Like many great things in Sallisaw, Red Autumn started small — and with a whole lot of heart. On October 1, 2022, local creative and community organizer Lance Montgomery hosted a one-day “pop-up gallery” inside Megaphone Pro Solutions. The idea was simple: give artists a space to share their work and neighbors a chance to gather around creativity. 

The response was bigger than anyone expected. By the very next year, that little pop-up had transformed into the first official Red Autumn Art Festival (Nov. 4, 2023), welcoming more than 60 artists and firmly planting the seeds of a new cultural tradition in downtown Sallisaw.

Momentum only grew. In 2024, over 160 artists from six states filled the streets with color, sound, and life — turning Red Autumn into a regional destination. And in 2025, the festival takes another leap forward: expanding into a two-day celebration (Oct. 31–Nov. 1) filled with art, music, food, and community spirit.

But Red Autumn has always been about more than numbers. From day one, the mission has been clear: art should be for everyone. The festival is built on breaking down barriers in communities that haven’t always had easy access to cultural resources. It’s a place where an emerging painter can share a first canvas beside a seasoned sculptor, where kids discover creativity on the street, and where diverse voices are not only welcomed but amplified.

What began as a small-town experiment has become one of Oklahoma’s most exciting new art festivals — a place where creativity is celebrated as a shared language, and where Sallisaw proudly shines as a hidden gem on the cultural map.