MEDIA CONTACT:
Vanessa Ormsby, RCA Communications Director
(361) 320-2064 / vanessa@rockportartcenter.com
ROCKPORT ART FESTIVAL PREPARES FOR ANNUAL HOLIDAY WEEKEND EVENT
Susie Black selected as 2025 event’s Master Artist
ROCKPORT, Texas (May 20, 2025) —Tickets are now on sale for the 57th annual Rockport Art Festival, presented by Salemi’s Ace Hardware. Hosted by Rockport Center for the Arts (RCA), the event will be held on the Festival Grounds at Rockport Harbor, Saturday and Sunday, July 5–6, with the Art Auction Gala on Thursday night, July 3, kicking off the holiday weekend activities.
Since its inaugural summer event in 1969, the Rockport Art Festival has become one of the largest and most celebrated annual art events in the U.S., with an estimated 10,000 attendees and more than 120 juried artists from across the country participating each year. A complete list of participating artists will be available for viewing on the event website at rockportartfest.com.
“For more than half a century, the Rockport Art Festival has been a tradition over the July Fourth weekend on Aransas Bay,” said Karen Ernst, chairperson of Art Fest. "It’s such a lively, vibrant atmosphere drawing attendees from throughout the Coastal Bend and beyond to enjoy a weekend of music, food and creativity as they can view and purchase the work of more than 100 talented artisans.”
Art Fest hours are July 5 from 10 a.m.–6 p.m., and July 6 from 10 a.m.–5 p.m., on the Festival Grounds at Rockport Harbor, located at 1500 E. Laurel, adjacent to Rockport Beach Park and Aransas Bay. Attendees can enjoy many other activities throughout the festival weekend, including various food and drink options, live music inside an air-conditioned 14,000-square-foot tent, and a children’s activity tent featuring craft activities, face painting and live musical entertainment.
Known for her unique textile and gelli print works of art, Susie Black is the 33rd artist honored as the Rockport Art Festival Master Artist, a tradition that began in 1993 with Harold Phenix. As Master Artist, she is featured in a June 7–July 27 solo exhibition, “For the Love of Fabric,” presented by IBC Bank, in RCA’s H-E-B Gallery, coinciding with Art Fest. Black is providing an original piece of art for the annual Art Auction Gala on July 3, which will also feature work from previous master artists, with an edition of 50 fine art prints of Black’s piece on archival paper created by Hare and Hound Press of San Antonio, Texas, available for purchase. Held each year since 1993 as the kickoff to Art Fest, and always a sellout, the patron event takes place in an air-conditioned big top tent on the Festival Grounds and includes several auctions, live music, and a catered dinner.
The Art Festival Store will also be open throughout the weekend with a variety of items for purchase, such as the highly sought-after event T-shirts, designed each year by a Rockport-Fulton Middle School student, including this year’s winning artist, Kayden Schwering.
In addition to providing an economic boon for Rockport–Fulton and surrounding Aransas County, Art Fest is also the biggest fundraiser of the year for RCA. Together, the festival and auction help provide funding for the many free to low-cost RCA visual arts and educational programs hosted year-round.
Tickets to the festival weekend are available online, in person at RCA before the event weekend, and on event days at the festival. Single-day festival tickets are priced at $10 per day for ages 13 and up (12 and under are free), with two-day festival VIP Passes available for $15 each, providing pre-opening access to the festival on both days starting at 9 a.m.
Sponsors and supporters of the 57th Annual Rockport Art Festival include:
Presenting Sponsor: Salemi’s Ace Hardware
Sustainer Sponsors: American Bank, GSM Insurors
Patron Sponsors: Baker Law, First Community Bank, Frost Banking Investments Insurance, H-E-B Helping Here, IBC Bank, Key Allegro Real Estate/Brett Bohn, Key Allegro Real Estate/John Kidwell, Prosperity Bank, Teal Construction Company
Other Sponsors: Welder Leshin LLP
Government Support: City of Rockport, Aransas County, Texas Commission on the Arts
For more information or to purchase tickets for the Rockport Art Festival, please visit rockportartfest.com or call (361) 729-5519.
About Rockport Art Festival Master Artists, 1993–present
1993 Harold Phenix †; 1994 Steve Russell (Founding member of the Rockport Art Association, Inc.); 1995 Al Barnes †; 1996 Herb Booth †; 1997 Jesus Moroles †; 1998 Evelyn Atkinson; 1999 Ricardo Rivera †; 2000 Kay Barnebey †; 2001 Jim Offeman; 2002 Flint Reed; 2003 Anita Diebel; 2004 Thom Evans †; 2005 Carol Koutnik; 2006 Hal McCaskill †; 2007 Nanci Barnes; 2008 Teresa Justice; 2009 Lisa Baer Frederick; 2010 Shirley Hughes Blackman; 2011 Betty Shamel; 2012 Bruce Bitter; 2013 Bonnie Lou Prouty †; 2014 Pamela Fulcher; 2015 Chance Yarbrough; 2016 Joey Blazek; 2017 Barb Robinson; 2018 Debbie Stevens; 2019 Angalee DeForest; 2020 V… Vaughan; 2021 Robin Hazard; 2022 Jeffrey Neel McDaniel; 2023 Kent Ullberg; 2024 Patsy Lindamood; and 2025 Susie Black Legend: † Deceased
###