Artist Applications and Jurying for Art Festivals, From Call to Lineup

If you run an art festival, you know the application season can swallow everything else. Applications arrive by email and through forms, fees come in through three different apps, jurors need images they can actually see, and every artist wants to know where they stand. By the time the lineup is set, you've spent weeks on paperwork that has little to do with putting on a great show.

Brakebee is an art marketplace and event platform where independent artists sell their work and festival promoters run their shows from one dashboard.¹ Promoters can post an event for free, then take applications, run a jury, collect fees through Stripe and message artists in the same place.¹ This guide walks through how artist applications work on Brakebee, from the call for artists to the final lineup.

The application process at a glance

Step 1: Open your call for artists

Everything starts with your event. You fill in the basics, the dates and the venue, then decide whether artists can apply online and whether to cap the number of artists or applications. The event stays a draft until you set it live, so you can take your time getting it right.³

When you turn on online applications, you set up the call itself:²

• Fees and dates. Set your application fee, jury fee and booth fee, plus the deadline, jury date and notification date. Date-based tiers let early or late applicants see different amounts.
• Categories and mediums. Choose the categories and mediums you accept, or leave mediums open to accept every medium.
• What artists send. Pick the required fields and images and add your own custom questions.
• Booth upgrades. List upgrades artists can choose right on the application, and they are added to the booth invoice later.⁵

Step 2: Artists apply

Artists apply on your event page while you are accepting applications.² If you charge an application or jury fee, the artist pays it through Stripe before the application is submitted, gets a receipt, and the money goes to your connected Stripe account.⁵ If both fees are zero, the application goes straight through.⁵

Applying is easier for artists, too. Each artist keeps a reusable jury packet and artist personas on Brakebee, so the next application starts from work they already prepared.⁶ That usually means cleaner submissions for you and fewer emails asking how to upload images. Every applicant also lands on your contact list, tagged by event, status, year and medium, and gets a confirmation email when the application is submitted.⁴

Step 3: Review your applicants

Open Applicants, pick your event, and you'll see how many applications are submitted, under review, accepted, confirmed and waitlisted. You can filter the list and accept submitted applications in bulk when you don't need a formal jury.²

Step 4: Score with your jury

When you want a jury, open the jury room for the event. You invite jurors by email and set a quorum, then choose how they view the work: Story Mode, Comparison, Gallery or Projection.² You set the score scale, and you can hide artist names for a blind review and turn on image authenticity analysis if you want it.²

Jurors score in Jury Theater, and decisions stay hidden until you choose to announce them.² If you turn on auto-decide, scores at or above your pass line are accepted and scores below it are waitlisted. You can also run another round, place artists by booth capacity, export the scores, and score booths on site against the original application.²

Step 5: Set your lineup

The decision dashboard lines up every score so you can draw your cut and accept, waitlist or reject.² Accepting an artist adds them to the lineup and sends a booth-fee invoice with a payment link, including any upgrades they chose. Paying it confirms their spot, and a booth fee of zero confirms them right away.⁵ Waitlisted artists get a position. If an accepted spot opens up, the highest-scored artist on the waitlist moves up.²

The payment view shows what has been collected and what is still outstanding. From there you can send a reminder, move a due date, mark a payment received or confirm someone by hand.⁵ Our guide to booth fee collection covers payments in more detail.

Step 6: Keep artists in the loop

Acceptance and waitlist emails go out when you send them, so the timing stays in your hands.⁴ From Applicants, you can email artists by status, such as everyone accepted or everyone on the waitlist, with their name, booth fee or jury score filled in automatically. You can also set up drips that send after someone applies or their status changes.⁴ See artist communications for the full set of tools.

If there's an artist you'd love on the show who hasn't applied, you can find them in the Brakebee artist directory and send a VIP invite that places them on the lineup without going through the application and jury.⁷ Artist prospecting explains how.

Tips for a smoother jury

• Publish your dates early. Put the deadline, jury date and notification date in the call, and artists will plan around them.
• Ask only for what jurors use. Fewer required fields means more complete applications.
• Write clear image guidelines. Tell artists how many images you want and whether you need a booth shot.
• Pick a viewing mode that suits your jurors. Projection suits a jury in one room, and Gallery or Comparison suits jurors working on their own time.
• Decide your cut before you score. Knowing your booth count and pass line keeps the final decisions quick and fair.
• Ask for feedback after the show. Artists can review your event on Festival Reviews, which helps you spot what to improve next year.⁸

Other application services

Brakebee is one of several ways to run artist applications. ZAPP describes itself as an application management and jurying system for art fairs and festivals.⁹ CaFÉ offers call-for-entry submissions and online jurying for the arts and public art.¹⁰ EntryThingy offers call-for-entry software, jurying and exhibition management for galleries and organizations.¹¹ Each has its own strengths. Brakebee fits promoters who want applications connected to their artist contacts, booth payments, event listing and the marketplace where guests can shop the lineup.^1,12

Post your festival

See all promoter tools

¹ Source: Brakebee for Festival Promoters, brakebee.com/promoter.
² Source: Brakebee Artist Applications and Jury Room feature overview, Brakebee promoter dashboard.
³ Source: Post your event, brakebee.com/promoter/post.
⁴ Source: Brakebee Artist Communications, brakebee.com/articles/art-festival-artist-communications-platform.
⁵ Source: Brakebee Booth Payments, brakebee.com/articles/art-festival-booth-fee-collection.
⁶ Source: Brakebee for Artists and Makers, brakebee.com/makers.
⁷ Source: Brakebee Artist Prospecting, brakebee.com/articles/art-festival-artist-recruitment.
⁸ Source: Brakebee Festival Reviews, brakebee.com/festival-reviews.
⁹ Source: ZAPP, zapplication.org.
¹⁰ Source: CaFÉ, callforentry.org.
¹¹ Source: EntryThingy, entrythingy.com.
¹² Source: Brakebee Custom Promoter Sites, brakebee.com/custom-promoter-sites.