More than a dozen artists, including Thomasin Durgin, who will display her metal works, will be on hand at the market at the ‘‘Nuts! Over Art’’ festival Saturday. There also will be Interactive art stations for kids. One of Durgin's finished rings is below.
As if the hint of fall in Memphis weren’t reason enough to step outdoors, a new festival in Overton Park should offer even more incentive. Still not convinced? Try “free.”
“Nuts! Over Art” promises a full day of art, music and assorted family activities, and it is all free to the public.
More than a dozen artists, including Thomasin Durgin, who will display her metal works, will be on hand at the market at the ‘‘Nuts! Over Art’’ festival Saturday. There also will be Interactive art stations for kids. One of Durgin's finished rings is below.
Designed to spotlight Overton Park as a local arts destination, the Saturday event marks the first time that the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the Memphis College of Art and the Levitt Shell — all park attractions — have partnered on such a scale.
“It’s just a great collaboration for all of us,” says Memphis College of Art public relations director Michelle Byrd. “We wanted to do it in the fall and really celebrate how wonderful the park is, and to bring awareness to how important Overton Park is for an arts location.”
Among the offerings will be:
* More than a dozen artists and artisans demonstrating techniques from jewelry and quilt making to sculpting and painting;
*Interactive art stations where kids can make their own art;
* The creation of a special work of art for primary sponsor Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center;
* A lineup of music and dance that culminates at the Levitt Shell with a 5 p.m. children’s show, “How I Became a Pirate,” performed with a woodwind quintet from the Memphis Symphony Orchestra;
* And a 7:30 p.m. concert by Chicago troupe Fandanguero, who specializes in a centuries-old musical style from Veracruz — Son Jarocho — that blends African, Spanish and indigenous Mexican traditions.
In addition, the Brooks and MCA will be open for viewing by the public.
Historically, “Nuts! Over Art” represents something of a return to the festival that had begun 25 year ago in Overton Park, Arts in the Park, which has since morphed into downtown’s River Arts Fest. That latter entity, with a missive that includes community outreach, has even weighed in as a sponsor of the new Midtown celebration.
Explains “Nuts! Over Art” chair Lee Askew of architectural firm Askew Nixon Ferguson Architects, River Arts Fest saw an opportunity after becoming a Levitt Shell sponsor for collaboration among Overton Park’s various arts bodies.
“So last year, after a successful (River Arts) festival on South Main — about 70-80,000 people down there — we had some profits and said, ‘What can we do to start another festival (that goes) back to our roots and is maybe more family oriented?’ ”
The result is “Nuts! Over Art,” which aims to draw a more modest 10-20,000 people, but also aspires to be an annual addition within the increasingly energized Memphis arts community.
‘Nuts! Over Art’
The visual and performing arts festival is Saturday from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. in Overton Park at the “Art Plaza” adjacent to the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the Memphis College of Art and the Levitt Shell. Free to the public. For more information, go to nutsoverart.com.
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Comments » 1
chris writes:
Since you can't make it to the festival you should check out the wonderful things she has in her Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=....
She is so talented! No, I'm not her mother, just a big fan. :-)
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