Arts Alive Gallery Exhibition 2026

The Arts Alive Gallery Exhibition is a highlight of the Arts Alive Festival, opening the third weekend in May and running through the month of June. This juried exhibit features artists from across the southeastern United States, with the galleries of the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts filled each year with works representing a wide array of genres and media. Artists utilize diverse materials from the traditional to the modern, with recent award winners including pen-and-ink drawing, textile art, wooden furniture, and kudzu vine sculpture.

The juried exhibition opens on May 16, 2026 and runs through June 26, 2026, with works viewed by thousands of visitors. Each year more than a dozen prizes are awarded to exhibited works, with prize money totaling more than $5,000. Open to all artists 18 years of age and older residing in the United States, Mexico, and Canada working in painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, textiles, mixed media, metal, clay, glass, jewelry, photography, wood, and other materials. Up to three pieces may be submitted for consideration by each artist for a $45 jury fee.

All submissions must be original work completed within the last five years, framed and ready to hang, and must be for sale as all exhibited works incur a 25% commission. Artwork must be delivered to the Art Center by May 4, 2026 and picked up no later than July 3, 2026. The purpose of the Arts Alive Festival is to raise money for the sponsorship of workshops and scholarships for art teachers and students in northwest Alabama.