Community Booth Applications

Eligibility criteria and exhibitor requirements.

• Applicants must reside in the United States or U.S. territories
• Applicants must be 18 years of age or older at the time the fair occurs.
• Submitted work must be small-studio production made under the direct supervision of the applicant. Direct supervision requires that the artist oversees production work as it occurs and provides constant direction, feedback, and assistance. ACC reserves the right to require authentication of the production process at any time by requesting documentary evidence.
• ACC requires that the majority of the work the artist sells at the fair be produced in the United States by or under the artist’s direct supervision. ACC allows for international collaboration as long as the artist is present, making or directly supervising the work while it is being made in that country. No more than 30% of the work may be made outside of the United States.

ACC reserves the right to require authentication of the production process at any time by requesting documentary evidence.

 

Additional information.

• Groups submit a single application for a Community Booth.
• Groups identify a primary point person (The Lead) ahead of time who will fill out the form, communicate with ACC, be responsible for payment deadlines, sign the exhibitor agreement, and address other requirements as they arise.
• The Lead could be an artist in the group, but does not need to be; they could be a mentor, or a staff member of the organization/collective.
• The application will collect:
  • Information about the Business/Organization
  • Information about each artist who will participate in the Community Booth, including artists’ names, email addresses, medium, socials, website, and one image per artist that best reflects the representation of the work they will be selling.
• If accepted,
  • Individual artists from the groups will be listed individually on the website and in the fair guide, with a connection to their Community Booth. However, outside of these platforms, ACC reserves the right to focus on the group as a whole, while also potentially marketing individual artists.
  • Individual artists will be eligible for ACC’s Awards of Excellence at the fair, except for the Randall Darwall Award. Find more information on the Awards of Excellence in the prospectus or on our Awards page.

 

Early Career Artist Program

For Community Booths that include early-career artists, participation in ACC’s Early Career Artist Program is highly encouraged, though not mandatory. This program is designed to help early-career artists enter the high-end craft fair market. It gives new exhibitors guidance and structure to help them succeed. In addition to virtual professional development programs and additional resources, it offers program participants exclusive access to $100,000 in grants, steeply discounted booth fees to showcase your work at premier craft fairs nationwide when an artist is ready to go solo, and more—all on top of the full benefits of ACC membership. Check eligibility here.

 

Artists working in the following mediums are eligible to apply and participate:

• Accessories (New!)
  • An accessory is an item that is added to an outfit to complement it, express personality, and complete a look, rather than being a primary piece of clothing. Handmade items, such as bags, purses, and belts, are suitable for this medium. 
  • Jackets and coats are accepted in the Fibers + Textiles Wearable category.
  • Accessories do not include jewelry, which is its own medium.
• Basketry
• Brooms 
• Ceramics 
• Fiber + Textiles: Non-wearable 
  • Non-wearable fiber-based creations, which include, but are not limited to, tapestries, wall hangings, upholstery, rugs, banners, and sculptures created using various techniques such as weaving, knitting, hand-dying, and embroidery.
• Fiber + Textiles: Wearable (New!)
  • Wearable items such as scarves, gloves, hats, ties/bow ties, jackets, coats, blazers, vests, sweaters, pants, skirts, dresses, and tops. If you also make either clothing and/or accessories, you will need to submit separate applications for each.
• Furniture 
• Glass 
• Jewelry – Enamel
• Jewelry – Metal
• Jewelry – Non-Metal
• Lighting 
• Metal 
  • Sculptural or decorative work made from metal. No jewelry will be accepted in this category.
• Mixed Media 
  • The combination of two or more eligible materials, as outlined in the approved mediums list, within a single piece. For example, a sculptural object made from wood and glass. 
  • Pieces made from found objects must result in a distinctive final product. 
  • The American Craft Council does not accept materials and processes related to painting, drawing, or photography. This includes encaustic painting techniques, collage, and other processes related to painting and drawing. 
  • We accept forms of printmaking – please see the medium definition below. 
• Paper 
  • Original works that use paper as the primary medium, including the traditional technique of book arts.
  • This does not include book authors or published books.
• Printmaking 
  • Original printed works in which the artist hand-manipulates prepared plates or blocks to create images or designs. It can be printed on various materials, including, but not limited to, paper, fabric, wood, and metal. Prints must be signed and numbered as a limited edition. Screen printing is accepted. Printmakers are required to disclose their printing process. 
  • The ACC does not accept embellished commercially-made objects like t-shirts, note cards, etc. Photography, digital printing, and other methods that primarily rely on technology are not accepted.
• Wood
  • Original works, whether functional or sculptural, that are primarily crafted from wood and do not include furniture, which is its own medium.

ACC does not accept:

• Craft kits as a product type
• 2D work such as paintings, photographs, or graphics (including etchings and web- or sheet-fed offset printed matter). ACC does accept printmaking
• Manufactured work (work made by a machine rather than the human hand)
• Embellished commercially-made objects (e.g., T-shirts, note cards, etc.)
• Works assembled from commercially available kits
• Work that is not produced by the applicant or under the direct supervision of the applicant. 
• Consumables such as candles, apothecary, or food products. 
• Work that incorporates unsustainable and/or endangered species or materials.

 

Exhibitor requirements.

In addition to meeting all eligibility criteria, each artist within the Community Booth must be able to meet the following requirements to participate in American Craft Made Baltimore:

• Each artist must present work consistent with the type and quality represented in the application submission.
• All booths must have 8-foot tall “walls” that cover the interior of the entire booth. Exhibitors must either rent pipe and drape or hard walls from the general contractor or provide their own 8-foot “wall” structures. If the group does not meet this requirement, drape will be provided at the artist’s expense.
• Tents with ceilings are not permitted; any structure must have an open-air ceiling.
• Each artist must be present for the duration of the fair. Exhibitors’ employees or sales representatives may not substitute for the exhibitor.
• Each individual artist must have a valid state sales tax permit from each state in which they are participating, unless there is only one point of sale. If that is the case, the Community Booth lead will need to obtain the valid state sales tax permit.
• Exhibitors are responsible for collecting and reporting sales tax where applicable.

Community Booth fees include the following:

• Floor space rental
• Booth sign
• Ability to unload and load vehicles (in a union-contracted convention center)
• Artist support calls led by ACC staff
• Access to ACC’s Peer Support Program
• Booth sitting services
• Wi-Fi (limited to checking emails and completing sales transactions)
• Exhibitor and assistant badges
• Stock storage
• 24-hour security
• Listing in the printed fair guide available on-site
• Listing on the fair page on craftcouncil.org
• Free and discounted guest passes
• Invitation to the Artist’s Reception and Awards Ceremony
• Digital promotional kit

Community Booth fees DO NOT include: 

• Furnishings such as pipe and drape, carpet, shipping, etc. 
• Electricity
• Empty crate removal and storage
• Shipping and dryage

 

Jury process.

Community Booths are selected to participate in American Craft Made Baltimore by a jury of outside professionals in the field. Jurors individually score each application as a whole, based on work samples, application answers, quality of product images, brand, composition, and command of medium and technique.

Each factor listed below is graded on a scale from 1 (low) to 7 (high). 

• Imagery, Brand, Originality: Be clear and concise, with no extra background noise. The work should showcase the artist’s individual voice, feature high-quality images, and form a cohesive body of work.
• Craftsmanship, Composition, Command of Medium and Technique: Demonstrates a high degree of difficulty, elements flow together, outstanding mastery of medium and its uses, and the composition works as a whole.
• Presentation, Storytelling, Narrative: Mastery of presentation context, understands and communicates their work through a clear and concise narrative, and can identify their market and customer base.

Once final jury scores are submitted and compiled, ACC staff will invite artists to participate or be placed on a waitlist based on the scores of their work and curatorial needs for a balanced fair. Individual artists who have multiple medium categories within their work must choose the medium category that best represents what they will sell at the fair. ACC limits the number of mediums to three per artist.

 

Waitlist policy.

Community Booths are assigned waitlist numbers based on jury score and categories. ACC will continue to invite waitlisted groups up to a week before the fair as spaces open in their categories. ACC cannot predict when, or if, a space will become available, or guarantee that a waitlisted group will receive their first booth size or location choice.

When a waitlist space becomes available, ACC will call and leave a message for the group’s lead contact, in addition to sending an email. The lead will have 48 hours (Monday through Friday) to respond whether they would like to take the space or not.

 

Refund policy.

If a Community Booth withdraws (cancels) from the event, all fees are nonrefundable except in a handful of cases (please see below).

Exceptions for refunds:

• Bodily harm resulting in an inability to exhibit
• Unexpected death in the family/close relations
• Act of god (accidents, natural disaster)
• Testing positive for coronavirus
• All cancellations must be made in writing to [email protected], ACC Programs & Events Staff