ARTIST RESOURCES
How to Apply
Apply to participate in the Cottonwood Art Festival as an exhibiting artist.
Artist Host Hotel
Stay the night in Richardson at the official host hotel of Cottonwood.
Festival Rules & Proceedures
View festival rules and proceedures including booth details, check-in, etc.
Since that first weekend, five decades later, Cottonwood has established itself as a signature national art event, become a tradition in the community and the home to the finest artists in the country. With the City of Richardson’s support, the Cottonwood Art Festival strives to deliver an experience for our patrons that allows them to engage, experience, and grow their appreciation of the arts. We celebrate the inclusivity of our community, the originality and creativity of our artists, and value the quality in which we operate.
Cottonwood Art Festival is committed to enriching lives through arts education and experiences by continuing to engage, enhance, and inspire the creativity of Richardson and surrounding communities. Through local partnerships with the Richardson Independent School District, Cottonwood has the ability to inspire creativity and provide innovative support to young aspiring artists, via the Emerging Artist Program and Visiting Artist Program.
How to Apply
Cottonwood Art Festival is accepting applications for the Fall 2025 show through Zapplication. The deadline to apply is June 1, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions for Zapplication:
Q: How do artists apply to events on ZAPP?
A: View the Applying to Events page for a step-by-step walkthrough of the application process.
Q: How do artists upload images?
A: Review the Uploading Images & Saving Statements page for specifications and a step-by-step guide for uploading images.
Q: What do the application statuses mean?
A: See our full Frequently Asked Questions to view explanations for each application status.
Q. How do artists purchase booths?
A: Artists can go to the ZAPP Shop once logged in to see available products for purchase or view the Purchasing Products guide.
Can’t find your question here?
Visit the ZAPP Help Center for more resources.
Application Fee
A non-refundable application and jury fee of $35 is required for each entry form/category submitted and payed through ZAPP.
Jury Process
Approximately 198 artists will exhibit at the Cottonwood Art Festival, and 188 spots will be available for applicants this year. These spots will be determined through a competitive monitor jury process, where each artist is scored by jury members on a scale of yes-no-maybe in the first round, creating a ranked group of artists in each category deemed qualified to advance to the second round after reviewing submitted images and Artist Statement.
Booth Details
Each artist will be provided a 13” x 13” booth space for your tent. Artists are to provide their own display booth, racks, and/or tables in order to display their work in an outdoor environment.
Single Booth: $500
Double Booth: $1,000 (first-come, first-served basis, with limited availability.)
Electricity: $100
Artist Amentities
- Two-day set-up schedule for artists
- Artist Set-up and Take-down assistance by local Boy Scout Troop
- Exclusive Friday night invite to Artist and VIP dinner, including fully catered dinner, drinks, and entertainment.
- Designated Artist Hospitality Area with continental breakfast, afternoon snacks, chilled water, and private restroom
- Responsive website and integrated social media campaign with over 35,000+ followers
- Event Guide for patrons with map, artists’ names and booth locations
- Festival T-Shirt
- Friendly volunteers to assist with booth sitting – available by cell throughout the festival weekend
- Comprehensive emergency/evacuation plan with 24-hour weather monitoring
- 24 Hour Security and the City of Richardson Police presence
- Discounted hotel rates at designated hotel locations within Richardson
- Extensive marketing campaign to include the entire DFW region and state of Texas
- Free Admission and Free Parking for all attendees
Medium Categories
Ceramics: All original clay and porcelain work other than jewelry is accepted in this category. No machine-made or mass-produced work is permitted. If multiple pieces of the same design are displayed, each must be signed.
Digital Art: This category includes any original work for which the original image, or the manipulation of other source material, was executed by the artist using a computer. Work in this category must be in limited editions, signed and numbered on archival quality materials. Traditional photographs taken through digital media should apply in the photography category. Work that starts with a photograph and is manipulated by digital means must be entered in either Mixed Media or Photography.
Drawing/Pastels: Works created using dry media including chalk, charcoal, pastels, pencil, wax crayon, etc., or from the fluid medium of inks and washes applied by pen or brush are to be entered in this category.
Fiber: All work crafted from fibers including basketry, embroidery, weaving, leatherwork, tapestry, and papermaking. This can be wearable or non-wearable. No machine tooling, machine-screened patterns, or other forms of mass production are permitted. No factory-produced wearable items, regardless of additional modification or enhancement by the artist, may be exhibited.
Glass: No forms of mass production are permitted
Jewelry: All jewelry whether the work is produced from metal, glass, clay, fiber, paper, plastic, or other materials must be entered in this category. No commercial casts, molds, or production studio work is allowed.
Metal: Includes all non-sculptural, non-jewelry works crafted from metals. No production studio work is allowed.
Mixed Media: Works that include both 2 and 3-dimensional, that incorporate more than one type of physical material in their production. Includes non-sculptural work as determined by the artist.
Painting – Oil/Acrylic: Works created in oil or acrylic
Painting – Watercolor: Work created in watercolor
Photography: Photographic prints made from the artist’s original image, which have been processed by that artist, or under his or her direct supervision, are included in this category. Photographers are required to disclose both their creative and printing processes on prints that have been properly signed and numbered as a limited edition.
Printmaking/Graphics: Printed works for which the artist’s hand manipulated the plates, stones, or screens and which have been properly signed and numbered as a limited edition may be entered in this category. All photogravure, giclee, photocopy, and/or offset reproductions, will be rejected. Printmakers are encouraged to do their own printing which has been processed by the artist, or under his/her direct supervision. Printmakers are required to disclose both their creative and printmaking processes.
Sculpture: Three-dimensional works done in any medium.
Wood: Original works in wood that are hand-tooled, machine-worked, turned, or carved are accepted in this category.
Artist Host Hotel
Cottonwood partners with Courtyard Dallas Richardson at Spring Valley to provide a discount rate for participating artists.
Location: 1000 South Sherman Street, Richardson, TX 75081
Rate: $109.00 per night
Available discount dates: May 1- May 4
Last day to book: April 10, 2025
Visiting Artist Program
Cottonwood Art Festival invites you to participate in our Visiting Artist Program, designed to encourage school age children the opportunity to participate in the visual arts and interact with Cottonwood professional artist. Through this partnership with the Richardson Independent School District, students will gain valuable information, inspiration and encouragement from participating artist who have taken the time to share their passion and talent of the arts. For a young student who loves to draw it may be just what he or she needs to set them on a career path in art!
Participating artist receive additional perks such as front of the line passes for load-in and load-out, Cottonwood gift bag and our sincere appreciation. Cottonwood Art Festival is very grateful to all of the artists who have participated in this program and hope you will continue to support our efforts in art education by participating.
If you are interesting in visiting a classroom for a presentation or demonstration through the program, email us at [email protected].
2025 Jury
The Cottonwood jury is comprised of artists and art professionals. The jury will review applications in a “blind jury” process and view each artist’s set of five images individually on a monitor, arranged by the date the artist’s application was submitted. The process, materials, dimensions for each image, and artist information statements will be made available to the jury. A well-balanced show of artistic excellence, quality, creativity, and overall impression of work are the criteria for the selection of exhibiting artists.
Chris Dahlquist
Artist | Arts & Business Strategist
Since 1998, Kansas City-based visual artist Chris Dahlquist has exhibited extensively throughout the United States. Committed to the accessibility of art, Dahlquist exhibits in traditional and non-traditional settings and creates large-scale public installations allowing audiences to encounter and interact with photographic objects in unexpected ways. Dahlquist’s works are held in many individual, corporate, and civic collections, have won countless awards in top juried art fairs around the country, and grant funding from Mid-America Art Alliance, Metropolitan Kansas City Arts Council, and Anonymous Was a Woman. Dahlquist is represented by Sager Reeves Gallery and Olson-Larsen Galleries.
Dahlquist also lends her passionate pragmatism to a community practice, helping artists and creative entrepreneurs develop sustainable careers. With the perspective of a practicing artist, stories from the hundreds of artists she has worked with, and a guiding principle that the artist must be at the center of a strong arts ecosystem, Dahlquist works with municipalities, organizations, and businesses to develop strategies, programs, and policy to support individual artists. Most notably, Dahlquist partnered with Kansas City, MO, the Kansas City Economic Development Council, and AltCap to develop and launch ARTcap, the first artist-centered microlending program in the country.
Kim Kort
KK Art Creations-Pour Art on Your Walls
Kim Kort, KK Art Creations, is a self-taught abstract acrylic fluid artist Kim began painting in 2015. Kim works with acrylic paint along with several different additives that make her paints flow all over the canvas. Kim lives in North Dallas but was originally born in Kansas City. Kim taught herself how to paint in her home studio. One day she mixed up several colors of acrylic paint and just flipped a cup over to see what would happen. After flipping the first cup of paint, she was hooked and hasn’t stopped painting and creating.
Kim creates in abstract form and her inspiration comes from nature and everyday experiences. Growing up in Kansas City, she experienced four distinct seasons and she like to recreate some of that in her artwork. Kim experiments with many different color palettes and tools that are not the ordinary kind an artist uses to paint. She loves to stir, mix, and splatter paint until the painting takes the form and shape, she desires. Kim likes her art to evoke different emotions. Each time people see her paintings they can interpret it differently based on their life experiences, current feelings and perspectives. Kim wants to provide a respite for the mind and everyday happenings. Kim wants people to connect with each creation and create their own story as they view the artwork. Kim creates all of her pieces with all of her heart and soul.
Kim’s work hangs all over the Dallas-Ft. Worth area and beyond. She has had her art up in Times Square in New York and her paintings are on display in galleries, local and international residences and commercial businesses.
Kim also like to give back to the broader community and therefore donates artwork to fundraising efforts for people affected by domestic violence, people in the LGBTQ community, children in underserved areas of Dallas, and with physical challenges. She stays involved in the arts community and has served on several art association boards and stays involved in the DFW greater arts community.
Megan Ward
Interior Designer - idGROUP Dallas
Megan Ward is an interior designer who has worked in the industry for 15 years, currently working with idGROUP Dallas, a firm specializing in commercial interior design, space planning, and architecture. She graduated with a design degree from Texas Christian University and has called Dallas home for the last 13 years. However, her roots are in Kansas City where she grew up, and will forever and always be a Chiefs fan. Sorry Cowboys! When not working, she is living life to the fullest with her two littles – 5&4. Whether it’s soccer games, craft time, playground visits, or movie nights, she is always finding fun ways to spend time together! Simple pleasures of her’s include coffee, front yard hang outs with good company, a colorful sunset, and college football.
Xtine Burrough
Media artist, author, and UT Dallas Associate Professor
Xtine Burrough (x/x, she/her) is a media artist who works at the intersection of design, intervention, and digital poetry. Her portfolio includes time-based media such as screensavers, videos, and works for the media wall, computational poetry, apps, series-based works for Instagram, interventions on social media platforms, and fine art prints on paper, fabric, or copper plates. A 2022-23 Art & Code track member of NEW INC, xtine received a commission for “Data/Set/Match” at the Photographers’ Gallery, London, and funding from the Nasher Sculpture Center, Puffin Foundation West, Humanities Texas, The National Lottery (UK), and California Humanities. She is a Professor in the Bass School of Arts, Humanities, and Technology at UT Dallas, where she has been the Director of LabSynthE, a laboratory for synthetic and electronic poetry and Area Head (2018-2022) of Design + Creative Practice including the MFA program in Creative Practice. burrough has authored, co-authored, edited or co-edited nine books, three published by Peachpit’s New Riders imprint in AIGA’s Voices that Matter series and six by Routledge. She is currently under contract with MIT Press for the co-authored textbook Critical Web Design.
Serri Ayers
Retired Art Festival Director
Serri Ayers is a retired art festival director and Superintendent of Community Events with over 30 years of experience in organizing and curating large-scale events for the City of Richardson, including the Cottonwood Art Festival. Known for her meticulous planning, Serri’s passion for the arts, community connection and memorable experiences enhanced the festival atmosphere for attendees of all ages and provided an opportunity to artists from around the world to showcase and sell their art at Cottonwood.
Throughout her career, Serri found the most fulfillment in working closely with artists, facilitating opportunities for them to display their work, and enriching the local community through the transformative power of art. Even after retiring, Serri remains deeply connected to the art world, attending art festivals to stay updated on new trends and reconnect with artists and colleagues.