Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a multi-day festival & symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society, 10-14 June 2026.
About the Event
Kolaj Fest New Orleans is 10-14 June 2026
Kolaj Fest returns to New Orleans on 10-14 June 2026 for a gathering of collage artists and art professionals; a multi-day festival and symposium about contemporary collage and its role in art, culture, and society; where the focus is how we celebrate and elevate the status of collage.
Presenters will lead panel discussions and explore key curatorial issues. Artists will exhibit artwork, and create special activities and demonstrations. We will meet, network, share community, camaraderie, and fellowship. We will leave armed with new ideas for our artmaking, writing, and curatorial projects, but more importantly, we will leave Kolaj Fest New Orleans prepared to champion this artform in the year to come.
Registration
With your registration for Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2026, you have access to all sessions and activities, as well as the printed program guide for the event. You also receive access to collage making and workshop spaces.
Registration: $175 | Early Registration: $100 (through 28 February 2026)
Where to Stay
Kolaj Fest New Orleans is a decentralized event that extends across New Orleans. There is no official host hotel. New Orleans is rich with housing options, from traditional hotels to B&Bs at a range of price points. We recommend booking in the Central Business District/Warehouse District, French Quarter, or in the Marigny/Bywater, all places well served by public transportation and ride share services. New Orleans & Co., the city’s visitor and convention bureau, offers a free hotel and B&B booking service.
What Happens at Kolaj Fest New Orleans
AT KOLAJ FEST NEW ORLEANS
Call for Artists, Projects, & Papers
How do you want to manifest at Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2026? Our goal is to create an event that attracts a variety of people working in various capacities, such as art professionals at museums, galleries, and centers as well as academics, writers, and artists. Responding to the Call lets us know that you would like to be a presenter at Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2026. The program at Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2026 promises to be a unique experience. In building a program, our aim is to break down hierarchy and foster dialogue among art professionals working in a variety of capacities. To that end, Kolaj Institute works with presenters to craft a program.
Early Deadline: 28 February 2026
Final Deadline: 8 March 2026
AT KOLAJ FEST
Symposium
The program at Kolaj Fest is a unique experience. We have multiple goals and are serving multiple audiences: We aim to breakdown hierarchy and foster dialogue among art professionals working in a variety of capacities. We aim to build bridges between the collage community and the larger art world; between the art world and the general public. SEE PAST PROGRAMS
AT KOLAJ FEST
Workshops
Workshops at Kolaj Fest New Orleans offer participants the opportunity to engage with their process or materials in a new way; explore subjects or themes; or practice a new collage technique to make. Over a dozen workshops take place during the festival.
AT KOLAJ FEST
Special Projects
Projects at Kolaj Fest New Orleans are activities that unfold over the course of the festival and often lead to exhibitions or publications that take place after the event. While led by an artist or group of artists, projects are often open to collaboration from Kolaj Fest Participants.
AT KOLAJ FEST
Collage Making
Collage making takes place each day of Kolaj Fest New Orleans. In addition to free time to make collage, the space will host artists leading demonstrations and workshops. The space has scissors, X-acto knives, glue, and a collection of papers and materials.
Collage making also takes place during Workshops and some Roundtable Discussions.
AT KOLAJ FEST
Roundtable Discussions
Roundtable Discussions are opportunities for collage artists to come together to discuss subjects, artist practices, projects, or other topics that warrant deeper dialogue.
PUBLICATION
Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2026 Program
Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2026 Program Book is a document of all things related to Kolaj Fest. In these pages, you will find a schedule and descriptions of sessions, bios and website information for artists and presenters, descriptions of evening events and special workshops. A full-colour, printed book is included with your registration. A digital version of the Program Book will be available in May 2026.
Note: Program dates, times, & locations are subject to change. The final, official schedule program schedule appears in the printed program that is included in the Registration Packet. Sign-up to receive updates.
Events at Kolaj Fest New Orleans
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
Welcome Reception
Wednesday, 10 June 2026, 3-5PM
Join us for a peripatetic Welcome Reception in the heart of the St. Roch neighborhood, just across St. Claude Avenue from Kolaj Institute Gallery.
THURSDAY EVENING
Collage on Screen
Thursday, 11 June 2026, 7-9PM
Cafe Istanbul
Collage on Screen, an eclectic evening of moving images, is part of Kolaj Institute’s Collage in Motion project, which explores collage and the moving image, a broad, loosely defined category that includes animations, film cut-ups, collage film, stop-motion, documentaries about collage artists, and other forms of media in which collage—as medium or genre—is present. The program features curated selection of short films and work made by Kolaj Institute’s Collage on Screen Artist Residents. This event is open to the public. Admission is $10. (Free for those registered for Kolaj Fest New Orleans 2026.)
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Collage Art & Book Market
Saturday, 13 June 2026, Noon-5PM
The Great Hall of the New Orleans Healing Center
2372 St. Claude Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117
Part of Kolaj Fest New Orleans, the Collage Art & Book Market is an opportunity for the general public to meet artists and publishers and to take in the rich and diverse cultural production of the international collage community. The public will be invited to peruse vendor displays or attend a talk or demonstration.
The Vendor Application will open in March 2026.
SUNDAY MORNING
Great Collage Swap
Sunday, 14 June 2026, 10:30AM
LeMieux Galleries
On Sunday, we will gather one final time to say our goodbyes and to conduct The Great Collage Swap. To participate, bring a collage to exchange to the Info Table before 10AM Sunday. In return, you will be given a number. All of the collages will be displayed. During the program, a collage will be selected and matched with a number and the holder of that number will receive the collage. As the collages are matched, each artist has a chance to share their story. The Great Collage Swap takes place at LeMieux Galleries on Julia Street.
Past Events
