Brookside Art Annual 2027

The 41st Brookside Art Annual is a juried outdoor art show in Kansas City's Brookside neighborhood, running April 30–May 2, 2027. Artists exhibit and sell original work across clay, digital art, drawing/pastels, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking/graphics, sculpture and wood. Awards are given for Best of Show, 2-D, 3-D and media categories; all winners are invited to the following year's show.

Submit 5 images, including a required booth shot. Up to 5 applications per artist are permitted. This application does not accept emerging-artist applications. The calendar lists December 15, 2026 as both the application deadline and early-bird deadline, while also listing a late-fee deadline of January 15, 2027. Jury fees are $40 through December 15, 2026 and $50 beginning December 16, 2026. Notification is January 27, 2027; invited artists' booth fees are due February 28, 2027. Booth fees: standard $575, corner $725, double deep $1,100, double wide $1,150. Optional on-site parking costs $60 at the school or $80 in the east lot; free parking is available close to the show. Spaces are 10 by 10 feet with 300 watts of electricity. Double booths require contacting the director before purchase; double-deep booths are limited to open-space areas. Special requests are assigned according to when booth payment is received.

Eligible media are clay; digital; drawing/pastels; fiber, including basketry, embroidery, weaving, leatherwork, tapestry and papermaking; glass; jewelry; metal; two- and three-dimensional mixed media; oil, acrylic and watercolor painting; photography; printmaking/graphics; sculpture; and wood. Traditional photographs captured digitally belong in photography, not digital. All jewelry must be entered and juried in jewelry regardless of material. All work must be original and produced by the exhibiting artist. Work made with commercial kits, molds, patterns, plans, prefabricated forms or other commercial methods is prohibited. Clay excludes machine-made or mass-produced work; fiber excludes machine-tooled or machine-screened patterns and mass production; jewelry excludes commercial casts, molds and production-studio work. Ready-made or factory-produced objects that have been embellished, painted, decorated, dyed or batiked are not accepted, including cards, postcards, note cards, photocopies, posters, mouse pads, T-shirts and calendars. Artists may exhibit and sell only in their accepted media category.

Signed and numbered limited-edition offset prints may be displayed in a portfolio but not hung, and must be marked as reproductions; reproductions in bins must be matted. Photographic and digital art prints must be made from the artist's original negative or digital file under the artist's supervision. The reproduction definition includes digitally or photographically copied art, giclées and artist-enhanced reproductions.

Artists must personally attend and exhibit; spouses or other representatives cannot substitute. Picture ID is required at check-in. Collaborative work is one entry submitted as a joint application; accepted collaborators may exhibit only collaborative work and all must attend the entire show. Attendance exemptions must be requested from the director in writing a month before the show, with an explanation; only the director can grant an exception. Work inconsistent with submitted images or regulations may be refused, with immediate removal and no refund.

Show hours are Friday 5–9 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.–9 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Setup begins Thursday at 3 p.m., weather permitting; judging begins by 4 p.m. Friday. Artists must supply outdoor-suitable booth structures/tents, racks, tables, chairs, display units, screens, 100-foot electrical cords and other fixtures, secured for crowds, rain and wind. Most spaces are asphalt and require substantial weights. Lightweight accordion-style pop-up tents are prohibited; heavy-duty EZ Up tents may be used, with questions directed to the organizer. Displays cannot extend outside the booth so as to impede pedestrian traffic.

Awards are given in Best of Show, 2-D, 3-D and all media categories, and all winners are invited to next year's show. The calendar states March 30, 2027 is the cancellation deadline for a 50% refund less a $25 administrative fee, and no refunds after April 1 except at committee discretion. The separate refund section states 50% of the booth fee is refunded after February 28 and until April 1, with no refunds after April 1; these refund statements differ.