Houston Community News >> Bayou City Art Festival in Downtown Houston
9/26/2007 HOUSTON – The Bayou City Art Festival Downtown will take to the streets of downtown Houston October 13-14, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., showcasing the works of 300 fine artists from Houston and around the world. The juried fine art show, ranked among the Top 10 favorite art festivals in the U.S. by AmericanStyle Magazine, also features an interactive Creative Zone with free art projects and activities for children, a stage featuring multi-cultural musical and dance entertainment, visual art demonstrations and food and wine refreshments.
“The 2007 Festival’s featured artist is Texas-born-and-bred: Mark Driscoll,” announced Kim Stoilis, executive director of the Art Colony Association, producer of the Bayou City Art Festival Downtown. A pen-and-ink artist whose cartoons have been published in The New York Times, Driscoll created the whimsical “Balloonatic,” as the Downtown Festival’s signature piece. It will appear on all official Festival posters, programs, billboards and T-shirts, she said.
With Houston’s City Hall and
the Reflection Pool at its core and the city’s dramatic skyline as its backdrop,
the Festival’s artistic footprint will incorporate the streets in and around
Hermann Square on Walker, Bagby and McKinney Street as well as Sam Houston Park.
The Festival’s streets, closed to vehicular traffic, are transformed into
art-filled promenades, ideal for perusing the visual and performing art
presented.
Bayou City Art Festival’s festive outdoor gallery will offer 19 media formats:
clay, drawing/pastel, fiber/textiles, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal,
mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor and wood.
In addition, there will be an interactive Creative Zone for children, the “Art
on Water” floating art installation open to area artists ranging from high
school students to professionals (in City Hall’s Hermann Square Reflection
Pool), restaurants and wine cafes, the Broadway in Houston's Broadway Café,
“Shew! Fly” dance performances by Core Performance Company (adjacent to and in
the Reflection Pool), and a performing arts stage, where the Houston Arts
Alliance spotlights ongoing multi-cultural musical and dance entertainment.
Festivalgoers also may experience an array of visual artists at work, with
free close-up demonstrations by KnitAtKnight knitters and the Polymer Clay
Guild.
The City of Houston and Houston
Parks & Recreation Department, Budweiser Select and KPRC-TV Local 2 are among
the Festival sponsors. The Festival is funded in part by grants from the City of
Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.
Over the past 36 years, the Bayou City Art Festivals, a 501c(3) organization,
has raised more than $2.2 million for local nonprofit organizations. The 2007
Nonprofit Partners are: Art League Houston, Bering Omega Community Service,
DiverseWorks Art Space, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Lawndale Art
Center, Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA), Museum
of Fine Arts, Houston, Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, Several Dancers
Core, SPARK School Park Program, Spay-Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP), Texas
Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts (TALA), and YMCA of Greater Houston
Downtown.
Admission is $10 for adults and free for children 12 and under.
Parking is available on city streets and for the usual event fee in the City
Hall Annex, Hobby Center or Theater District Parking under Tranquility Park.
For schedules and further information check www.bayoucityartfestival.com , or call (713) 521-0133.