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Houston Bayou City Art Festival

Houston, TX – Mar. 8, 2007 – The world will set the stage for the Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park’s diverse performing arts presentations -- from MECA mariachis and Houston Salsa Dancers to Shaolin Kung Fu and Dance Asia; and from Celtic Bands to Eastern Indian dance.

Celebrating its tenth spring in Memorial Park, the 36th Annual Festival is slated for Friday, March 23 through Sunday, March 25, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The performing artists will join more than 300 fine artists and dozens of international food and wine café vendors in transforming the park’s meandering, tree-lined trails into a magical art colony offering a host of visual, performing and culinary delights.

The multi-cultural performers, dressed in traditional costumes, along with crafts demonstrations by the Gulf Coast Wood Turners’ Association, origami artist Joan Son, The Blacksmith Association and Clay Houston potters, are presented by the Houston Arts Alliance. Bayou City Art Festival is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

The entertainment line-up is:
 

• Saturday, March 24
  11 a.m. - Bayou City Concert Musicals – Musical Theater
  noon – Dance Asia
  1 p.m. – MECA Mariachis
  2 p.m. - Del Espadin Baile Espanol flamenco dancers; CORE Performance Company
  3 p.m. – Houston Bay Area Ballet & Theater
  4 p.m. – Houston Metropolitan Company dance troupe; CORE Performance Company
  5 p.m. – Bill Klecka Band Celtic musicians
• Sunday, March 24
  11 a.m. – Brazilian Arts folkloric dancing
  noon – Traditional Indian Dance from the Indian Cultural Center
  1 p.m. – Houston Salsa Dancers, Inc.
  2 p.m. – Revels singers; CORE Performance Company
  3 p.m. – Ambassadors International Ballet Folklorico from Central and South America
  4 p.m. – Shaolin Kung Fu Academy; CORE Performance Company
  5 p.m. – Bayou City Performing Arts musical theater

Bayou City Art Festival Memorial Park selected impressionist landscape artist Michael McKee as its featured artist. His featured piece, “Fragrant Twilight,” embodies his rich, earthy colorations and reflects his love for soft pastels and an appreciation of the balance between “color, expression and technique,” according to the artist.

Bayou City Art Festival showcases works representing 19 media formats: clay, drawing/ pastel, fiber/textiles, furniture, glass, jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, watercolor and wood, plus the Emerging Artists installation art by area high school students. Budding young artists enjoy the interactive Creative Zone presented by Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which engages children in creating their own art works to take home. Adding to the festive outdoor gallery atmosphere is a “Broadway theme” in Houston's Broadway Café, the performing arts stage, plus performance art by CORE Performance Company, whose costumed dancers will perform the world premiere of “Shedd” amidst the pines.

“You won’t need to leave the park if you’re hungry or thirsty – refresh yourself at the wide range of international food and beer and wine cafes,” said Joe Pogge, president of the board of the Art Colony Association, producer of the Bayou City Art Festivals.
The City of Houston, Budweiser Select, Houston Parks & Recreation Department, Smooth Jazz 95.7, Burt’s Bees, David Powers Homes and KPRC-TV are the Festival sponsors.

Over the past 36 years, the Bayou City Art Festivals, a 501c(3) organization, has raised more than $2.3 million for local charities. The 2007 charity partners are: Art League Houston, Bering Omega Community Service, DiverseWorks Art Space, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Lawndale Art Center, Memorial Park Conservancy, Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts (MECA), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, CORE Performance Company, SPARK School Park Program, Spay-Neuter Assistance Program (SNAP), The Orange Show Foundation, 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.

There is no public parking in Memorial Park. Free shuttle service 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. to and from the Park on Friday from Northwest Mall on Hwy. 290; and on Saturday and Sunday from Northwest Mall and Downtown: Memorial Drive at Rusk, Rusk at Smith and Smith at Capitol.

For schedules and further information check www.bayoucityartfestival.com or call (713) 521-0133.