The Wickford Art Association is pleased to announce this year’s artist line up for the much anticipated return of the annual Wickford Art Festival, which is set to take place Saturday, July 10, and Sunday, July 11.

After being canceled for the first time in 57 years due to COVID-19, the festival is back this summer but in a new location at Wilson Park within Wickford Village and will host 180 fine artists. The event is free and open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

The Wickford Art Festival is a juried fine art show. Works by new and returning artists every three years are juried on originality, workmanship and professional presentation. This year’s Jury Committee was composed of Wickford Art Association juried artist members with backgrounds in oil, photography, woodworking, medal, fine jewelry and a variety of other mediums and plus impressive educational backgrounds and studies. Jurors look for high-level fine art (non-functional or functional) that is unique, excels in design and shows an interesting and commanding use of material.

Artists slated to exhibit at this year’s festival will showcase fine art in a variety of mediums, including ceramics, wood, wearable and decorative fiber, furniture, fine jewelry, drawing, etching, glass, mixed media, painting (watercolors, oil, gouache, acrylic), photography, printmaking, pyrography and sculptures.

Of the 180 artists, 63 are local Rhode Islanders, with the rest joining from across New England, plus New York, Florida, Alabama, Arizona, Maryland, Virginia, Minnesota, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The festival is also pleased to host two Wickford Art Association Scholarship recipients – Page Sullivan of Portsmouth High School and Ella Rose of Cranston West High School.

Visit the Wickford Art Association website, wickfordart.org, for the complete list of this year’s exhibiting artists and more details on the festival. If interested in volunteering for the festival, digital advertising or nonprofit booth spaces, contact the festival director, Ainslie Daly, at wickfordartfestival@gmail.com.