Our Mission

Artica provides a platform to celebrate the creative spirit of St. Louis culminating in our annual riverfront festival.

Each year, Artica invites artists of all genres and media to honor this city's history, push creative boundaries, and engage their communities through interactive art at our annual riverfront festival. The multidisciplinary nature of Artica Festival inspires collaboration between artists and fosters the development of new, contemporary works of art. This free, unconventional art festival is the culmination of our efforts to promote the advancement of local artists year round. 

Our Principles

Art provides society with connection and context. Art promotes shared emotion and shared experience. Art communicates differences, similarities, joys, and fears. Art educates, it remembers the part and it predicts the future. Art is important. The ARTICA Festival is a celebration of this importance, one which arises from several core principles:

Everyone is a creative being

Central to the spirit of the ARTICA Festival is the affirmation that each and every person is infused with a wellspring of creativity. ARTICA nurtures the wildness and freedom for all to radically and experimentally express themselves.

COMMUNITY, COOPERATION, PARTICIPATION

Everyone is encouraged to add to the experience of the ARTICA Festival. All are welcome to volunteer. All are welcome to create. All are welcome.

OUR CURRENCY IS CREATIVITY AND PARTICIPATION

The ARTICA Festival is free to attend and nothing is bought or sold on site. Board and staff work all year to create an art and artist focused festival as a community experience. Removing the estrangement of fiscal sponsorship, transactions and advertising frees the festival to be a creative collaboration of expression and wonder.

About

Artica is a non-profit arts organization dedicated to the arts community of St. Louis with over 20 years of supporting artists and creators of all ages and backgrounds. Each year, Artica establishes an “art city” with two days of music, interactive art, multi-media installations, workshops, parades, and performances. The goal of this festival is to foster the development of new works of art inspired by the St. Louis riverfront landscape and history, stimulate creativity through participatory art projects, provide platforms for artists to share their stories and visions with the community, and to do all of this uninhibited by commerce. This is a free, all-ages event situated at the historic site of the Cotton Belt Freight Depot every October.

Calling All Artists!

Artica holds an open call for art submissions annually. Submissions are reviewed by a panel of jurors who are selected based on their commitment to community development through the arts. The approach to the selection of works featured at the festival is one of openness, inclusion, and innovation. Proposals must exhibit artistic merit and excellence as well as a clear vision for achieving the project. Financial honorariums are awarded to artists and art collectives that excel in the following areas: community involvement, interactive or participatory nature of the work, relevance to the history or culture of the site, experimental nature of the work, originality of the concept, and strength of the design. Artists are encouraged to experiment with media, techniques, and methods that might otherwise be limited.

Accessibility at Artica

Artica does its best to make the festival accessible to any and all including those with disabilities and difficulties to participate in the festival. The gate entrance and festival areas immediately inside the entrance are handicapped accessible including the drinking water, portable toilets, art installations, seating, and the Community Stage.

The fundamental nature of Artica, experiencing site-specific multi-media art in and around a site of urban decay and industrial detritus, necessitates that some locations of the festival are more difficult to get to. That being said, the staff at Artica is prepared to do everything they can to help participants get where they want to go and to experience as much of Artica as desired. We have alternative transportation available on site to help transport to and across more difficult spaces. Do not hesitate to find a staff member or volunteer to ask for assistance. The gate entrance is always attended.

Diversity at Artica

Artica, a multi-disciplinary arts organization founded to celebrate the creative community of the St. Louis region, aims to present a broad spectrum of artists, cultures and mindsets, to the greater St. Louis community.

We pledge to provide opportunity for people of all backgrounds to participate in the festival inclusive of race, ethnicity, immigration status, religion, age, geography, ability, sexual orientation and/or gender and gender-identity. In essence, we celebrate the differences and cultivate the unique spirit of each and every individual.

With our yearly festival we strive to include as diverse a group of creatives as possible, and throughout the year have community building activities and gatherings to foster our community and reinforce its growth and vigor.

OUR SPONSORS