In a bevvy of local and neighborhood arts festivals in and around Atlanta, only the Atlanta Dogwood Festival ranked among the top 50 in the country in Sunshine Artist magazine’s “The 100 Best Fine Art & Design Shows” list, which is released each September. For 2017, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival continues to climb, this year securing the #8 spot!

Sunshine Artist, America’s premier art & craft show magazine, is the go-to resource for show exhibitors and directors and each year selects the top 100 fine artist markets and top 100 crafts shows based on aspects including attendance, sales and viability. The high ranking received by the Atlanta Dogwood Festival speaks to its longevity as well as the Artist Market’s growth and the improvement that has occurred during recent years.

“We are proud to have secured the #8 position in this year’s Sunshine Artist show rankings,” said Brian Hill, executive director of the Atlanta Dogwood Festival. “Our talented jury members help us secure the best artists in the country, and the massive attendance of interested art buyers we attract as one of the first festivals in the country each spring go hand-in-hand to achieving this exciting status.”

From nearly 1,000 entries received each year, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival awards just 260 booths. The panel of jurors, composed of established arts educators, gallery owners and professional artists, selects participants through a blind jury process. The jury team differs each year to offer a fresh perspective, and the members see nothing but the artwork when making their decisions. Artist names and even prices are obscured. However, there are 12 artists each year who are jury exempt, and these are the Artist Winners from the previous year. During festival weekend, one artist in each medium is selected by the jury members turned judges to receive the category award and a $500 prize.

Held each spring in Atlanta since 1936, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival welcomes artists from throughout the United States and Canada for three days of art-loving crowds that exceed 225,000 attendees. Even better, since Dogwood kicks off spring festival season nationally, participating artists present their newest and best work to Atlanta audiences.

The call for submissions for the 2018 Atlanta Dogwood Festival Artist Market is now open! Categories include 2-D mixed media, 3-D mixed media, clay, drawing/graphics/printmaking, fiber/leather, glass, jewelry, metal, painting with oil/acrylic, painting with watercolor/pastel, photography/digital art and wood. Applications are due by Oct. 26, 2017, and information can be found at www.dogwood.org.

“Each year, we receive applications from close to a thousand artists and can invite only a quarter of them, ” said Hill. “We remain conscious and selective in our process. Our goal is to make each Artist Market better than the last.”