils, acrylics, watercolors, pastels, chalk, charcoal, pencil, wax crayon, inks and/or washes. All work must be original; therefore, machine-made and/or mass-produced work and reproductions are prohibited.
Printmaking: Works created using traditional printmaking techniques that involve plates, stones, and/or screens. Work must be created in limited editions and signed and numbered on archival quality material. Artist must provide details about his or her technique and disclose his or her creative and printmaking processes. All work must be original; therefore, machine-made and/or mass-produced work is prohibited. Reproductions created using photogravure, photocopy and/or offset printing are prohibited.
Metal: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using metals. All work must be original; therefore, machine-made and/or mass-produced work and production studio work are prohibited.
Mixed Media: Work, both 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional, created using two or more media. Work defined as soft sculpture is included in this category.
Photography/Digital Art: Work created using an artist's original photographic negative or work created from an artist directing or supervising the digital image process. Work must be created in limited editions and signed and numbered on archival quality material. Artist must provide details about his or her technique and disclose his or her creative and printing processes. All work must be original; therefore, machine-made or mass-produced work is prohibited. Reproductions created using photogravure, photocopy and/or offset printing are prohibited.
Wood: Functional, decorative, and/or sculptural work created using wood. Work must be hand-tooled, machine-worked, turned or carved. All work must be original; therefore, machine-made or mass-produced work is prohibited.
Sculpture: Three-dimensional work created by shaping or combining materials such as plastic, sound, text, light, stone, rock, marble, metal, glass, or wood and are created directly by finding or carving, assembled, built together, fired, welded, molded, or cast.

Application Requirements

Prairie requires artists to be present and available during festival hours. While agents, representatives, and assistants are welcome, they cannot act as a replacement or substitute for an exhibiting artist. No one will be allowed to setup after 11:30am on Friday, April 17th. If the artist is not set up they forfeit their booth space, without a refund.
Artists must remain at the festival until 6 pm on Saturday, April 18th. Prairie requests artists respect this important festival rule. Artists who breakdown and leave early compromise their standing with Prairie and SAF and may forfeit their ability to exhibit in the 2026 festival.
Artists must exhibit only original, handcrafted work. All work must be available for sale. Artists may not exhibit or sell subcontracted work for another artist. Mass-produced work is prohibited. Work created using commercial casts/molds, kits, patterns, and/or copyrighted designs is prohibited. Reproductions are prohibited. Items such as imports, plants, velvet paintings, and commercially or factory-produced merchandise from artist shops is prohibited. Commercially fabricated embellishments must not form more than 25% of any work art.
Collaborating artists are welcome to apply, but Prairie restricts the collaboration to no more than two artists. The application must indicate that the work is collaborative and must include signatures from both artists.
Artists may only exhibit artwork that reflects the quality and craftsmanship of the pieces presented with their applications. Artists may only exhibit artwork specific to the categories indicated on their applications and artwork that clearly relates to the body of work selected during the jury process. Artwork that is inconsistent with the quality and craftsmanship expected is subject to rejection by Prairie and festival organizers.
An artist may submit applications in multiple categories. The artist must complete an application and pay the application fee for each category.
Artists must maintain high standards of professionalism. Festival organizers reserve the right to remove any vendor and/or exhibitor whose conduct and/or merchandise are unacceptable and do not support the terms of the SAF contract.
Artists participate at SAF at their own risk and assume responsibility for maintaining liability insurance that covers any damages or losses during SAF.
Prairie and the partners overseeing the Stillwater Arts Festival reserve the right to present a show that is welcoming, balanced and responsive to the festival's wide variety of buyers. To preserve SAF's long-standing success, organizers have the authority to shut down an artist's booth.

Sales and Sales Tax:
Exhibitors are responsible for overseeing the promotion and sale of their work during festival hours. All proceeds earned from sales belong to the artists. By law, artists must collect and remit sales tax on work sold during SAF. The sales tax rate in Stillwater, Oklahoma is 9.31%.

W-9:
Best of Show winner must complete and submit an IRS Form W-9 before check is delivered.

To invite artists on the waitlist to participate as festival exhibitors; and
To refuse to extend an invitation to a returning artist whose previous interactions and behaviors at SAF were unethical or unprofessional.

Jury Details

Average number of applications submitted each year

Average number of artists selected from the jury to participate in the event

Average number of exempt from jury artists who are invited to participate in the event

Booth Information

Venue: Prairie Arts Center 1001 S. Duck Street, next to the Stillwater Public Library and one block from Stillwater Community Center
Spaces: 10x10 booth spaces
Jury Fee (non-refundable): $25
Booth Fee: $125
Parking: Available for RVs and standard size vehicles

Festival Hours

Friday, April 17: 12pm - 8 pm
Saturday, April 18: 9 am - 6 pm

Set-Up
Exhibitors may check in and set-up between 8 am and 11:30am on Friday, April 17. During registration, artists must present a photo ID. Artists' booths must be set-up and prepared for sales by 12 pm. No one will be allowed to setup after 11:30am on Friday, April 17th. If the artist is not set up they forfeit their booth space, without a refund.

Exhibitors should note that Prairie does not provide dollies, hand trucks, wagons, or other moving equipment.

Booth Assignments
Festival organizers are responsible for assigning booths and will attempt to accommodate requests for specific booth locations whenever possible. Swapping booths among artists is not allowed. Artists must pay their booth fees using Zapplication to ensure Prairie receives their booth request as quickly as possible.

Please note that after April 1, 2026 all booth assignments are firm and nonnegotiable.

Booth Specifics and Display
Artists may decide how best they want to showcase their work. Using a tent is optional. Every artist will have an exhibition space that is 10'x10'. Booths will be arranged on a paved surface. Tents will NOT be able to be staked. Artists are required to adequately weigh their tents and any other large items that can be in danger of blowing over in high winds. Artists must furnish their booth display, which includes tables, chairs, contents, etc. Artists need to be certain their booth and its contents easily fit into the area provided and are able to withstand large crowds and weather. Exhibitors should make arrangements to accommodate rain. Festival organizers and Prairie are not responsible for damages to artists' booths, art work or personal property.

WEATHER
The Festival will be held outdoors rain or shine; please come prepared with umbrellas, canopies, or tents if desired. In case of very severe weather, we will relocate to an indoor facility, if possible, or cancel the show. Oklahoma is known for its wind gusts, so we can't stress enough about using weights for high winds.

CERTIFICATION OF PRODUCTION OF ORIGINAL WORK
Artists must certify that all work is of original design and produced by them or a two-person collaboration. The work exhibited at the booth must match the quality and style of work as represented in the submitted digital images.

The Prairie Arts Center (Prairie) reserves the right to deny space or exhibition of any work we feel has been misrepresented.

PUBLICITY WAIVER STATEMENT
If selected for participation in the 2025 Stillwater Arts Festival (SAF), I authorize the use of the images submitted with this application or duplicates thereof for SAF and Prairie publicity or documentation.

ARTIST PARTICIPATION
Artist participation on both days is mandatory. We do not allow artists to tear down booths until after the show has ended on Saturday evening at 6PM.

CANCELLATION POLICY
April 1, 2026 Cancellation Deadline

In order to receive a 50% refund of the booth fee less a $25 processing charge, artists must cancel their participation by 6 pm on April 1, 2026.
Prairie will not refund booth fees for cancellations after the deadline date.

SALES & SALES TAX
Exhibitors are responsible for overseeing the promotion and sale of their work during festival hours. All proceeds earned from sales belong to the artists. By law, artists must collect and remit sales tax on work sold during SAF. The sales tax in Stillwater, Oklahoma is 9.31%.

The Prairie Arts Center reserves the right to make the final interpretation of all rules related to the Stillwater Arts Festival of 2026.

Refund Policy

Cancellation Deadline: April 1, 2026 In order to receive a 50% refund of the booth fee, artists must cancel their participation by 6 pm on April 1, 2026.
Application Fee is non-refundable.
Prairie will not refund booth fees for cancellations after the deadline date.
Exhibitors may check in and set-up between 8 am and 11:30am on Friday, April 17. During registration, artists must present a photo ID. Artists' booths must be set-up and prepared for sales by 12 pm. No one will be allowed to setup after 11:30am on Friday, April 18th.If the artist is not set up, they forfeit their booth space, without a refund.

Additional Fees

Double Booth : $200

Booth Fee (10x10): $125