Overview Art on the Square is a juried fine art show that takes over the Public Square in downtown Belleville, Illinois, each May, and by the festival's own count the Art Fair Source Book has ranked it first or second in the nation more than 10 times. Roughly 100 artists set up booths around the Veterans Memorial Fountain over the weekend after Mother's Day, and admission is free. The show began in 2002 in Belleville, in the greater St. Louis area. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit runs it with an all-volunteer board and committees, and hundreds of community volunteers work the weekend. On site The show opens on a Friday evening and runs through Sunday afternoon. Artists are juried into 11 media, from ceramics, glass and jewelry to printmaking, photography, sculpture and wood. Local musicians play the Wine Court, Cafe on the Square brings in area restaurants and food trucks, and children make their own pieces in the Children's Art Garden. The High School Art Competition hangs its own exhibit, and artists give demonstrations through the weekend. Meals, snacks and water are delivered to the artists' booths, and Belleville Police guard the square around the clock. In 2024 a shuttle looped between the square and the Scheel Street MetroLink station. Audience Buying starts before the gates open. Art Cash, the festival's pre-event sales program, guaranteed artists more than $120,000 in sales in 2019 and $115,000 in 2021. Schools shop the show as well: each school in the Art Purchase Program gets $1,000 to $2,000 in Art Cash, and a student panel, supervised by a teacher, spends it on work at the May show and meets the artists who made it. Track record Artist awards reached $32,000 for 2026, with a $5,000 Best of Show, up from $30,500 and a $4,000 Best of Show in 2022. The festival tells artists it backs the show with regional advertising worth $100,000 or more. Proceeds go to arts programs in southwestern Illinois, among them Sculpture in the City, which has placed more than 60 permanent public works, and an Artist in Residence program. Brand presence The festival's 2026 site listed the City of Belleville as production sponsor, Allsup as presentation sponsor and the Memorial Foundation as sponsor of the artist awards. A sponsor can put its name on a festival area or program, with a headline banner for that area on the website, and add a promotional booth, a logo on the banner at the Veterans Memorial Fountain and an ad in the program guide. Hospitality runs through the festival's own parties: the Poster Preview Party, Affair on the Square, Top of the Square and a Wine Dinner. Sponsors also receive signed Art on the Square posters and a city-loaned art piece to display for the year.