Applicants should have worked in their medium for at least two years and be selling their work to the public, either on their own, in craft shops or galleries, or through exhibitions or art fairs. All work must be the original design of the member artist. The essential work required to make each finished piece must actually be done by the artist. Any commercially produced parts used in a work must play a subordinate role and may not be sold separately.
Applicants must create their work, maintain their studio and reside at the same location in a rural area of Brown County. Artists may be one or more persons residing at the same location. Displaying art work of other BCST participants for cross-promotional purposes is acceptable. The studio must be finished and operational at the time of application.
Applicants/Studios may have up to four guest artists
Guest artists may apply to participate at a BCST studio.
Guest artists must create their own work and live in Brown County or, if the artist is not a resident of Brown County, the artist must offer the artist’s art or craft for viewing and sale to the public in one of the following ways:
The artist must maintain a studio or gallery in Brown County that has regular open hours to the public or allows viewing and sale of the artist’s art or craft to the public by arranged appointments.
The art or craft of the artist must be available for viewing and sale to the public by virtue of the artist’s membership and participation in a Brown County co-op gallery or a Brown County gallery that maintains a permanent location for the viewing and retail sales of members’ work.
All guest artist applicants will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the BCST Board/jury.
Each guest artist will pay the same fee as the home artist with an equal level of publicity and brochure presence. The guest artist may set up their work either in an art-quality tent or the home studio.
If a member artist has an established gallery at their residence showing work of other artists, all such work may comprise no more than 30% of the total work being shown in the member’s gallery. However, these non-participating gallery artists must meet the same standards as required for participating artists.
All applicants must submit:
Completed Application; Applications will be taken on line at www.bcstudiotour.com. If working in multiple media (i.e. painting and clay), images of each must be submitted.
Five (5) digital images: Three (3) images of recent work, one (1) of their studio, and one (1) of themselves at work. Digital images must be submitted annually (or every time application is made) and must be representative of the items that will be on display/for sale during the tour. All images can be uploaded to the BCST website).
$20 jury fee for new applications.
Studios will be inspected by the site committee prior to acceptance of the application. Your location will be reviewed for adequate parking, accessibility, potential problems and safety issues. Failure to address these problems in a timely fashion may result in disqualification.
Studio owners are required to have liability insurance coverage during the tours.
Participating studios are required, for the duration of the tour, to display appropriate directional road signage (provided by the BRST) leading tour guest to your studio location.
Artists contribute by paying an annual fee to help cover costs of; Marketing expenses, promotional materials, office supplies, and any materials or supplies directly related to BCST function. (BCST is a 501(c)3 and board members are not compensated.)
If a participant withdraws from the tour after the design phase of the brochure and map has begun, $75.00 will be retained from the participation fee. If the participant withdraws from the tour for any reason after brochures and posters are printed, there will be no refund.
Participating artists must have their work for sale during the entire durationof the tour.
Participating artists are required to be open during the agreed upon hours during the duration of the tour (with the exception of those who opt out on Sunday’s). In the case of schedule conflicts and emergencies participating artist should have a substitute or designate in order to remain open.
BRST holds 4 meetings and 1 social gathering/celebration each year for artists and guest artists. Attendance at these meetings helps us support one another and creates continuity for the tour. At least 3 of these 4 meetings are required for participation.
The Tour reserves the right to make the final interpretation of all rules.
Participating artists must agree to abide by the rules, policies and guidelines developed by the Studio Tour Executive Board. Failure to follow these standards and rules may result in expulsion from this year’s Tour or disqualification from participating in future tours.
While not required, participating artists are strongly encouraged to participate in promotion and marketing of the BRST tour:
Providing two pieces of work for display during the month of October (for The Hob Nob Restaurant and Convention and Visitors Bureau), and to deliver work and pick it up after the tour.
Distribution and display of map brochures promoting the tour (Posting, and reposting social media advertisements is strongly suggested).
