CALL FOR ARTISTS
2026 Registration is open August 6-21!
Please read below and contact us if you have any questions. Thank You!
The Durango Studio Tour provides artists an opportunity to showcase their creative work environment with the public by way of a professional, well-publicized, and anticipated event. In turn, the tour exposes the cultural backbone of the area for citizens and visitors to engage in and participate in the arts. If you are an artist within the Greater Durango Area, with a Durango zip code (81301 or in the Shenandoah/Lake Durango/Hesperus neighborhoods with split zip codes), we welcome you to participate in the tour! If you have questions and would like to talk, call Cindy Atchison at 970-769-1116, or email us at durangoopenstudiotour@gmail.com.
REGISTRATION:
Once you apply and submit payment you’ll fill out a registration form. Be sure to look over our media kit to share the event with your family, friends and contacts! Once registered, you will receive our media kit along with details on how to best use it to share this event with family and friends. The Tour invests more than $500 per artist in print and digital advertising, radio ads and interviews, map brochures, postcards, banners, posters, yard signs, calendar events, social media posts, email campaigns, Meta ads, and more. Click here to see the 2025 advertising statistics.
SCHOLARSHIPS:
Are you an emerging artist, an artist of color, an artist that identifies as Two Spirit or LGBTQIA+, or who otherwise wouldn’t able to afford the registration fee? The scholarship opportunity may be for you! Click to read more about our scholarships. Email your application to durangoopenstudiotour@gmail.com. If you're not awarded a scholarship after you apply, you may still register for the tour.
DURANGO OPEN STUDIO TOUR TERMS & CONDITIONS:
To participate in the tour as an artist, you must commit to present in your studio both Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18 from 10am - 4pm, and have a studio that primarily showcases your studio life and artwork. Read all terms and conditions below.
To register, please complete the following four steps below:
1
Review the terms & conditions (below) to ensure Durango Open Studio Tour is a good fit for you and your studio.
3
After payment is received, within 2 days you'll receive a link to our registration form and art upload page. Please fill out completely and upload art.
4
Start creating beauty for the Durango Open Studio Tour and spreading the word with graphics and text from our Media Kit.
Tour Registration
2026 Registration is open August 6-21!
2026 registration fee $150
Please contact us if you have any questions. Thank You!
Artist Registration Benefits:
-
$150
-
Artist listing on the Durango Open Studio Tour website (name, business name, brief description, address, phone, one social link, one image)
-
Name, address, and text listing in the printed brochure/map
-
Yard sign for your studio
-
Inclusion in the Friday, October 2 Opening Exhibition at the Durango Creative District (one piece)
-
Comprehensive media kit to support your self-promotion
-
Social media spotlight on the Durango Open Studio Tour Facebook and Instagram pages
DURANGO OPEN STUDIO TOUR TERMS & CONDITIONS:
ARTISTS: must be committed to show during all event hours, both Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18, 2026 from 10am - 4pm. Artwork and prints must be original in design and created by the applicant. Artwork must be professional quality. Each artist must accompany his own work during the Durango Open Studio Tour.
OPENING EXHIBITION: All artists are invited to the Opening Exhibition at Durango Creative District on October 2, 2026. Participation is optional, though strongly encouraged. This event is a festive kickstart to the tour and is an additional opportunity for artists and tour goers to connect.
OPENING ART EXHIBITION ARTWORK: Artists may hang one piece in the Opening Exhibition on October 2, 2026. Drop off art at Durango Creative District, 1135 Main Ave, Durango, on September 30, 2026 between 1-5pm, and pickup is October 30 between 1-5pm. All art must have wire for hanging (no sawtooth hangers). Have Name, Title , Medium, Price (if for sale), and Contact info (email and/or phone) taped securely on the back of your art. It is up to the artist to have insurance for their art displayed at the Durango Creative District Opening Art Exhibition. If artwork is for sale, Durango Creative District will take a 20% commission on artworks sold in the gallery. They will handle payment and disperse checks within 30 days of the close of the exhibition. Purchased art will be exhibited at Durango Creative District until the end of the Opening Art Exhibition.
EVENT FEES: Registration Fee: $150 ($140 for returning artists). Registration fees are non-refundable.
PARTICIPATION: The Durango Open Studio Tour (“DOST”) is a fiscal project of the Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado (“SWCF”). Each artist represents, warrants and acknowledges that they are an independent participant and are solely responsible for the operation and safety of their studio or exhibition space, their artwork, equipment, personal property, employees, volunteers, invitees and guests. Participation in the Durango Open Studio Tour is voluntary and at the artist's own risk. Neither DOST, SWCF, their respective directors, officers, employees, volunteers, contractors, sponsors, nor representatives guarantee any level of attendance, publicity, sales, financial benefit, or business outcome resulting from artist’s participation.
ARTIST STUDIO: Each Artist must show in his/her own studio or exhibition location and are responsible for compliance with all applicable federal, state and local laws, regulations and safety requirements. Artist's studio property should be safe, clean, welcoming and orderly. All Artist Registrants must have a studio within the Greater Durango Area, with a Durango zip code (81301 or in the Shenandoah/Lake Durango/Hesperus neighborhoods, which are partially in 81301). Commercial storefronts and/or showrooms that are regularly open to the public during business hours are not eligible to participate, unless the artist’s primary studio is within the storefront area. Please make sure the roads to your studio are accessible with no parking restriction and your neighbors are willing to cooperate with the large number of visitors.
INSURANCE: Artists are responsible to determine whether they have adequate insurance and whether to obtain addition liability, property, or other event insurance appropriate for their individual circumstances and studio or exhibition locations to cover any claims that could occur.
NO ALCOHOL: The Durango Open Studio Tour and The Community Foundation do not authorize or consent to the service, sale, or consumption of alcoholic beverages at participating studios or exhibition locations by artists nor is there any insurance coverage provided for this type of activity. Accordingly, artists will not make alcoholic beverages available to visitors, guests or invitees as part of the Tour. All artists agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless, Durango Open Studio Tour, The Community Foundation, and their respective officers, directors, employees, volunteers, contractors, sponsors and representatives, for any breach of this provision and any related claims for damages, injuries, losses, and expenses including attorney’s fees and costs.
LIABILITY AND INDEMNIFICATION: The Durango Open Studio Tour and its fiscal sponsor The Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado are not responsible for any artists’ financial expectations or business outcomes that may result from participation in the event or any damages, including but not limited to, theft, losses, personal injuries or property damage sustained by the Artist or any third parties (including those of guests and invitees) at any artist’s studio or the Smiley Building. To the fullest extent permitted by law, each participating artist assumes all risks associated with their participation in the Tour and agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless, Durango Open Studio Tour, The Community Foundation, and their respective officers, directors, employees, volunteers, contractors, sponsors and representatives, from any and all third- party claims in connection the event including but not limited to all losses, damages, reasonable attorney fees and costs.
TAXES: Artists are responsible for collecting and paying to Colorado Department of Revenue, Colorado Sales Tax, Durango City Tax, and La Plata County Tax. Contact your accountant for details to see if you would qualify as a hobbyist or need to pay sales tax.
PROMOTION: Artists are encouraged to invite your own email contacts, advertise your own demonstrations, and advertise on your social media channels with the graphics provided in the media kit.
IMAGES: Artists agree to release the use of images to Durango Open Studio Tour as a permanent record of the exhibition and for promotional use relating to the tour. Images should be the best representative examples of what you will be showing at the Studio Tour. “Image1” will be used as an image for the Artist page of the website. The Durango Studio Tour reserves the right to reject any work it considers unsuitable. For best image quality, please submit jpeg RGB images that are 1280px in height or width at 72dpi.
SCHOLARSHIPS: If you an emerging artist, an artist of color, an artist that identifies as 2SLGBTQIA+, or an artist who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford the registration fee, you may apply for a scholarship to cover registration fees. To receive information about the scholarship application process, review this pdf or email durangoopenstudiotour@gmail.com.
CONTACT: Please contact durangoopenstudiotour@gmail.com for questions or further information.
ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS: By registering to be an artist participant in the Tour, the artist acknowledges they have read and understand these terms and conditions and agree to comply with all the provisions.
Thank you for joining us!