Participation requires availability for all three tour days: Friday 2 to 7 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am to 4 pm.  This ensures a consistent and enriching experience for all participants and is vital for the creation of our marketing materials and maps. 

Art enthusiasts planning to attend expect the studios to be open during these times, often traveling long distances to enjoy the event. By working together, we can ensure a positive experience for visitors and support our fellow artists. 

Participation requires an active showcase of artistic process. Acceptable formats include live painting or making, video documentation, display of works in progress, and tools. Sales are welcome and encouraged,  but the studio experience should lead. Studios that function primarily as retail or display spaces, without a meaningful process component, do not meet CAST's participation criteria.

* This includes artists who organize to show in another artist's space

We warmly welcome artists from outside Calgary to participate if their primary studio is within a 50km radius of Calgary City Centre. Each participating artist must have their regular home base within this radius, even if collaborating with others and/or using an alternate location for the tour.

Locations within 50Km of Calgary’s center: Cochrane, Bearspaw, Airdrie, Crossfield, Balzac, Chestermere, Langdon, Indus, Strathmore, Okotoks, De Winton, Priddis, Millarville, Bragg Creek.

To ensure a smooth and enjoyable experience during the CAST event, please verify your home or business insurance includes the necessary coverage for this occasion. By completing the Artist Application and agreeing to the liability waiver, you acknowledge your responsibility to have the appropriate insurance in place for the duration of the tour. This helps us create a safe environment while allowing the CAST committee to focus on celebrating the arts!

When artists come together in a collaborative studio, each participant is expected to actively showcase their creative practice — through live work, video, works in progress, or similar. The combined presence of multiple artists is an opportunity to offer tour-goers richer insight into process, not simply a larger sales floor. Sales are welcome and encouraged, but the studio experience should lead. Collaborative spaces that function primarily as retail or display do not meet CAST's participation criteria. 

Additionally:

- Artists are responsible for initiating and confirming their own collaborative arrangements.

- Each artist must complete the application and pay the $75 fee by the February 28th deadline

- Each artist's primary studio must be within a 50km radius of downtown Calgary.

An artist's website is a vital tool for creatives as it allows you to showcase your work, market to new audiences, gain a following, and make connections and sales.  CAST aims to build relationships between professional artists and the public, and having a website helps achieve this goal.

Websites are more reliable than social media, which can bury posts in feeds or change how content is shown. A website provides a stable place where visitors can consistently find artists' work, bios, and contact details both before and after the tour. It also ensures all participating artists present a consistent, professional presence for visitors, collectors, and media who may be discovering them for the first time.

Please note: We require that artist websites be standalone platforms that provide a comprehensive overview of the artist’s portfolio, biography, artist statement, and contact information. Websites that function solely as online stores, such as Etsy and similar platforms, do not meet these criteria, as they do not adequately represent the artist’s individual brand or artistic journey.

If you don't have a website you can use a free CANVA account to easily create one for yourself!

To enhance your visibility as an artist, it’s essential to have a dedicated Instagram or Facebook account focused solely on your art practice. Please note that personal accounts or alternate business accounts, even if you occasionally post your art, will not be accepted. 

Our CAST volunteers are here to support you with marketing graphics, engaging reels, and posts to share, along with helpful wording for your newsletters. Together, through collaboration and co-promotion, we can effectively spread the word about the exciting CAST event and reach a wider audience!

At CAST, a "home studio" doesn't have to be a formal space. We understand that many artists work from various locations, whether it's a kitchen table, a corner of a room, or anywhere else that inspires creativity— and that's perfectly fine! To showcase your status as an active artist on the CAST tour, we encourage you to set up a small “working space,” complete with a demo or display of your artistic practice. This setup is a wonderful opportunity to spark conversations about your creative process and share your passion with visitors!

CAST sells reusable lawn signs for $10 each. We strongly recommend using signage to guide drivers and pedestrians from key entry points in your neighborhood. Effective signage significantly improves the ability of visitors to locate your location during the self-guided tour. Attendees feel more comfortable knocking at your door when there is a sign in the yard welcoming them. 

You may buy as many signs as you think are necessary to successfully direct attendees to your address. Purchase quantities are unlimited; however, sign orders close on March 7th, one week after registration closes. 

Each CAST sign includes a base that can be secured in the ground. The signage is intended to be used annually, with an addendum for altered dates and hours.

Signs will be ready for pickup one week before the event. To keep costs down, signs are purchased in bulk for the event, and all artist participants will receive an email with pickup details.