ArtSplash 2026 Offers an All-Ages Arts Experience

ArtSplash is back! The annual event is returning to downtown Sioux City, building on the momentum of last year’s successful changes and continuing to evolve as an all-ages, full-campus celebration of art, creativity and community.

Hosted by the Sioux City Art Center, the 2026 ArtSplash Art Festival will take place Sept. 19-20. Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The Gilchrist Foundation is proud to support the Sioux City Art Center and its efforts to make the arts accessible to the community. In 2024, the Foundation awarded the Art Center a $30,000 project grant to help grow ArtSplash and support the festival’s continued evolution.

A Full Arts Experience

ArtSplash will once again make use of the entire Sioux City Art Center campus, creating opportunities for visitors to experience art in a variety of spaces.

Festival activities will extend throughout the Art Center’s Atrium and galleries as well as the studios of the Gilchrist Learning Center. The full-campus approach allows ArtSplash to bring together art, artists and the community while showcasing the spaces that support creativity and arts education throughout the year.

The extended Saturday hours will also return, giving visitors the opportunity to enjoy ArtSplash into the evening in a more relaxed, adult-oriented atmosphere.

Alongside the art vendors, the festival will also feature live music and food vendors.

The Sioux City Art Center is looking forward to welcoming the community back for another memorable weekend of creativity and connection.

Hannah Demma: 2026 Signature Artist

Demma is a multimedia artist based in Lincoln, Nebraska, working primarily in papermaking. She earned her BFA (2017) and MFA (2022) from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with an emphasis on printmaking and experimental processes. Hannah’s work combines studio practice with collaborative projects, including deep mapping initiatives that explore the relationships between place, material and community. She has taught a deep mapping workshop at the Minnesota Marine Art Museum and regularly teaches papermaking at Constellation Studios. Her practice is rooted in attentive making, material exploration and creating opportunities for shared, immersive experiences.

Supporting Art in Sioux City

ArtSplash is more than an annual celebration of the arts. Proceeds from the festival fund education and exhibition programs and help the Sioux City Art Center remain free to the public.

Support can be given through donations or by volunteering at the event.

The Art Center’s mission for the event aligns closely with the Gilchrist Foundation’s long-standing commitment to supporting the arts and organizations that strengthen the communities they serve. Established by Jocelyn Gilchrist, a lifelong supporter of the arts and film, the Foundation continues her legacy through grants to nonprofit organizations working in the areas of arts, wildlife and conservation and disaster relief.

Through support for projects like ArtSplash, the Gilchrist Foundation helps create opportunities for people to experience, enjoy and engage with the arts.

The Foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations that further its focus areas: arts, wildlife and conservation and disaster relief. While most grants are awarded through an annual cycle, micro-grants of up to $5,000 are available year-round for tax-exempt organizations promoting these causes.

For more information about the Foundation’s work, visit thegilchristfoundation.org.