An Art Buck is a certificate that you buy BEFORE the festival, and use to buy art DURING the festival. When you buy an Art Buck you actually receive two items: The Art Buck certificate, and a Patron Award. When you purchase art at the festival, you present the artist with both the award and the certificate. They will proudly display the award in their tent and redeem the Art Buck certificate for cash.

At The Arts Festival of Carrollton, a patron is anyone who commits ahead of time to “go shopping” at our festival in October. Patrons can buy Art Bucks for themselves or as a gift for a friend or family member (essentially a “Gift Certificate” to buy art).

Art Bucks are purchased at the Carrollton Center for the Arts or online (artsfestivalofcarrollton.com) prior to the festival in denominations of $50. On the first day of the festival (Saturday), patrons pick up their Art Bucks and Patron Awards at the Information Booth. Patrons then visit artists’ booths and select a piece of art to purchase. Present the Art Bucks and the award to the artist and take your art! Artists will proudly display their award in their tents, and will take their Art Bucks to the Carrollton Center for the Arts to exchange for cash. Artists receive 100% of the money from Patron Purchase sales.

Art Bucks can be combined with other forms of payment if needed. For example, if you have $200 worth of Art Bucks, and the art you wish to purchase is $250, you would give the artist the $200 in Art Bucks, plus $50 in cash or other form of payment.

Think about Art Bucks as an awesome art savings account, because you can buy them throughout the year! If you buy one or two each month between now and October, you could build up purchasing power to buy more art than might be possible if you had not been “saving” for months. You could not only purchase art for your home or business, but also buy gifts for friends and loved ones.

Patrons receive an invitation to the Festival Patron cocktail reception on Friday evening, the day before the festival begins. You will have the opportunity to meet the artists and mingle with many other supporters of the arts.

A well-funded Art Bucks Program demonstrates community support for the festival. When artists are deciding which festivals to participate in each year they often look at the amount of money committed to purchase art in prior years. A strong Art Bucks Program attracts top artists from across the country. This in turn improves the quality of art displayed at the festival and consequently strengthens Carrollton’s reputation as a destination for art enthusiasts; thus bringing visitors and support to our community during the festival and throughout the year.