The Wickford Art Festival is a fine art juried festival that has showcased the work of hundreds of talented artists in the historic seaside village of Wickford, RI. Attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year, the festival provides an exciting platform for artists to engage with attendees and sell their work. The Wickford Art Festival has a long history and reputation for featuring some of the top fine artists from across the country, but also hosting many of the well known and beloved New England and local Rhode Island artists widely admired by art enthusiasts. Wickford is located conveniently between New York City and Boston a short ways off the I-95 corridor and is a charming village that many descend upon the beautiful summer months from all over the country.
ARTIST APPLICATIONS FOR THE 2025 FESTIVAL HAVE CLOSED
The Wickford Art Festival is a juried fine art show. Your work will be juried on originality, workmanship and professional presentation. Jurors also consider total show composition (i.e. number of exhibitors per category.) All work displayed in show should be of the consistent, high caliber as indicated in your initially submitted images for jury.
Applications for the Wickford Art Festival are open mid-January – March 15 each year. Applications can easily be submitted online. If you are interested in applying to next year’s festival, please review the eligible art details and additional booth information below. Any questions can be directed to: wickfordartfestival@gmail.com
This year’s accepted artists will be sent additional festival information directly to the artists in an email from the Festival Director. Additional details for artists will be posted here as we get closer to the event.
*NEW* Returning Artists – 2026 Festival Poster – If you apply before February 15 an image of your art will be considered to be the cover of this year’s festival marketing materials – including the event poster, printed event map, cover of the new digital magazine and other promotional materials. If selected, we will ask your permission first and use the selected watermark image on festival materials. You will also be presented a framed commemorative event poster at the festival!
Please review 2024 Artist Application Instructions, Festival Rules & Regulations before submitting your application.
ELIGIBLE ART
All work must be the original work of the exhibiting artist.
Fine Non-Functional Art:
- Painting (oil, watercolor, pastel, encaustic, gouache, acrylic, etc)
- Sculpture (wood, metal, clay, glass)
- Drawing (pen & ink, charcoal, pencil)
- Graphics or Digital Illustration
- Mixed-media
- Photography. (Photographers must produce archival quality images with archival ink and archival paper and the majority of work must be signed and numbered (under 200). Numbered and signed reproductions (under 200) allowed in ONE browse bin or box only.)
Fine Functional Art (limited number of booths available):
- Ceramics (functional pieces made by shaping and then firing. If multiple pieces of the same design are displayed, the artist must sign each piece)
- Fiber and Paper Arts (works made of fiber and handmade paper, wearable, hangable or otherwise usable)
- Furniture or Wooden Works (hand-tooled or machine-worked, turned or carved)
- Jewelry (produced from metal, glass, clay, fiber, paper, plastic or other materials)
INELIGIBLE ART
No agents allowed – artist must be in booth.
No buy/sell.
Functional art categories not accepted include
- crafts,
- art supplies
- leather work
- Soaps, candles
- Neon signs
- Houseware appliances
Please be respectful of your fellow exhibitors who abide by these guidelines. In an effort to maintain the high quality of fine artwork at the festival, we will be actively checking booths both days. You will be asked to remove any artwork, prints, excess browse bins, crafts, etc, that does not meet our show specifications.
2025 BOOTH FEES
- Jury Fee $50 (non-refundable)
- Single Booth – Non WAA Member $375
- Single Booth – Current WAA Member $325
- Double Booth Fee – Non WAA Member $750
- Double Booth Fee – WAA Member $650
Please note: If accepted into the festival, after June 1, $150 of any fee listed above will be non-refundable.
RI TEMPORARY RETAIL PERMITS
Although original and limited edition artwork is now exempt from sales tax (certain restrictions apply), the state of RI requires that every artist possess a Temporary or Annual RI Retail Sales Permit.
- Temporary RI Retail Sales Permits may be purchased onsite during Festival Registration and before booth set-up: bring a separate check for $10 payable to RI Division of Taxation.
- Annual Retail Sales Permits ($10) may be purchased online at https://www.ri.gov/taxation/BAR/ prior to the festival. RI Certificate of Exemption for Artistic Works applications are available here too.
- The State of RI requires Wickford Art Association to keep a copy of your permit(s) on file. Copies of Annual Retail Sales Permits and Certificate of Exemption for Artistic Works must be submitted with your festival application.
- The Town of North Kingstown requires the artist’s Date of Birth. Please help WAA comply – your information will be kept secure.
For any artist with a Temporary Sales Permit that has collected taxes, it is mandatory that a separate check payable to the RI Division of Taxation for tax collections be turned in to the Festival Director by 6:00 PM, Sunday July 11, 2021 at the close of the Festival.
For a complete summary of the Temporary and Annual Retail Sales Permit process from the state of RI, please click here.
For more information about annual permits, please visit these websites: