Warrenville's Art on the Prairie invites art lovers to create
Artistic community members who want to lend their talents to a collective piece of public art are in luck.
Participatory art, along with art for sale, will be featured this weekend at the 10th annual Art on the Prairie/Music Festival in downtown Warrenville.
“People can participate in creating a piece of stained glass,” said Ruth Brackman, Warrenville Park District recreation supervisor.
Volunteer artists may contribute to a large stained glass window that will be displayed in an as-yet-undetermined public space, Brackman said.
“It really makes a nice piece of art for the community,” she said.
About 30 artists will be at the juried festival Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 16 and 17, in the Warrenville City Hall parking lot on Stafford Place, near the corner of Batavia and Butterfield roads. Among them will be jewelry makers, potters, painters, weavers, glass artists and photographers, Brackman said.
Warrenville photographer Julie Turner will offer visitors a selection of images on canvas; matted, framed prints; and note cards.
Her business, Natura et Gratia, translates to nature and grace.
“I love paying attention to nature,” she said. “I try to take my camera most places.”
Locally, she's photographed coyotes, butterflies and birds, including bald eagles, herons, cranes and egrets.
“It's pretty amazing what's right out your back door if you pay attention,” she said.
Turner's work also includes images from her travels, including Oregon landscapes, shore birds in Florida and wild horses roaming free on Corolla Beach in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
“I travel a lot to North Carolina because I grew up there,” she said.
This is Turner's third year as an exhibitor at the Art on the Prairie festival, which is presented by the city, the park district and the library.
“It's a very accessible event,” she said. “It's not too big, so people can relax and enjoy.”
Brackman said top artists will be recognized with awards at 2:40 p.m. Saturday.
Musicians will entertain both days with a variety of country, folk, Dixieland, jazz, and Caribbean steel drum styles, finishing at 2 p.m. Sunday with country line dancing and a 4 p.m. show featuring Rick Lindy and the Wild Ones, a rockabilly band.
From 1 to 3 p.m. both days, there will be free face painting along with a children's art station. Food and microbrews will be for sale.
And at 1:30 p.m. Sunday, a time capsule buried by the Kiwanis Club in 1989 near the Albright Park Gazebo will be unearthed, Brackman said, in honor of the city's half-century birthday.
“It's the 50th anniversary of the incorporation of the city of Warrenville,” she said.
Free ice cream will be available, while supplies last, beginning at 1:45 p.m. Sunday.
10th annual Art on the Prairie/Music Festival
<b>Where:</b> Warrenville City Hall parking lot, Stafford Place, Warrenville
<b>When:</b> 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 17
<b>Admission:</b> Free
<b>Info:</b> <a href="http://www.warrenvilleparks.org">warrenvilleparks.org</a>