By Amanda Miller
For the Gazette
Charleston’s fourth annual FestivALL will soon fill our city with nine days of live music, theater, dance and the largest public art display of the year.
Since its inception in 2005, FestivALL’s visual arts have grown from a bustling street fair to a comprehensive, citywide event.
This year the public can expect to see conceptual group shows, gallery exhibitions, outdoor installations, artist demonstrations with hands-on interaction for children and an expanded Capitol Street Art Fair with more than 100 artists and craftspeople selling their work.
For the past three years, Callen McJunkin and Judy Wellington have volunteered to coordinate the growing Art Fair, working closely with Allied Artists of West Virginia. Last year, the Tamarack Foundation sponsored participation for Tamarack’s core group of juried artisans, as the Fair grew from one block to two on Capitol Street.
After year-round planning by an Art Fair Committee, this year will see an expansion of lighted tent space to accommodate more artists and a substantial increase in participation from Tamarack’s artisans.
The most notable addition to the Art Fair is a demonstration tent, where six invited artisans will offer children a hands-on experience to create a product they can take home. Demonstrations include pottery with Tricia Fox, paper marbling with Averill Howard, children’s book illustration with Tracy Kincaid, basket making with Carol Ross, calligraphy with Mary Lou Weigand and pottery with Gary Shaffer.
A selections committee juried in a wide variety of fine arts and crafts from local and regional artisans. FestivALL goers can expect extensive offerings of quality painting, jewelry, pottery, photography, woodwork and stained glass from familiar and emerging artisans. Some unique items to be on the lookout for include totem poles, furniture for birds, digital images on ceramic tile and batik, a centuries-old textile dyeing technique originating in Indonesia.
“We expect to see more examples of this high quality in the future as the fair is dedicated to the promotion of fine art and fine craft,” said Betty Rivard, producer of the Capitol Street Art Fair.
Rivard says the fair will continue to reach out to minority and other communities, which may be underrepresented, to make the fair more culturally diverse.
She points out that a public arts event of this scale couldn’t have happened without support from the city of Charleston, including the police and fire departments, and Larry Groce, executive director of FestivALL. She also recognizes the many volunteers, artisans and performers, and of course, the public.
University art exhibits
For the first time, four universities in West Virginia will present public art installations featuring student work. Five artists from Marshall University will hang hundreds of resin molds cast with prints, photographs and drawings from trees in Davis Park for “Site Specific Pieces.” Under the direction of Assistant Professor Claire Sherwood, the show will explore traditional roles of women.
University of Charleston Assistant Professor Joseph Mullins will direct “People’s Portrait Gallery” in Brawley Walkway, where high-quality photo portraits will be available for a dollar.
Six masters of fine arts students from West Virginia University will present a multimedia exploration of self and societal quirks and boundaries in an exhibition titled “Cognition.”
Groce and West Virginia State University Professor Paula Clendenin concluded that participation from academic art departments would provide a more critical element to FestivALL’s visual arts.
After being given a budget, Clendenin invited the four universities and gave them free rein to jury their student work and conceive an installation to represent the school. For WVSU’s “Drive Thru Art Show,” Clendenin opened submissions up to anyone who was a state student.
Thirty juried pieces will be digitally printed on canvas at 45 square inches or larger. Students will then work another layer by hand over top of the canvas print, before it is hung from buildings in the alley between Capitol and Hale streets. Visitors can view the exhibit from their cars or on foot.
“We’re going to give them refreshments before their drive through, just like any other show,” says Clendenin. “People in Charleston are always worried about where they’ll park their cars when they go somewhere, so now they don’t even have to get out to see the art.
“We wanted a show with an edge to it.”
Other art displays
The outdoor art continues with a billboard-sized mural by Todd Thomas of Allied Artists that is located atop the Mountaineer Expedite Building.
Charleston artist Amy Williams will design Spanish and English labels for familiar items around town with the assistance of Chris Dutch, as part of her public installation, “Press 2 for Spanish.”
More than 20 fine artists comprise the group exhibition “Buswater on the Boulevard,” returning from last year.
FestivALL visitors can pop into the Charleston Ballet Studio to have their portraits taken by Charleston photographer K.D. Lett. All portraits can be purchased, and Lett will choose some to create a photographic exhibition.
Artists’ names continue to be added to the list for the Capitol Street Art Fair, and there will surely be some unexpected, impromptu contributions from independent members of the Charleston art community. FestivALL should prove to create an egalitarian atmosphere for both artists and the public alike, by opening up commerce and participation to students, universities, fine artists and artisans.
A list of currently-scheduled exhibits is below, but for a full schedule and details for art events, check out the FestivALL Web site at www.festivallcharleston.com.
FestivALL art events
Allied Artists mural: A billboard-sized (10 feet high by 24 feet wide) art installation by Todd Thomas visible from I-77 and I-79. On top of Mountaineer Expedite Building, 1007 Bigley Place. Visit www.alliedartistswv.org.
“Art on Paper”: Exhibit featuring West Virginia artists Robin McClintock and Barrie Kaufman; current and former WVU faculty members Juan Giraldo, Sarah Smelser and Sergio Soave; Sonya Evanisko of Shepherd College and 12 other artists.
An opening reception runs 5 to 8 p.m. June 20. Exhibit runs through July 31. Gallery hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday or by appointment. Callen McJunkin Gallery, The Loft at 219 Hale St. Call 342-5647 or visit www.mcunkingallery.com.
Art on a Stick: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 21. A yard sale of work and unused supplies of local artists with music by Josh Buskirk and Ryan Kennedy. Davis Park.
Artwalk: 5 to 8 p.m. June 26. Participating galleries: Art Emporium (823 Quarrier St.), Callen McJunkin Gallery (The Loft @ 219 Hale St.), Chet Lowther Studio (223 1/2 Hale St.), Clay Center, Gallery Eleven (1033 Quarrier St.), Good News Mountaineer Garage Gallery (221 Hale St.), Roger Lucas Gallery (1033 Quarrier St.), Stray Dog Antiques (219 Hale St.), Taylor Books Annex Gallery (226 Capitol St.), The Purple Moon (906 Quarrier St.) and The Squire Tobacco Unlimited (108 Capitol St.).
“Buswater on the Boulevard”: Group exhibit of 20 local and regional fine artists. An opening reception runs 6 p.m. to midnight June 20. Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. June 21; 5 to 8 p.m. June 26; 6 to 10 p.m. June 27, and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. June 28. 1520 Kanawha Blvd. SE.
Capitol Street art fair: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 28 and 29. More than 100 artisans, including Tamarack and Allied Artists members, will display and sell their works. Demonstrations by Tricia Fox (pottery); Averill Howard (paper, purses); Tracy Kincaid (children’s books); Carol Ross (baskets); Gary Shaffer (pottery); and Mary Lou Weigand (calligraphy). Children’s hands-on and take-home art projects. Capitol Street between Quarrier and Washington.
“Cognition”: Installations in various mediums by six WVU MFA students that explore self and societal quirks and boundaries. Location to be announced.
“Drive Thru Art Show”: Exhibit featuring 30 works from WVSU students hanging in the alley between Capitol and Hale streets (enter from Quarrier and exit onto Virginia). View by car or on foot. Refreshments will be served. Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 21; 5 to 8 p.m. June 26 and 27; 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. June 28, and noon to 4 p.m. June 29.
“FestivALL Catfish Fry”: June 28 and 29. The annual FestivALL catfish will be on display on Brawley Walkway.
Habitat for Humanity ReStore: “Fringe,” a photographic installation by Mark Wolfe, and “Axiom: Industrial and Environmental Photography by Naomi Bays, T. Paige Dalporto, Jeff Gentner and Todd Griffith.
An artist talk and reception for “Fringe” runs 5 to 7 p.m. June 26. 815 Young St. Call 720-USED or visit www.habitatwv.org/kanawha/restore and click on “Coming Events.”
“People’s Portrait Gallery”: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. June 29 and noon to 4 p.m. June 29. University of Charleston exhibit of photo portraits with a seamless background. High quality prints are available for $1.
Photography project: Portraits by K.D. Lett of FestivALL-goers in a constructed set. Some will be chosen to be printed and exhibited. All subjects may purchase a 4x6 of themselves for a donation. Hours: noon to 4 p.m. June 21 and 29, 2 to 6 p.m. June 28. Charleston Ballet Studio, 820 Virginia St. E. Visit www.kdlett.com.
“Press 2 For Spanish”: Installation by Amy Williams and Chris Dutch featuring more than 20 signs labeling familiar things around town in both Spanish and English. An installation ceremony will be held June 20 at the Clay Center.
Student murals: Display of drop-cloth murals around the parking garage at the corner of Quarrier and Dickinson streets.
“Site Specific Pieces”: Exhibit featuring hundreds of 4x6 works by five female Marshall University students hanging from the trees in Davis Park. It features prints, photographs and drawings cast into resin and rubber molds that examine traditional female roles.