Applications are open for the Emerging Artists Program!

If you are new to the Best of the Northwest shows, please consider applying to this program on Zapplication. The 2025 winner/s will take part in the Best of the Northwest Spring show, April 12 & 13. Join our mailing list to get notifications about requests for applications HERE.

About the Emerging Artists Program

If you are an up-and-coming artist and have not exhibited at the Best of the Northwest shows before, consider applying for the Emerging Artist Program. You may apply for both the Spring show and the Emerging Artist Program. See more about the Best of the Northwest Spring show HERE

Emerging artists are the future of tomorrow’s art, but it’s not always an easy path. We designed our Emerging Artist Program (EAP) to help ease the journey from emerging artist to successful, experienced artist-business person.

Emerging artists apply for our Best of the Northwest show programs and are juried separately but using criteria similar to our other event artists. The EAP artist(s) is selected and paired with a Northwest Art Alliance legacy artist who acts as a mentor. The EAP artist is awarded a booth space free of charge (including pole, drape and electricity) in the Best of the Northwest Spring show and features prominently in show promotional materials. You are invited to the free pizza dinner on load-in day with your fellow artists.

One or two winners are paired with a NW Art Alliance legacy artist mentor. The mentor will be an experienced BNW artist who can share their expertise and help the emerging artist prepare for the event by being available to answer questions and “show them the ropes” of participating in the premier art and fine craft show in Seattle. The mentor will donate their time for 6 weeks preceding the show to their protege to help them prepare for their BNW debut.

What is the definition of an Emerging Artist?
“An emerging artist is an artist that has mastered the basic techniques in her/his art form and who is attempting to launch a professional career in the arts or an artist taking his/her established career in a new direction.”

PLEASE NOTE- All mediums are allowed to jury, EXCEPT JEWELRY.

2024 EAP WINNERS

Rosie Port and Sarah Silverman-Pucci

Congratulations to the artists selected by the EAP Committee as recipients of the EAP Award. Our Board Members will begin mentoring these artists - offering feedback, answering questions, and informing them about ‘best practices’ for showing art at shows in the PNW. Be sure to stop by the Spring Show, April 13 & 14 to see Rose Port and Sarah Silverman-Pucci in their first Best of the Northwest Show.

2023 EAP Winners

Lee Morrison-

“Using abstraction, I paint colorful, fractal forests. The forest series is created by painting layers to achieve eye-catching, fragmented, glass-like effects. My art pays homage to the trees and to nature, which continuously cradles and challenges us individually and collectively. When viewing one of my paintings, I aim to show the moment when perspectives both collide and coalesce, catering to the idea that we perceive this world through our own unique colored lenses.” See more of Lee’s artwork by clicking HERE

Magali Lenarczak-

“My inspiration stems from many places, from the mundane to a more personal event; Also, I have a complex imagination and draw from subconscious guidance. I paint with watercolors on Yupo, a synthetic substrate; the plastic-like, sleek surface allows me to get my whites back. I use found objects that make an imprint, handmade stencils, stamps, watercolor pencils, brushes, and rollers, to name a few.” See more of Magali’s artwork by clicking HERE

Some of our past EAP Winners: