Alex Leopold, "hope is..." pencil and ink drawing on wood canvas
Mike Guyot, "Flat Iron NY," ink and acrylic
Anthony Pack, "Golden Wedding," mixed-media sculpture
Heather Haymart, "Divercity," acrylic on wood
Judy Vandergrift, "Clouds in the Marshes," mixed media
Ron Rocz, "Itta Bena Blues, Mississippi," photograph
Jin H. Powell, "Ballet Dancer," sculpture
Art is everywhere in Memphis this week: on the streets of Downtown, in the city's schools, and on the minds of the more than 100,000 people who are expected to attend the annual RiverArtsFest on South Main.
The roots of RiverArts, which runs Saturday and Sunday, stretch back to the late '80s, when it was known as the Arts in the Park festival at Overton Park. Eventually, the event moved to the Memphis Botanic Garden for several years in the mid-'90s. But after a poor showing following a move to the Christian Brothers University campus in 2004, the festival reached a dead end.
The following year it was renamed and relaunched in Downtown's burgeoning gallery district along South Main. Since then, the festival — which now stretches from Huling to Webster — has consistently evolved in size and popularity.
"We wound up down on South Main in 2005, and we had about 30,000 people show up for a first-year festival," says longtime RiverArts organizer Brooks Monypeny. "That was unheard of — and each year it's just grown exponentially."
According to Memphis Police Department estimates, the event has grown from 55,000 visitors in 2007, to 70,000 in 2008, to 82,000 in 2009. Last year, due to heavy rain on the event's second day, the numbers were down. But, this year, with cool, dry temperatures expected for most of the weekend, organizers are planning for close to 100,000 attendees.
"We're still an all-volunteer-run event," says Monypeny, who is among 25 organizers charged with staging the festival. "We started off doing it by the seat of our pants, but we're more organized now. It's been a developing process. But it's certainly not corporate; we don't have bean counters. We've tried to retain the spirit of things from the way we started."
That growth of River Arts has been mirrored in artist applications. This year, some 400 artists applied to the festival, with the panel of jurors — made up of local art experts like David Lusk and Patty Bladon — accepting roughly 170 to show as part of the festival's marketplace.
"Last year had 42 of 50 states represented, and even an international entry," says RiverArts organizer Lee Askew. "As a result of it being juried, and having so many carefully selected entrants, we feel like you get to see things at RiverArts that you wouldn't normally see at a local crafts fair or art market."
One other popular component of the festival is "Hands on Art," where local artists provide live demonstrations of their work. "You can stand and watch someone carving wood, blowing glass, working with metal," says Askew. "We're trying to get people interested and excited about the process of making art as well."
Another important community element of RiverArts has been the festival's "Art in the Making" initiative. The program places artists in elementary, secondary and high schools throughout Memphis in the days leading up to the festival.
Now in its fourth year, the program has expanded, thanks to a grant from ArtsMemphis. Each day, since Wednesday, noted artists including Dolph Smith, Jimpsie Ayres and Lana Chu have been providing workshops at schools like Levi Elementary, Snowden Middle School and East High.
"Arts education is so critical. It provides opportunities for higher-level thinking, and so this is our outreach, our gift back to the community," says program coordinator Angela Less.
"It's a really great thing for the kids, and we've seen the results that this firsthand contact with the artists provides them."
As with last year's RiverArtsFest, organizers have once again partnered with the Memphis Music Foundation to bring in local performers to play the event. Other groups, like the Blues Foundation and Makeshift Music, are also helping curate three stages showcasing more than 30 acts over the weekend.
Having combined arts, music and community outreach into the festival, Monypeny sees further growth in store.
"We would love for this to become not just a Memphis thing, but a larger event," he says. "There's nothing of this size or this quality anywhere in the Mid-South."
"The idea is this could become an event that would look like the Coconut Grove Arts Festival down in Miami — something where you'd have people come to Memphis from all over and make this a destination event like Barbecue Fest is for many people. We feel like we're on our way."
RiverArtsFest 2011
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Downtown on South Main Street, between Huling and Webster. Free. For more information, go to riverartsfestmemphis.org, or call (901) 826-3629.
Music schedule
SATURDAY
Main stage
10:30 a.m. The Perfect Vessels
11:30 a.m. The Near Reaches
12:30 p.m. The Nobility
1:30 p.m. Wuvbirds
2:30 p.m. Bake Sale
3:30 p.m. Limes
4:30 p.m. Jack O & the Tennessee Tearjerkers
G.E. Patterson Stage
10:30 a.m. Nick Black
11:30 a.m. Chinese Dub Connection
12:30 p.m. Watoto De Afrika
1:30 p.m. Candace Ashir
2:30 p.m. Memfist 10
3:30 p.m. Butta MD
4:30 p.m. T.Dickerson/Essential
South Court Artist Stage
10:30 a.m. Randall Morton and Devil Train
11:30 p.m. Afrissippi
1:30 p.m. Dan Montgomery Band
2:30 p.m. The Dawls
3:30 p.m. John Kilzer
SUNDAY
Main stage
11:30 a.m. Earl the Pearl
12:20 p.m. Banda Ahullido
1:20 p.m. The Delta Collective
2:20 p.m. Youniverse
3:20 p.m. Patrick Dodd Trio
G.E. Patterson Stage
11:30 a.m. Robert Belfour
12:20 p.m. Eric Hughes
1:20 p.m. Blind Mississippi Morris and Brad Web
2:20 p.m. Lightin' Malcolm with Cameron Kimbrough
South Court Artists Stage
10:30 a.m. Taylor Bothwell & Emma Webb
11:30 a.m. Melinda Milligan & Van Duren
12:30 p.m. Eric Hughes
1:30 p.m. Deering & Down
2:30 p.m. Nancy Apple & The Whole Damn Band
3:30 p.m. Grace Askew & The Black Market Goods
4:30 p.m. Rice Drewry & Six Degrees
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Comments » 2
dlmstl writes:
It looks like the right people have hit on a successful formula. I hope they do not let it spin out of control and start thinking bigger is always better. Keep it unique, somewhat eclectic, always affordable and with a touch of that funky Memphis charm. The stars are aliging to make this another 'must go to' destintation weekend event. This 'happening' , coupled with the others that are sprinkled throughout the year, are what makes big cities vibrant, exciting, unique and desirable places to live or visit. Keep it going!!
LarsJ writes:
Great festival !!
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