Glen Ellyn art festival helps a great cause
It's a little tough to admire fine art if you're wearing sunglasses.
That's why the setting of the Glen Ellyn Festival of the Arts - back this year at Lake Ellyn - is the perfect spot to browse the creations of more than 80 artists.
Mature oak trees will provide shade for crowds attending the two-day, juried show running Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 27 and 28. And that means visitors can inspect the brush strokes, the intricate carvings - the craftsmanship - without the glare of a late-August sun.
"It's a wonderful way to spend a day or two at beautiful Lake Ellyn Park," organizer Geoff Bevington said.
It's also a way to raise money for the "causes of sight and sound" supported by the Glen Ellyn Lions Club foundation.
Organizers hope to raise at least $10,000 in proceeds from sponsorships and the sales of beer and food. The money will go to the foundation, a nonprofit group that helps fund, among other things, eye exams and hearing screenings for low-income residents.
"Even by default, they end up helping a great cause," Bevington said of the roughly 2,500 fans of art expected to attend the 47th annual festival over its two days.
Last year, the Lions Club decided to move the show from Lake Ellyn because of plans to restore the boathouse and beautify the grounds of the neighborhood park. Though the project would eventually break ground later in the fall, organizers already had prepared to host musicians and artists - who book their summer schedules months in advance - at Maryknoll Park.
That venue offered plenty of room, but hardly any shade.
Lake Ellyn, though, will become an outdoor gallery with a leafy canopy during the festival's return to the park northeast of downtown.
"The tradition is there," says Thomas Trausch, a painter who has a studio in Woodstock and plans to display originals and prints of Chicago scenes in booth No. 12.
The restored Lake Ellyn Boathouse now has a pergola and a new deck with stainless steel cable railings. Festival visitors can sip beer and wine in both of those areas and "just enjoy the beautiful sights of Lake Ellyn," Bevington said.
For the artists, snagging a booth at the festival involves some competition. This year, 120 applied for only about 85 available spots.
Judges, who are independent of the Lions Club and have professional experience, get the final say on which artists will show during the festival, intentionally kept at an intimate size and representing an assortment of media, including photography, calligraphy and iron sculptures.
"Suffice to say, a juried show makes sure the artwork is fine art, not crafty," Bevington said.
Bands will perform from the Eclectic Blanket Stage, set up near the park's veterans memorial and facing the boathouse's new terrace. And that's where you might find some artists cutting loose, too.
"They love it," Bevington said. "They love coming to Glen Ellyn."
If you go
What: 47th annual Glen Ellyn Festival of the Arts
When: 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 28
Where: Lake Ellyn Park, 645 Lenox Road, Glen Ellyn
Cost: Free admission
Info: Glenellynlions.org