4 Bridges Arts Festival 2027

About This Call

The 26th Annual 4 Bridges Arts Festival (4BAF) is a juried show that connects visual artists with an audience of avid art buyers. The festival includes local live music, food trucks, and children's activities.

Summary

Association for Visual Arts (AVA) in Chattanooga, Tennessee, will present the 26th Annual 4 Bridges Arts Festival (4BAF) April 16-18, 2027. A highly anticipated and culturally prominent event, 4BAF is a juried show that offers awards totaling $15,000. Bolstered by 26 years of unparalleled community support, the festival has matured into a firmly established conduit for connecting visual artists with an audience of avid and knowledgable art buyers. This legacy of success is the foundation on which 4BAF has become a nationally significant arts experience as well as an annual destination for both seasoned and beginning art collectors.

The event spans three days, beginning with artist set-up Friday morning, and our festive Preview Party on Friday evening, which gives our donors, sponsors, and a ticket-buyers early access to buy from the festival artists. We are open to the public for 7-8 hours on Saturday and Sunday. The festival includes local live music acts outside the main pavilion, a food truck court, and children's activities. 4BAF's site is unique - a sprawling open-air pavilion created from the shell of a former industrial foundry. The pavilion has a roof, but is open air on the sides, providing both protection from rain and sun and great airflow, and has wonderful amenities like indoor restrooms and close parking for artists! AVA staff strive to provide excellent artist hospitality throughout the weekend with snacks, meals, and coffee/tea/drinks provided each day.

General Information

Festival Site First Horizon Pavilion 1826 Reggie White Boulevard Chattanooga, Tennessee 37408

Festival Dates Friday, April 16-Sunday April 18, 2027

Application Deadline October 31, 2026, 11:59pm EDT

Application Submission Requirements

• AVA only accepts applications submitted through ZAPPlication.org.
• Each application must include five digital photographs: four photographs must clearly show work the artist intends on exhibiting, and showing a single cohesive body of work, and one photo must be an image of the artist's booth. Because the jurying process is blind, the booth shot must not have signage, branding, symbols, or attributes that reveal the artist's identity.
• Each artist must pay a nonrefundable $45 fee for each application submitted. Discounts and fee waivers may be offered to members of Association for Visual Arts (Chattanooga, TN), as well as the previous year's 4 Bridges Arts Festival award winners.
• Artists who want to present work in more than one medium will need to complete and submit applications and pay the application fee for each category.
• Collaborative teams of no more than two artists are welcome to apply.
• Applicants must be 18 years and older.

Festival Site First Horizon Pavilion is conveniently located in the Southside District of Chattanooga. The venue is a 50,000 square foot facility that is completely covered on top and partially enclosed on the sides. The pavilion floor is concrete. Other amenities include interior restrooms and ample parking for cars, vans, and trailers.

Preview Party Each year 4BAF makes its debut at the Preview Party. An exceedingly popular community affair, the Preview Party attracts about 1,000 local art enthusiasts. The 2027 Preview Party is Friday, April 16, 6-9 pm. Artists must attend and have their booths open for sales at the Preview Party celebration.

Jury Process

• Every year, AVA invites three highly respected, credentialed art professionals to participate as members of the 4BAF jury panel. Working independently and collaboratively, jurors evaluate each application without knowing the identity of the artist.
• Jurors assess an application by reviewing the digital photographs and artist's statement.
• Reflecting on aesthetic merit, originality, technical proficiency, and marketability, jurors review and assign scores using ZAPPlication.org.
• AVA will create a wait list by category based on jury scores.

Awards AVA celebrates the visual arts by distributing $15,000 in cash prizes. The 2027 jury panel has the discretionary privilege of selecting honorees and presenting the awards.

Media Categories

• 2-D and 3-D Mixed Media
• Basketry
• Ceramics
• Drawing
• Fiber/Leather
• Furniture
• Glass
• Jewelry
• Metal
• Painting: Acrylic/Oil
• Painting: Watercolor
• Printmaking
• Photography/Digital Art
• Sculpture
• Wood

Rules and Regulations

1. AVA requires artists to be present and available during festival hours.
2. Artists must remain at the festival site until 5 pm on Sunday, April 18.
3. An exhibit must feature original, handcrafted art, created by the artist or collaborative team who applied to the festival.
4. All work must be available for sale.
5. Artists must exhibit artwork specific to the categories indicated on their applications.
6. Artists can sell reproductions in browse bins, per the Policy for Selling Reproductions.
7. Artists cannot exhibit or sell subcontracted work for another artist.
8. Artists cannot exhibit or sell work made using commercial casts/molds, kits, or patterns.
9. Artists cannot exhibit or sell copyrighted designs, imports, commercially or factory-produced merchandise, etc.
10. Festival organizers reserve the right to remove an exhibitor whose conduct and/or merchandise are unacceptable.
11. Artists participate at 4BAF at their own risk and assume responsibility for maintaining liability insurance.

Booth Information and Fees

• Standard Booth: Fee $550, Size 10' wide x 12' deep
• Corner Booth (limited): Fee $650, Size 10' wide x 12' deep
• Double Booth (limited): Fee $1,100, Size 20' wide x 12' deep
• Double Booth with Corner (limited): Fee $1,200, Size 20' wide x 12' deep

All booth spaces have access to electricity: 20 amps x 120 volts = 2400 watts. The floor in the pavilion is concrete, and all spaces are handicap accessible. Artists must furnish their own booth display (tables, chairs, contents, etc.).

Jury Details

Average number of applications submitted each year: 550. Average number of artists selected from the jury to participate in the event: 133. Average number of exempt-from-jury artists invited: 10. Number of jurors scoring applications: 3. Jury process is closed to observation.