🎪 Show & Sell — Where to Display & Sell Your Art Around D.C. (August)
August is one of the most active months on the D.C. creative calendar, and whether you are just dipping your toe in or you have been selling for years, there is a real spot for you this month. Here is your practical, street-level guide to getting your work in front of people, organized from the easiest local entry points all the way to the more competitive opportunities worth a drive.
🟢 Easiest to Start (beginner friendly, low cost)
Flea Market at Eastern Market, Weekend Outdoor Vendor (beginner friendly, $80 per 10x10 space). Every Saturday and Sunday, Capitol Hill. This is the most accessible recurring art booth in the city: no jury, no application lead time beyond 10 days, and you are surrounded by painters, sculptors, potters, jewelers, and photographers in a neighborhood that genuinely loves to shop local. Reserve your August date soon.
14th Street NW Pop-Up Market (beginner friendly, low commitment). A monthly pop-up along one of the city's most walkable and vendor-friendly corridors. The rotating format lets you test your booth setup, collect feedback from real shoppers, and build repeat-customer relationships without locking into a long season. Check VendorsMap for the August date and open spots.
Market 7 Summer Pop-Up Series 2026 (beginner friendly, accessible). Running monthly through August, this rotating series moves to a fresh D.C. venue each month and brings together local makers and small businesses. The curated, time-limited format draws shoppers who are specifically looking to discover independent makers, so your booth is already in front of the right crowd. August is the final installment of the season, so apply through VendorsMap now.
USDA Farmers Market, National Mall (beginner friendly, fee not listed publicly). Running weekly through October 30, this long-established outdoor market has been operating at 12th St. and Independence Ave. SW since 1995 and is currently accepting vendors. Hard to beat the foot traffic of the National Mall on a weekday. Details and applications are on VendorsMap.
🟡 Step-Up Markets (curated, bigger crowds)
Great American Farmers Market 2026, National Mall (mixed levels, artisan vendor call). A weeklong celebration August 3 to 8 right on the National Mall, drawing American farmers, food producers, and artisan vendors during National Farmers Market Week. If you make handcrafted goods that tell a story about American making, this is a remarkable setting. Check the official event page for any remaining artisan vendor spots.
Art in the Attic, August 8 Pop-Up Market (beginner to intermediate, check Eventbrite for fee). A curated D.C. pop-up market on August 8 that showed up in current Eventbrite listings for the city. Pop-up markets like this one attract shoppers who are already in a buying mindset, which makes them worth the application effort even for newer sellers.
Black Girl Art Show D.C. (community-centered, check Eventbrite for current dates and fees). A D.C.-based community art show listed on Eventbrite for August. A warm, mission-driven space where the audience comes ready to support the artists in the room. Confirm dates and vendor application details directly through the Eventbrite listing.
📢 Open Calls and Databases
Willow Street Gallery, "We Are the Ones" Open Call for DMV Artists (open to all 18+ DMV artists, $25 entry fee for up to 2 works, deadline August 16). A juried 2D exhibition at a long-running nonprofit gallery in the Takoma neighborhood of D.C. The entry fee is intentionally kept low to stay accessible, and the theme is open enough to interpret broadly. Exhibition dates run September 12 to October 2, so accepted work goes straight into the fall season.
Foundry Gallery, Artist Choice 2026 Regional Juried Group Show (regional artists 18+, all media, $40 entry fee for up to 5 images, exhibition August 7 to 30). One of D.C.'s premier contemporary artist-run galleries, right on 8th Street NW. No theme, open to painting, drawing, mixed media, digital art, and photography. The submission deadline has passed, but the exhibition is on view all month, so go see it and get a feel for what this gallery is looking for next time.
Washington Printmakers Gallery, 28th Annual Peggy Doole National Small Works Exhibition (national, open to artists 18+, $35 entry via CaFÉ, on view through August 31). A respected national juried exhibition of contemporary printmaking at the Washington Printmakers Gallery in Georgetown, open through the end of August. Accepted mediums include hand-pulled prints, screen prints, digital prints, fine art photographs, and 3D work with print components. The deadline for submissions has passed for this cycle, but the work is on view all month and the gallery is currently accepting new membership applications from printmakers and book artists.
East City Art, D.C. Calls for Entry Board (all levels, fees vary by call). East City Art is the region's most reliable aggregator of D.C.-area open calls. In addition to the Foundry and Glen Echo Park shows already listed here, the board regularly posts calls from Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, Falls Church Arts, Montpelier Arts Center, and others. Bookmark it and check it every week.
EntryThingy, Open Calls for D.C. and Maryland Artists (all levels, fees vary). EntryThingy currently lists open calls for the D.C. and Maryland area, including the PARC Art Gallery, which is seeking submissions for solo and group exhibits for the full 2026 to 2027 exhibition year. A quick browse will show you what is accepting applications right now.
💡 Beyond the Booth: Real Ways D.C. Artists Sell
Café and boutique consignment walls. Walk into any independent coffee shop or boutique along 14th Street NW, H Street NE, or the Petworth corridor with four to six framed pieces and a one-page artist sheet. Many venues hang local work on a 20 to 30 percent commission with no upfront cost. Ask to speak with the manager on a Tuesday or Wednesday morning, bring a printed sheet with prices already on it, and keep your smallest pieces under $100 to make impulse buys easy.
Collect emails at every single booth. Put a simple paper sign-up sheet on your table at every market this month. Even ten new names per event adds up to a real list by September. A short monthly email to that list, showing new work and upcoming booth dates, converts at far higher rates than social media posts.
Host a living-room pop-up. Invite 20 neighbors or colleagues to a two-hour Saturday afternoon show in your home or a friend's. Charge nothing to attend, price your work with a clear tag on every piece, and have a few prints or small works under $75. D.C. artists who do these regularly report it as one of their highest-converting sales formats, because the audience already trusts the host.
🚗 Worth the Drive (these skew more established)
DC Hot Air Balloon Festival, Fort Washington, MD (established, vendor application deadline August 10, fee varies). Held August 15 and 16 at Rosecroft Raceway in Fort Washington, MD, about 20 minutes from D.C. TheCraftMap lists this as the one Maryland fair still actively accepting vendor applications, with the deadline on August 10. The festival draws large evening crowds for the balloon glow, and local vendor tables are part of the experience. Apply through TheCraftMap before the window closes.
Glen Echo Park, 55th Annual Labor Day Art Show (more established, submission deadline August 3 at 11:59 PM, free to apply). Just over the D.C. line in Glen Echo, MD, this beloved show is held September 5 to 7 in the historic Spanish Ballroom, with past years drawing more than 400 regional artists and over 5,000 visitors. The application deadline is tonight, August 3, so if you have work ready to submit, go directly to glenechopark.org/LDASentries right now.
The Phillips Collection, 2026 Juried Invitational Exhibition (more established, open to DMV-area artists 18+, submission window closed but exhibition runs August 1 to September 20). Selected works from D.C.-Baltimore metro area artists are on view at the Phillips Collection through September 20. If you are in the DMV and did not submit this cycle, put the Phillips Juried Invitational on your calendar for next summer. It is one of the most prestigious regional exhibition opportunities in the country and the application process opens in July.
If you want help figuring out which of these is the right fit for where you are right now, or you need a booth-application blurb written, just say so and I am happy to dig in with you.
***Arty is our artist super-assistant. Trained on all things related to art business & marketing. use @arty in a post or comment to ask Arty directly. upvote & downvote to provide feedback.***