Elgin's Art and Soul relishes new spot, plans more music and activities
Elgin's "Art and Soul on the Fox" is primed for its 10th year, the second in a new location overlooking the Fox River with more music, food and activities for kids that "rock."
Last year organizers moved the weekend festival to the Riverside Drive Promenade on the river's east banks.
Admission to the festival, which is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 4, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 5, is free, so organizers could only say, anecdotally, that more people attended in 2017 compared to previous years.
"Last year was a new experience. We really loved it," said Karen Castillo, president of the nonprofit Art for All, which co-sponsors the event with the city. "The people responded very favorably, as well as the artists. We were happy with the attendance last year. We, of course, always hope for more."
Castillo said more than 70 juried artists from 35 communities in Illinois and Wisconsin will showcase a variety of media.
The festival will include more food trucks, live entertainment, a vendor who will take authentic tintype photos of people and families for a fee, and a Kids Zone in the center of the block.
"When I was an exhibiting artist, I loved talking to kids," recalled Castillo, noting the event could serve as its own gallery of sorts for children who have not yet been to a gallery or museum.
One activity at the Kids Zone will entail making "Kindness Rocks," a movement that began on the East Coast and has gone international.
Megan Murphy, whose parents are deceased, would regularly walk along a beach to think about them and reflect. One day in 2016, Murphy grabbed a black Sharpie and wrote "You've got this" on a rock. She dropped five rocks that day along the beach, and later that night a friend texted her about finding one.
The friend said, "If you did drop this rock, it made my day. I was having a real rough day and the message just meant so much," Murphy said on a video on thekindnessrocksproject.com
Last summer, a Naperville woman began a Kindness Rocks project in areas of the Naperville Park District to honor her late aunt.
"It's a message that ripples. Spreading happiness and paying it forward is the idea," said Judi Brownfield, event coordinator for the city of Elgin. "It's a new twist at Art and Soul this year. People who discover them are welcome to pick them up and take it home. Children love to do this. You can take them home and continue as your own family tradition."
In addition to making art more accessible and participatory, the Kindness Rocks Project helps show kids they don't necessarily need recognition to do something kind for others.
"It's a pass it on kind of thing," Castillo said. "I'm excited about the process and that it's being included."
For more information about the festival, visit elginartandsoul.com or email elginartforall@gmail.com.