by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
Some things are worth the road trip to Gainesville, like major football games, the occasional concert or their annual Festival and Art Show.
It’s the 26th Annual Downtown Festival & Art Show that might have me making the drive next weekend. I used to live in the area, so I’d go every year, walking around in the historic section of Gainesville’s cobblestone streets. It’s grown prodigiously since then, but even in 1996, it was recognized as one of the top art shows in the nation. It’s been a high-ranking art show in the years since.
They get a crowd of about 100,000 people, coming from the surrounding areas. It’s become more than just an art show; it’s more like a celebration or a huge block party.
They’ll have musicians playing live and oft times hawking their CDs. Jazz musicians, blues players, local acts and street performers will all entertain at the fest. Friday’s Downtown Blues Concert will kick off the musical portion of the fest. Live entertainment will be playing on three different stages during the evenings, making for a perfect end to a day at the festival.
There will be all kinds of festival foods to munch as you take in the art. Foods include Mediterranean pitas, Thai noodles and sweet barbecue ribs.
If you’ve got kids, make sure you take them to the fest’s Imagination Station, where little ones can discover their artistic side, create sidewalk chalk murals, make books and design masks, free of charge. The station will also feature music and puppet shows. The Imagination Station is present at the festival, and has entertained thousands of kids over the years. Caring volunteers, mostly students from the Art Education Department of UF, work throughout the semester to create the activities available for happy kids at the fest.
Some festivals, I have to admit, let everybody in. But this fest has its standards. They only select 250 artists out of some 650 applicants who apply for a spot. They’ll have jewelry, original oils, acrylics, watercolors, sculptures and decorative ceramics from all over the country. This is the time and place to buy a one of a kind piece for those hard-to-shop-for people on your Christmas list.
Out-of-towners can park in the city parking garage, 2 blocks west of Main Street, for $5. Entrance to the festival and festival events are free. No pets are permitted inside the festival. For more info on the festival, go to gvlculturalaffairs.org.
The 26th Annual Downtown Festival & Art Show is proud to present this year’s poster artist, Eleanor Blair. The featured painting, a vibrant oil on canvas depiction of the Thomas Center gardens and fountain, is a testament to the beauty and history of the City of Gainesville.
“One evening I was walking home and the sun was setting and I had my camera with me and I took a photo of the way the light was hitting the water on the fountain,” Blair said.
This image was used by the artist, who enjoys walking through the Thomas Center gardens on the way to her studio, to create the painting for the Downtown Festival & Art Show commemorative poster. Blair’s oil paintings combine visual accuracy with painterly brush work and rich color. Her fine draftsmanship and sense of light can be seen through her primary subject of landscapes, as well as through portraits, still life, interiors and architectural studies.
Blair graduated from The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City in 1969. She moved to Gainesville in 1971 and has been painting Central Florida scenes ever since. She is a respected member of the Gainesville art community and spends her time exhibiting in local shows and volunteering in the Arts in Medicine program at Shands at AGH.
“It’s an honor and a pleasure to have one of my images on the poster,” said the artist, who always welcomes visitors to her downtown studio.
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