Jurying begins for the 13th annual show

Important note to artists: Log-ins are disabled after entries close. 

Entries are now closed for the 13th annual Yarmouth Art Festival. Many thanks to the Maine artists who submitted 575 pieces for consideration. The jurors will be reviewing the entries to make selections, which will be announced via the show catalog on this website around Oct. 10.

The show is scheduled for in-person viewing Oct. 20-23, 2021, at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church in Yarmouth, Maine.  Artists whose work is selected will deliver their pieces to the location on Oct. 17. See Rules and FAQ for details.

Jurors for 2021 are:

– Peggy Greenhut, founder and former owner of Greenhut Gallery in Portland

– Anne Haas, retired art librarian at Bowdoin College

– Wes LaFountain,  freelance curator, most recently at Cove Street Arts in Portland and currently at Phillips Exeter Academy, NH.

All net proceeds from the 2021 show — from entry fees, donations and sale commissions — will go to Yarmouth Food Pantry, St. Elizabeth’s Jubilee Center in Portland and Friendship House in South Portland.

After a surprisingly successful all-online show and sale in 2020, we are planning to combine the ambience of the in-person experience and the convenience of online viewing and purchasing. The in-person show will run as usual for 4 days (Oct. 20-23), followed by 2 weeks of additional online visibility and purchasing (Oct. 23-Nov. 6). Online purchases will not be conducted during the in-person show, to avoid the risk of two buyers attempting to purchase the same piece simultaneously.

For artists and buyers, the experience of the in-person show will be very much like all previous shows through 2019, including the artist drop-off and pickup process, and buyers’ pickup process.  See Rules and FAQ for details, linked at the top of this page. One change for the in-person show in deference to health concerns: We will not have the usual artists’ reception this year.

Artists who are selected for the show will exhibit in the in-person space (as in previous years), and will then have the choice of whether to participate in the online sale afterward. Online buyers and artists will arrange pickup or shipping separately.

We will monitor health guidance as the date nears, and will follow current health precautions to protect visitors, artists and volunteers at the venue. While we all hope conditions will continue to improve, we are preparing an online-only contingency plan in the event in-person gatherings are prohibited. In that case, the show will go on as it did in 2020, fully online.

Artists from all over Maine participate in this show, in media including painting, sculpture, photography, and limited-edition printmaking. The jurying process strives to curate a unique show of high quality and variety. (If you are unfamiliar with jurying, please see the Frequently Asked Questions)

The event was created in 2009  to showcase Maine artists in painting, drawing, sculpture and photography.

The Yarmouth Art Festival is presented by St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, 396 Gilman Road, Yarmouth, Maine.

About the 2020 show:

Thank you to all the artists and art lovers who made the 12th annual Yarmouth Art Festival a great success.

To be honest, we weren’t sure it made sense to hold the event this year, given the pandemic. If we went fully virtual, it would mean investing in a new e-commerce system. Would artists enter? Would art lovers buy art online? The answers to both questions were “Yes!” Entries were down a bit from 2019, but still healthy at 515. And art lovers bought 64 pieces — many more than the 48 sold in our most successful prior year. Total purchases were $16,839.

The 30 percent commissions on those sales – a total of $5,052 – went to three community service organizations: Friendship House in South Portland, Yarmouth Compassionate Housing Initiative, and St. Elizabeth’s Jubilee Center in Portland.

The show and sale ran nearly two weeks, Oct.19-31, rather than the usual 4 days. The show catalog  remains online to enjoy, although without sales. We encourage art lovers to contact artists (emails are on their profile pages)  if they are interested in purchases, or to learn more.

We held a very informative panel discussion with jurors on Oct. 27, covering the  Maine art scene, the jurying process, some favorites in this show, advice to artists, and other topics.

The 2020 jurors were: