Atlanta’s official kick-off to spring for more than eight decades, the Atlanta Dogwood Festival earned the #9 spot in Sunshine Artist magazine’s annual ranking of North American artist markets. 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 200 artist markets 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 improvement that have occurred during the past several years.

“We are thrilled with earning the #9 position in this year’s Sunshine Artist show rankings,” said Atlanta Dogwood Festival Executive Director Brian Hill. “We have been inching up toward the top, but this year, we made the leap all the way from #28. It’s a huge honor.”

Competition is stiff for a spot in the Atlanta Dogwood Festival Artist Market. From nearly 1,000 entries received each year, the festival awards 260 booths. A panel of jurors composed of local arts educators, gallery owners and professional artists – all established in their careers – 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 200,000 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 2017 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. 25, 2016, and information can be found at www.dogwood.org.

“Each year, we receive close to a thousand artist applications for the Artist Market,” stated Hill. “Less than 25 percent of the applying artists are accepted, so it’s very competitive, and past participation does not guarantee a spot for the next festival. In this way, we ensure the work available at the Atlanta Dogwood Festival remains top-notch.”