The Emerging Artist program was created to recognize the talent of young local artists and to offer them the prospect of being a part of an international award-winning fine art festival. By being accepted into the program, visual art students have the privilege of displaying their work at the Charles W. Eisemann Center during the month of April and the rare and maybe first opportunity of selling their work, alongside Cottonwood’s slate of professional and renown artists. The knowledge they receive from this experience is invaluable and is a respectable introduction to a career in art.

Now in its seventeenth year, the program is an innovative and resourceful tool that mentors students in the art world. Students are encouraged to express themselves artistically and learn the process of exhibiting. The uniqueness of Cottonwood Art Festival’s Emerging Artists program is that it is only available to senior high school art students. Interested students are required to develop an art concept, an artist statement and produce images of their work. Their work in total is submitted to their teacher for review and then sent in for jury to the Cottonwood Art Festival.

Neighborhood Credit Union sponsors this outreach program; it is through their generosity that students are afforded an opportunity to exhibit not only at the Eisemann Center and sell their work at the Cottonwood Art Festival, but they are also given placement awards along with scholarship money towards their post-secondary education. 

For additional information on the Emerging Artist Program email cottonwood@cor.gov.