Art Fair on the Square is held annually on the first full weekend following Independence Day. In 2026, Art Fair on the Square is July 11 and 12.

Art Fair on the Square takes place in Madison, Wisconsin on the four streets surrounding the State Capitol of Wisconsin, AS WELL AS along the first block of the streets radiating off the Capitol Square.

Art Fair Off the Square is a separate art fair organized by the Wisconsin Alliance of Artists and Craftspeople and located south of the Capitol Square. For more information about Art Fair Off the Square, visit artcraftwis.org/art-fair-off-the-square

Art Fair on the Square is a fundraiser for the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) and all proceeds support free admission and educational programming at the Museum all year long.

Applications for Art Fair on the Square open in mid-November and close in March. For the 2026 Art Fair on the Square, applications open on November 17, 2025, and close on March 31, 2026.

A non-refundable application fee of $40 is due via credit card at the time of application.

Accepted artists will pay $710 for a 10 x 10 foot booth.

All applications are reviewed by independent jurors. To ensure a timely and equitable review process, we do not allow late applications. Please be sure to check back in November to apply for Art Fair on the Square next year.

Applications must be submitted online through the website Zapplication.

https://www.zapplication.org/event-info.php?ID=13724

Applicants will need to submit a total of four images.

Three (3) images that are representative of your work 

One (1) image that clearly shows an example of your booth setup.

Artwork will be evaluated on the criteria of skill, originality, impact, and design. 

Artwork shown in your booth shot should be representative of your current work and fit within the category you wished to be judged in.

Do not submit written or printed materials as they will not be considered by the jury.

You should select the category that you believe best represents the majority of your artwork. You also may submit two individual applications, one in each category, each with their own application fee.

This special category is intended for artists with little or no experience in exhibiting and selling work at an art fair. 

This includes; early career artists residing in the Midwest, graduate students, recent graduates, artist apprentices, and artists working with new media or non-traditional materials not typically offered at the event. Emerging artists may not have not exhibited at any juried art fair more than 5 times prior to applying for this category. 

Accepted artists in this category pay a reduced application and booth fee. All accepted artists in this category will be located on the sidewalk of the 100 block of State Street.

Artists that won awards at the 2025 fair, who were invited back to attend the 2026 fair must still submit an application via Zappication, a registration form, and tax form at mmoca.org/taxform. Information and a coupon code for the jury fee will be sent by email in late-November.

Best of Show artists must apply, pay for their 2nd booth space (if a double space is wanted), and submit registration and tax forms by December 31, 2025 to confirm that they are committed to attending.

Invitational artists must apply, pay for their booth spaces, and submit registration and tax forms by December 31, 2025 to confirm that they are committed to attending.

A separate application for food vendors and entertainers is available online in March.

The initial round of artist invitations will be sent via email before the end of March.

Email artfair@mmoca.org that you wish to withdraw your application for the Art Fair. We will then mark it as ‘withdrawn’ on Zapplication.

All applications are reviewed and scored independently by a panel of jurors. Those scores are aggregated, and the highest-scoring applicants by category are invited first. Because the jurors rotate every year, the selected artists change, allowing space for varied artists to exhibit at Art Fair on the Square. While you may not have been selected this year we encourage you to apply again next year.

All applications are reviewed and scored independently by a panel of jurors. Those scores are then aggregated, and the highest-scoring applicants by category are invited first. If you are on the waiting list, it means there was not enough space to include you in the first round of invitations. As space opens up, we invite the next highest scored participants.

Often, invited artists are unable to participate in Art Fair on the Square due to various personal reasons. When that happens, we invite the next highest-scoring applicants. The timeframe can range from months before to the morning of Art Fair on the Square. Unfortunately, we are unable to tell you your exact spot on the waiting list. Please refrain from asking for status updates by telephone and email.