Des Moines Arts Festival Announces the 180 Artists Selected for 2019 at REVEAL Event

The Des Moines Arts Festival presented by Nationwide released the list of the 180 professional visual artists representing 33 states plus Vancouver, Ontario and British Columbia, Canada who will be invited to participate in the 22nd annual juried art fair June 28-30, in downtown’s Western Gateway Park.

The announcement comes from a special event called REVEAL, sponsored by Foster Group, which took place in the Principal Atrium in Downtown Des Moines on Feb. 27. Artists were chosen earlier this month through a rigorous five-person jury process led by jurors Amanda Outcalt, Brent Holland, Cheryl Mackey Smith, Don Short, and Jennifer Perlow.

Over the course of three days, the jury reviewed more than 7,000 images in a variety of mediums submitted by a pool of nearly 1,200 applicants from all over the world. The jury used a 1–7 scoring system for the first round, followed by rounds of voting, eventually narrowing down and composing the final show for 2019.

“We pride ourselves on creating every opportunity for every artist that applies to our show. Our jury is thorough, fair, balanced and transparent. Our process is why our festival is considered one of the best in the country,” said Stephen King, Des Moines Arts Festival executive director.

In addition to the professional visual artists, the jury compiled the list of Iowan artists to exhibit as part of theEmerging Iowa Artist program presented by Principal. Since 2003, the Emerging Iowa Artist program offers a unique opportunity for visual artists who are Iowa residents and currently enrolled in an institution of higher education to showcase their talents at one of the nation’s most decorated arts festivals.

The full list of invited artists can be found today on the Festival’s website athttps://www.desmoinesartsfestival.org/p/about/visual-arts. A full gallery of artist images can also be found here: https://www.desmoinesartsfestival.org/businesses/. While reading the roster of artists, the Festival encourages visitors to click within the gallery to see links to the artists’ websites, email the artists directly, and even share artist information with friends through an email function.