Festival of the Arts packs a cultural punch
After five years of building a successful art fair in historic Bartlett Park, officials now are expanding the idea into a full-fledged "Festival of the Arts."
This year's event takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and features live entertainment, displays, and activities in a variety of fine arts and cultures. Admission is free.
"Since multicultural events have been one of our signatures since we started the art fair," says Cecilia Green of Bartlett, festival director, "we figured the festival should take in more than just fine art."
Of course, artists and their original work remain the main draw. A total of 53 artists exhibiting in a variety of media will fill the main quadrant of the park. Look for their work to include: oil, watercolor, and acrylic paintings, as well as drawings, jewelry, fiber art, photography, sculpture, lithography, blown glass, and mosaic works.
Local artists include: Kathy Sherry, Ken Koonce, Linda Kinnaman, Julie Coules, Marilyn Winters, and Lambert Lucietto, all from Bartlett; Wanda Pitzele and Raymond Figuieras from Hanover Park; NiMara Price from Streamwood; and Sheila Collins from South Elgin.
The festival spreads its interactive displays and performances across four venues in the park, including a main stage, world tent, the park's iconic gazebo, and inside its vintage log cabin.
"There are lots of art fairs around, which offer entertainment sort of as an aside," Green adds. "We thought that since we have so much multicultural talent in this area, why not pack the stage with it."
The main stage features everything from acoustic guitar, to Punjabi folk dances and the Chinese folk songs performed by the Bartlett International Chorus, while the world tent returns with a drumming circle led by music therapist Rita Lopienski, and the Chinese Fine Arts Society fashioning people's names into Chinese figures on a bookmark.
Look for children's stories and songs from the Bartlett Public Library in the gazebo, as well as a quilting demonstration, and the preliminary round of the World's Fastest Drummer Contest, sponsored by the Music Education Center of America in Elgin.
Inside the log cabin, visitors will find culinary events, including a party planning demonstration, and a wine tasting with appropriate food pairings.
Members of the village's Arts in Bartlett nonprofit arts council mount the festival each year, as part of their stated mission.
Green and her fellow art supporters are driven to "celebrate the arts and personal creativity, so that the community and each individual enriched."
If you go
What: Festival of the Arts
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday
Where: Bartlett Park, 102 N. Eastern Ave. in Bartlett
Cost: Free
More information: www.artsinbartlett.org