Art Clash is back for 2026!

Art Clash is the largest live painting competition in the Fox Valley! Audience members vote for two winners from each clash. The eight finalists will come together in our City Final on June 27th, 2026.

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New This Year: We have adjusted the voting system and changed how artists make it to the final round on a given evening.

• Each Round the audience gets to vote for their two favorite paintings.

• After each Preliminary Round a number of artists are eliminated based on voting results (number dependent on total number of artists competing).

• The second round eliminations are based on the cumulative voting of both preliminary rounds.

• In the final round, the previous points are wiped, and anyone still painting can win.
  
  CASH PRIZES!
  
  DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO CLASH?
  
  Paint, canvases, cleaning supplies, and easels will be and must be provided by Side Street Studio Arts. We know some would like to include other mark making tools, such as markers, and they are allowed as long as they are provided by Side Street. You are welcome to request such things ahead of time; we will do what we can, but keep in mind, the main focus of this competition is painting, and we can not guarantee we can provide specific tools.
  You are welcome to bring your own brushes, but no special equipment, tools, or supplies.

 

Art Clash Dates:

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February 21 - Love and Hate

March 21 - Timelapse

April 11 - Illusion

May 16 - Verdant

City Final - June 27 - Themes To Be Determined by wheel spin the night of.

 

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Typical Schedule/Info:

6:45pm Artists arrive

ROUND 1

• 7:10-7:30pm  - Artists have 20 minutes to paint

• Following this round, paintings will be put on display for audience bidding and voting

• Audiences will vote for their two favorite of the round

• 7:40pm Voting Closes

Round #2

• 7:45-8:05pm - Non-eliminated artists have 20 minutes to paint

• Following this round, paintings will be put on display for audience bidding and voting

• Audiences will vote for their two favorite of the round

• 8:10pm Round #2 Voting Closes

• 8:15pm Audience vote announced - top four cumulative vote getters from Round 1 and 2 move on to the final round

Round #3

• 8:25-8:50pm - four top vote getters from the previous rounds have 25 minutes to paint

• 9:05pm Voting and Bidding closes

Final Announcement 

• 9:10pm The two top vote getters announced, these artists move on to our City Final on June 27.

• All works will be up for on-site auction, starting at $50

• Any sales will be split 50/50 between SSSA and the artist (artwork remaining unsold after 2026 becomes the property of SSSA)

• You will receive payment by the 15th of the next month

• Any works that don’t sell will be on display for sale either in our MADE retail store, at Side Street or the rest of our Art Clash events in 2026. You will receive payment for those sales as they are made.

• Art sold in MADE will be subject to Tax and applicable Credit Card fees.

• Top vote getter of the night receives a cash prize based on the suggested donations at the door. More people who attend, the bigger the cash prizes!!!

All events will be held upstairs at Side Street (not wheelchair accessible) located at 15 1/2 Ziegler Ct., downtown Elgin.

 

NEW FOR 2026

This program is offered on a Pay What You Can basis to keep our doors open and our community creative.
$18 reflects the true cost of this program, but you’re welcome to pay more or less based on your circumstances. If $18 would be a stretch, please contribute what you can. If you’re able to give a little more, your support helps ensure these programs remain accessible to others. Every contribution—at any level—helps sustain the space and the work happening here.

(artists do not have to pay to compete)

 

 

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