Children’s Tent Information
Welcome to the Springfield Old Capitol Art Fair! We would like to invite you to participate in our unique experience for children ages 2 – 15 years. The purpose of the Children’s Tent is to expose children to art beginning at a young age to develop their appreciation of art as adults. We have heard from some of our SOCAF Board Members who went through the tent as a child and have collected an impressive art collection by the time they leave for college!
The Children’s Tent is an open air tent staffed by SOCAF volunteers, and it showcases artwork provided by you, the exhibitors. Children go through the tent with a volunteer (no parents allowed!) to select and purchase your artwork at a very nominal price of $4, $5, or $6. This artwork must be representative of the art sold in your booth (no “rejects” or “mistakes”). We encourage you to visit the Tent during Fair weekend to see the process and the excitement in the children’s eyes as they start their art collection!
Here is how it works from the exhibitor’s perspective:
Please indicate on the Children’s Art Fair entry question how many pieces you would like to submit/donate. You may submit/donate between 1-100 pieces of art. If you submit your pieces, all profit is returned to the artist. If you donate your pieces, all proceeds from the sale of the artwork are a tax deductible donation to SOCAF to use for student scholarships. You turn in your artwork at check in the Saturday morning of the Fair. The submitted/donated artwork is then separated out by SOCAF volunteers for distribution in the tent throughout the Fair. More information will be mailed to participating artists in early May regarding this process.
You are invited to enter one judging piece for the Children’s Tent (this is voluntary). You must submit/donate at least TEN pieces of artwork to the Children’s Tent (NOT including the judging piece) to be considered for an award. You will tag your judging piece and specify that it is the judging piece. Your judging piece should be of similar quality to the other pieces you submit/donate to the Tent. Your judging piece will NOT be returned to you; if your piece wins it will go on display in Springfield for the public to view and if your piece does not win it will be sold in the Children’s Tent. Your judging piece will not be returned to you; ALL judging pieces, regardless of award status, will be sold in the Children’s Tent. Prize money is awarded at the Artists’ Party to the winning exhibitors, and an award in this area exempts an artist from jury for one year and guarantees the artist an automatic invite back to the next year’s Fair. Awards are as follows: Children’s Tent 1st Place: $500, 2nd Place: $400, 3rd Place: $300.
In early May, participants will receive a packet of information for the Children’s Tent. Included in the packet will be:
- An inventory sheet that must be completed and turned in at the Fair’s Saturday morning check in with your artwork. This inventory sheet is very important and will be used to verify the number of pieces submitted at the beginning of the Fair and determine the number of pieces sold at the end of the Fair.
- Tags (with your booth number on them) to mark the price of your submitted/donated artwork. You will determine the price of each piece at $4, $5, or $6. You will affix the top portion of the tag to your artwork and keep the bottom portion of the tag for your records. All artwork (whether submitted or donated) MUST be tagged before it is turned in on Saturday morning. Items will not be accepted if they are not tagged.
Your tent reimbursement check will be mailed 4-6 weeks after the Fair weekend to the address listed on your inventory sheet. Any unclaimed artwork will be donated.
At the conclusion of the Fair, the artist will be responsible for claiming unsold Tent artwork. You must come to SOCAF Headquarters (listed on the booth map; directly south of the Tent) between 4-5:30 p.m. on Sunday. If you do not pick up your unsold pieces during this timeframe, SOCAF will not be responsible for the care/storage/delivery of your artwork, and you will only be paid for the submitted artwork that sold in the Tent.
