Grand Marais Arts Festival 2026

The Grand Marais Arts Festival is a microcosm of the dynamic Midwest art scene. Nestled between the horizon line of Lake Superior and the wilderness of boreal forests and serene lakes, the festival draws over 10,000 visitors. Artists of all mediums are invited to submit quality, original artwork.

The 35th Annual Grand Marais Arts Festival will be in its traditional harbor front location. This year's festival will accept 60 booths.

 

Quick Facts

• An average attendance of 10,000+ is expected.

• Reported average sales per artist is $3,300.

• There are 60 10 x 10 booth spots available.
• No electric access.

• The Grand Marais Art Colony, the event host, is a nonprofit arts organization established in 1947. It fosters the exploratory growth and experimental power of contemporary artists. We do this through classes, residencies, and signature events and exhibitions.

  • Art Colony staff run this event with the help of over 25 fantastic volunteers offering services from booth sitting, overnight security, indoor restrooms, traffic directing, and more.

Entries & Dates

 

Applications for the 2026 Arts Festival must be received by February 23rd, 2026. Participation in the festival is contingent upon acceptance by the external jury committee. Notification of acceptance will be sent by March 16th. Accepted artists must pay booth fee by April 5,, 2026, or forfeit their place in the festival. Artists who are on a waitlist will be notified as space becomes available. Once notified, waitlist artists will have 24 hours to accept and purchase a booth before the Art Colony contacts the next person on the waitlist.

Submissions 

Submissions are required to be placed via Zapplications.

Images 

Please submit 5 images of your artwork. A booth image is not required, but may be included as one of the 5 images.

Shared Booth (optional)

 

Two artists may share one 10 x 10 booth space. BOTH artists MUST submit an application to the jury process and BOTH artists must be accepted in order to qualify for a shared booth space.

 

• Fees: Shared Booths must pay TWO jury fees ($35 each) and ONE booth fee ($225 total) - if accepted.

• When submitting an application, applicant must name their booth partner.

• If one artist is accepted but the other is not, the accepted artist may be allowed to fill the booth as an individual (if space is still available). However, substitutions without the advanced authorization of the Arts Festival Jury Committee will not be allowed.

• One artist must be named as the main contact. The Art Colony will only give one packet of information per booth. It is the responsibility of the artists sharing a booth to communicate and share information. Downloadable copies of all exhibitor information will be made available online, but it is the responsibility of the artist to download it.

• All other rules and requirements are the same.

 

Jury

 

The external jury is comprised of professional artists and arts retailers drawn from the Art Colony network. Artists must represent their own work. Only original, high-quality works of art will be considered. A variety of mediums are accepted including, but not limited to: ceramics, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, mixed media, painting, photography, metal, printmaking, leather, sculpture and wood. Submissions will be viewed intermixed as a group by category. The jury is anonymous and no personal information will be shared among the jury. Images will be scored on a value of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest and most favorable value. Invitations to exhibit will be issued to artists with the highest scores.

Jury score based on the following criteria:

• Excellence in composition and design (30%)
• Originality and clarity of artistic intent (30%)
• Cohesive body of work and visual voice (30%)
• Customar appeal and salability (10%)

Awards
 

• Best of Show At the festival, one artist (booth) is awarded the title "Best of Show." The winner is automatically accepted into the next year’s show and the jury fee is waived. The booth fee is still required.

• Best Booth One booth is awarded the title "Best Booth." The winner is automatically accepted into the next year’s show and the jury fee is waived. The booth fee is still required.

• Judging occurs on Saturday morning of the festival by two external judges.

• Winners are announced on-air during the Live Radio Broadcast at the Festival on WTIP.

• Judges are comprised of local business owners, artists and/or Art Colony board members.

 

Amenities & Unique Features
 

• Security, Staff & Volunteers | Overnight Security is provided, along with well-trained staff and volunteers who are available throughout the event.
• Booth Sitting | We have many volunteers throughout the weekend who offer booth sitting for 15 minutes at a time. They cannot sell anything while you are gone but can provide you with a break as needed.

• Festival Map | A festival map will be available at our information booths as well as distributed to area businesses with booth numbers and artist names, mediums, city, and website information.

• Visitor Engagement | Artist demonstrations establish a connection with attendees. Demonstrations are highly recommended as it is a significant draw for visitors based on crowd evaluations and supports the Art Colony’s mission of art education.

• Live Radio Broadcast | Interviews & live broadcast during the festival with local radio station 90.7 WTIP.

• Community Support | Local businesses assist in promotion of the Arts Festival by including information in their e-newsletters and promo materials; expanding our local reach to well over 500,000 people.

• Advertising | The Art Colony's Arts Festival advertising campaign reaches over 2,000,000 people through a variety of print, digital, and on-site impressions.

Exhibitor Requirements
 

• This is an outdoor event and artists must provide their own 10 x 10-foot tent. Located on the Lake Superior harbor in Grand Marais, the weather can be inclement, please plan accordingly. Weighted buckets are useful in securing tents. Note the Art Colony does have a small number of tents that artists can rent for the weekend.

• Festival Hours are 9am - 5pm Saturday and 10am - 4pm Sunday.

• Booths are required to remain in place until 4pm on Sunday. If an artist abandons their booth before the end of the festival, they may not be allowed to return to the festival in future years.

Rules

 

• The Grand Marais Arts Festival is open to juried artists of all media types.

• Work submitted must be created by the artist who is exhibiting.

• Only original works/concepts will be accepted. No work made from commercial kits, molds, patterns, stencils, etc will be allowed. Reproductions of original artwork and/or prints may be sold but must not comprise of the entire booth.

• All sales shall be conducted between the artist and the buyer.

• Galleries may not host booths to represent artists.

• All exhibitors booths will be viewed by Art Colony staff at various points during the festival. If an artist is found to be violating any of the rules or is found to be behaving in an unacceptable manner, that artist may be asked to leave.

• Jury Fee: $35
• Booth Fee: $225

Set up

• Check-in and set-up is from 3:00 to 8:00pm, Friday, July 10th and Saturday July 11th from 6:30 to 8:00am. Artists are required to go to the check in which will be at Studio 21, 21 West Highway 61, the Art colony's downtown buildings across from Buck's Hardware.  After 6pm check in will be at the event site.  Artists will NOT be admitted to the festival area without thier oreintation packet in hand.
• Festival Hours are 9am - 5pm Saturday and 10am - 4pm Sunday.
• Booths are required to remain in place until 4pm on Sunday. If an artist abandons their booth before the end of the festival, they may not be allowed to return to the festival in future years.
• You are welcome to sign up for an the opportunity for a 45 min. professional photo shoot on Tuesday Jan. 13th from 12pm - 6pm or Saturday Jan 24th 10am-5pm, $75.00 per session. Visit https://grandmaraisartcolony.org/event/artist-photo-shoots/ to sign up for a session.

We understand that unforeseen circumstances arise, but we are unable to honor any refund request.