Exhibitor Information

Online exhibitor registration for the 2013 show is now closed. 

If you are interested specifically in the Children’s Lane, click here.

Details are listed below as well as on the online application form.

Event Dates/Times:
July 5 – 12pm-7pm
July 6 – 10am–7pm

Important Dates to Remember:
January 17 – Application For Submission open
April 1 – Application Deadline
April 8 – Jury Start
April 20 – Notification of Acceptance (Jury End)
May 1 – Paper Application Dues
May 20 – Booth Fees Due
May 31 – Cancellation refund deadline
June 10 – Booth assignment and set up information email
July 5 – Set up 6am-11am
July 5 – Event 12pm-7pm
July 6 – Event 10am – 7pm
July 6 – Take down

Registration Fees:
$30 non-refundable for both the Art in the Park and Craft Fair
$250 Art in the Park Booth
$180 Craft /Children’s Lane/Michigan Food Booth

Event Categories:
Fine Art: Art in the Park
Art in the Park is held in historic Hackley Park, a grassy square block that features beautiful mature trees, interior and perimeter sidewalks, and a center circle. It is located in the heart of downtown Muskegon’s Heritage Village, home to the city’s library, art museum, county museum, and theaters.

Crafts: Craft Fair, Children’s Lane / Michigan Food Market
This portion will flow through downtown Muskegon and will include various forms of entertainment in designated locations along the way. Crafters will be selected in 3 different areas 1.) Arts & Crafts, 2.) Children’s Arts & Crafts 3.) Michigan made pre-packaged food.

Category Definitions:
The Muskegon Lakeshore Chamber of Commerce is proud to be hosting the Lakeshore Art Festival this year. A few enhancements have been introduced this year in order to insure the festival’s success for years to come. The park will be reserved for “fine art” or “fine craft” and the street area will feature unique “crafts”, street performers and Children’s Lane. Definitions of fine art/craft and craft are listed below.

Our jury was comprised of local artists, art educators and key Lakeshore Art Festival committee members. During the blind jury process, jurors examined photos submitted by art and craft exhibitors and scored each entry on a scale from 1 to 5. From these scores, and taking into account the uniqueness of the item, pricing and quality, exhibitors where categorized into fine art/craft or general craft areas.

• Fine Art: Traditionally, has been, painting and sculpture.  Drawing and printmaking also rank within fine art, as lesser forms of painting.  Ceramics, photography, glass, mixed media, performance, textiles, and the like are all now also considered fine art. That being said, “fine art” as defined by the Lakeshore Art Festival is a high-quality medium, that is unique and artfully made with a conscious intent to engage in the tradition of art-making and a resulting object that is art for its own sake.

• Fine Craft:  Objects that can have a functional intent, but are made or decorated as to be singular or rare objects. These objects tend to be luxury items and extraordinary or quite unique. Hand made furniture, ceramic vessels, glass objects, jewelry, and the like fall into this category.   The line between fine art and fine craft blurs very quickly. Again, in broad strokes, fine craft becomes fine art when the methods and materials used to create the object are traditional (ceramic, glass, wood working, weaving, etc.) but the object is made with the intention of functioning primarily as an art object, of and for its own sake.

Location/Space:
Each vendor display space at least 12’x12’. Spaces will be allocated at the discretion of the Lakeshore Art Festival organizers. Requests will be considered and met whenever possible. Corner spaces are not charged or allocated as prime locations. See exhibit rules regarding the sharing of display space. Electrical or water service is not available.

General Rules/Policies:
EXHIBITION STANDARDS
All work must be of original design and processed by the artists. Artists may not exhibit or sell subcontracted work. No reproductions are allowed, including but not limited to offset reproductions, resin castings, injection molded plastics and commercially printed photographs. All work must be safe and non-toxic and fit for its intended use. If any work requires special or limited use, the artist must fully disclose and explain this to the public.

The work exhibited by the artist must match the quality and balance of the images submitted to Lakeshore Art Festival for consideration. The jury reserves the right to reject items during the show, which are in poor taste, or not the quality or media category submitted for review. Exhibitors not in compliance with the rules and regulations will be asked to leave the show immediately without a refund.

Such items as imports, plants, velvet paintings, manufactured or kit items and any commercially or factory produced merchandise from artist shops of any kind are not eligible for entry. Any commercially produced parts used in a work must play a subordinate role and may not be sold separately.

Exhibitors may not display more than a few items that are essentially alike. Artist should avoid a mass produced appearance to their displays. Joint members must both have a part in creating the work, with one member having register for the space. The artist(s) must exhibit his/her own work.

No weapons may be exhibited or sold.

Exhibitors who violate the exhibition rules will not be allowed to participate the next year or be eligible for prizes. The Lakeshore Art Festival staff make all decisions regarding rules compliance.

Bounced checks will be charged a $35 fee and only money orders will be accepted from exhibitors for future payments. If a money order is not sent within 10 days of notification exhibitor will not be allowed to participate in event.

I understand that if I have participated in this event in the past (as Art in the Park) it does not guarantee a spot for the Lakeshore Art Festival. In addition, I realize that booth locations will vary and there is no guarantee that I will be able to secure the same location as in past years.

Jury Process:
Projected images are reviewed by the panel in a blind jury process. The identities of artists are not disclosed to jurors. The jury is comprised of artists and other art professionals. The jury will view each artist’s set of five images projected simultaneously, arranged by the date the artist’s application was submitted. The process, materials and dimensions for each image as well as artist information statements will be made available to the jury. Artistic excellence and a well-balanced show are the criteria for selection of exhibitors. The top 375 in all areas will receive invitations; the balance of artists in the final round are retained to comprise a waiting list of alternates. Decisions of the jury panel are final.

Digital Images:
- Five images are to be submitted for each application entered by the artist.
- Three images must be of individual pieces of work.
- One image of work-in-progress
- One image, must be of a display of the artist’s work, showing overall continuity and presentation of your current body of work.

Artist Awards:
Prize money and an invitation to exhibit the following year are available for fine art award winners. Judging for cash prizes takes place on Friday, July 5. Artistic Awards are determined by consensus. Artistic excellence is the criteria for selecting the awards. Awards will be presented the afternoon of July 5 with prize money presented at close of show.

Sales Tax:
Exhibitors must collect and remit 6% sales tax. Call the Michigan Treasury Department at 1-800-367-6263 for sales tax forms.

Set Up/Take Down/Security:
Overnight security is provided July 5 only. For the safety and security of your products set up on July 4 is not available. Take down must also be completed by midnight of July 6.

Bounced checks will be charged a $35 fee and only money orders will be accepted from exhibitors for future payments. If a money order is not sent within 10 days of notification exhibitor will not be allowed to participate in event.

Media Categories:
Acrylics : Artistic creations using a paint comprised of pigment, acrylic polymer as the synthetic binder of the pigments and water on an appropriately prepared 2D surface.

Clay-Functional : Fired pieces constructed using clay. They can be thrown, hand-built, or cast in artist made molds. Objects need to be utilitarian in function: serving pieces, or dinnerware, storage pieces or wildlife usage. Functional pieces are utilitarian and decorative. If multiple pieces of the same design are displayed, the artist must sign and number each piece.

Clay-Non-Functional : Fired pieces constructed using clay. They can be thrown, hand-built, or cast in artist made molds. Objects are decorative or sculptural and have no utilitarian purpose.

Digital (Computer) Art: This category includes original work created by using computer programs to significantly manipulate or alter source material(s) such as scans or digital files. Work must be signed, using only archival quality materials. Digital photographers, i.e., those who use a digital camera or process images digitally to perform standard manipulations, (cropping, color/tone adjustment, sharpening, etc.) should apply to the Photography category. This includes photo collage and painting on photographs which need to be in the Photography category. Digital Art prints must be made from the artist’s original digital file under the artist’s supervision. In all cases, works need to be produced by the exhibiting artist, and by no one else.

Drawing/Pastels: An Artistic expression created through the use of chalk, charcoal, pastels, pencil, wax crayon, etc. or from the fluid medium of inks and washes applied by pen or brush.

Fibers Wearable/Decorative : Materials crafted from fibers including basketry, embroidery, weaving, leatherwork, tapestry, doll making, papermaking, etc.

Glass :Glass works that are functional or decorative by design and are kiln-formed or crafted by glass blowing, molding or casting. Works may be etched or engraved.

Jewelry : Non/Precious: Jewelry hand crafted from semi-precious stones, clay, polymer clay, metals, glass, fiber, paper, pebbles, glass, wood, lab created gems, found objects, etc. No production studio work is allowed.

Jewelry : Precious: Jewelry hand crafted from precious jewels and metals. No production studio work is allowed.

Metals : Any non-wearable, functional product that uses metal as its primary medium.

Michigan Packaged Food: Food products made and packaged in Michigan.

Mixed Media: The use of more than one basic material or object in a given work or the combination of one or more mediums to create an artistic expression on a 2D or 3D surface.

Oils : Artistic creation using a painting comprised of pigment on an appropriately prepared 2D surface.

Photography: Photographs made from the artist’s original image, both from film and original digital files, are included in this category. They must be printed by the artist or under the artist’s direct supervision. Photo collage and painting on photographs, which are traditional photographic processes need to be in this category. If a photographer copies hand painted photographs, that would be a “reproduction” and will need to adhere to our general reproduction policy. Whether the work is produced in a traditional wet darkroom or via digital processes, only “traditional” correction methods may be utilized. Work produced over and above that should apply in the Digital category. Please call should you have any doubt as to which category to apply. Photographers are required to disclose both their creative and printing processes. Work must be signed, using only archival quality materials. In all cases, the work must be produced by the exhibiting artist, and by no one else.

Printing/Graphics : Printmaking is a transfer process of producing original art, usually in multiples. Printed original works which are hand manipulated by using etching, engraving, silk-screening, stone and plate lithography, linoleum block or woodcut, etc. which have been properly signed and numbered as a limited edition of 250. Printmakers are required to disclose both their creative and printmaking processes.

Sculpture : Traditional stone, wood, clay, metal, etc. (not utilitarian or furniture) in figurative or abstract in three dimensional works.

Watercolor : A painting technique using pigments diluted with water to create transparent washes (including egg tempura).

Wood : 1) Woodworking primary material wood; process including power and hand-tool use, carving, etc. Wood pieces can be either functional or decorative. 2) Woodturning primary material wood, primary process lathe turning. Wood pieces can be either functional or decorative.