Now in its 21st year, Artisphere continues to bring arts, culture, and unique experiences to the Upstate year after year.
The Artisphere Story
Founded in 2003, Artisphere’s mission is to create a nationally recognized Fine Arts festival that enhances the quality of life and economic vitality in South Carolina.
The 20th Anniversary of Artisphere in 2024 was a huge success! Artist applications were just under 1100, artists’ sales reached a record high total of $2.6 million, attendance neared 100,000 and economic impact grossed an astounding $14.1 million.
Partnerships are a core element of Artisphere’s success, and the festival has a rich history of collaborating with a host of Greenville’s non-profit arts organizations. Since 2005, Artisphere has given back, in the way of stipends, awards, and contributions, over $275,000 to local groups like SC Children’s Theatre, Greenville Chorale, and SC Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities to name just a few.
Other key components of festival programming are educational collaborations that reach a diverse age range from young children to young adults and budding arts professionals. Kidsphere invites children to create free crafts, the Art Lab engages patrons of all ages in free DIY projects, and the festival’s Emerging Festival Artist Scholarship underwrites the cost for up to 3 South Carolina artists to be a part of Artist Row.
Artisphere has grown into a centerpiece of Greenville’s cultural calendar and has distinguished itself as a destination for art lovers landing on multiple “Best Art Show” lists including: #1 Best Art Festival in USA Today’s 10BEST Reader’s Choice Contest in 2024 and the #2 Art Festival in Greg Lawler’s Art Fair Sourcebook.
This year, we are thrilled to bring the 21st annual Artisphere festival back to Main Street May 9-11th, 2025.
