Vicksburg Hipstoric Art Festival
Vicksburg, Mississippi is the quintessential river city, serving as the region’s center of commerce and culture for nearly 200 years.
With a commanding view of the Mississippi River, Vicksburg is The Key to the South, a place where art, history and culture are on full display in several museums, art galleries, and more than 1,000 historic monuments. The downtown’s beautiful brick streets are also brimming with clothing boutiques, specialty shops, and antique stores. Fine flavors of the South, both old and new, can be found at several eateries throughout the city. In addition, live music aficionados can sample Mississippi Delta Blues, country, jazz, or rock ‘n roll at multiple venues, and those who want to try their luck can check out gaming, entertainment, and dining at one of Vicksburg’s four waterfront casinos.
About the Event
The downtown’s beautiful brick streets are also brimming with clothing boutiques, specialty shops, and antique stores. Fine flavors of the South, both old and new, can be found at several eateries throughout the city. In addition, live music aficionados can sample Mississippi Delta Blues, country, jazz, or rock ‘n roll at multiple venues, and those who want to try their luck can check out gaming, entertainment, and dining at one of Vicksburg’s four waterfront casinos.
Into this setting of Vicksburg as a shopping, dining, and vibrant hub for the arts will be the Vicksburg Hipstoric Art Festival, the new signature event for the city. The show will present artists and their work against the splendid setting of the vibrant, hip, and historic downtown area, during glorious fall weather and the dryest time of the year in Mississippi. The timing of the Vicksburg Hipstoric Art Festival works well for routing with some of the fall shows in the South including the Cottonwood Art Festival near Dallas, Bayou City Art Festival in Houston, and RiverArtsFest in Memphis.
PURPOSE-The objective of the Vicksburg Hipstoric Art Festival is to provide an opportunity for artists from across the United States and patrons from across the Southeast to meet, interact and conduct business, while also increasing local tourism and improving the quality of life in the area.
The Vicksburg Hipstoric Art Festival is presented by the Vicksburg Art Association, a non-profit organization that has promoted and celebrated the arts and its artisans for more than 40 years. It is a central resource for the entire creative community of Vicksburg, Mississippi.
POINTS OF INTEREST-Affordable $350 booth fee-Artists retain all proceeds from their sales-$7,000 cash awards-Number of participants limited to 100-All proceeds are used to produce and promote the festival
IMPORTANT DATES March 4, 2025 (Tuesday): application available online at ZAPP – $30 jury fee
SHOW DATES September 26, 2025 4:00 pm – 9:00 pm (Friday)September 27, 2025 10:00 am-5:00 pm (Saturday)September 28, 2025 11:00 am-5:00 pm (Sunday)
APPLICATION PERIODS/PROCESS/IMAGES: The Vicksburg Hipstoric Art Festival uses ZAPPlication to administer our application and jury process. Interested artists should complete an online application and submit a non-refundable jury/application fee along with five (5) artwork images for each media category. You can apply here for a booth.
Digital Images: Images 1 – 4 should represent the complete range of work that you intend to display or sell at the Vicksburg Hipstoric Art Festival.
Digital Booth Image: Image number 5 should be an image of your booth display. Please be sure that the slide of your booth is representative of the booth quality you intend to provide at the festival. Please do not submit booth images with any identifiable signage or photo of the artist. If a booth image is not available, please submit an image taken of a grouping of works showing the overall continuity and presentation of your current body of work. The purpose of the booth image is to ensure you have a complete body of work which is represented in the first 4 images. It also helps us identify the scale of your work. We do not accept “photoshopped” or enhanced booth images.
Artist’s Statement: As part of your application, please submit an artist statement of fewer than 100 characters explaining the process and materials used in your artwork, as well as your reproduction process.
Images from accepted and waitlisted artists may be used for promotional purposes.
MEDIA CATEGORIES Clay – Art objects, either functional or decorative of earthenware, porcelain or tile, made by shaping and then firing. If multiple pieces of the same design are displayed, the artist must sign each piece.Drawing/Pastels – Drawings are works on paper using pencil, crayon, ink, charcoal, pastels and a variety of other marking media.Fiber – Includes artwork from fibers such as basketry, embroidery, weaving, leatherwork, tapestry and papermaking.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 – All jewelry, produced from metal, glass, clay, fiber, paper, plastic or other materials.Mixed Media (2D) – Works that incorporate more than one type of material in their production and are displayed on walls with a one-sided orientation.Mixed Media (3D) – Works that incorporate more than one type of physical material (clay, fiber, glass, metal, wood or any other three-dimensional objects) in their production.Painting – Creation of a still life, portrait, landscape, abstract or other image on a flat surface, such as canvas, with watercolors, oil, sticks or acrylic paint.Photography – Process of capturing images of objects by the action of light, then printing the images by chemical or digital means onto a flat surface. Photographers are required to disclose both their creative and printing processes. Work in this media category must be limited editions, signed and numbered on archival-quality materials.Printmaking – Prints hand-pulled by artist from traditional methods, including etching, engraving, silkscreen, stone and plate lithography, linoleum block or woodcut, produced in signed and numbered limited editions from an original image created by the artist.Sculpture – Non-functional, three- dimensional work of any material.Wood – Art objects, either functional or decorative, that are hand-tooled or machine-worked, turned or carved.
JURORS/JURY PROCESS An expert panel will review the images submitted by each artist using a blind jury process. Images will be scored from 1 (low) to 7 (high) with no 4. Artist statements are shared with jurors.
Waitlist positions will be determined by jury scores. Waitlisted artists will be notified when a space becomes available.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Hotel Rooms, Restaurants or Directions – Information will be provided upon acceptance. For further information, please contact the Vicksburg Convention & Visitors Bureau by phone at 800.221.3536 or visit our web site at www.visitvicksburg.com.
Other inquiries – Please contact Bob McFarland at bobmcfarland2@hotmail.com or by phone at 253.275.8108.
To enter a booth in the Vicksburg Hipstoric Art Festival, you can go to ZAPP – Event Information – Vicksburg Hipstoric Art Festival 2025.