FestivALL's slogan is "A City Becomes a Work of Art," and to thatend, volunteers working on the visual aspects of the 10-day festivalhave outdone themselves this year.
Want to see some neat stuff?
Watch as nine artists turn ordinary interstate pillars intomurals during Pier to Pier under the interstate at WashingtonStreet. Wander downtown streets and peek into storefronts to seewhat local artists have displayed for Art Gawk. Head indoors forseveral exhibits around town or sit down and watch the handiwork oflocal filmmakers who have created silent films.
Want to wear some neat stuff?
Head up to the Art Store on Bridge Road for the arT-shirtsexhibit that opens Saturday and runs through early July. Artistshave created T-shirt shaped artwork and others have created works ofart on T-shirts that are offered for sale.
Like to participate?
Try out your inner artist at Public Paint By Numbers. Throughoutthe week, local artists will be stationed at various FestivALLvenues with large-scale paintings of nearby scenes. You are invitedto dabble for a few minutes, too. Finished work will be auctioned atthe end.
Watch or participate in the second FestivALL Art Parade, whichstarts at 10 a.m. Saturday and runs right up Capitol Street toCapitol Market.
And check out some art you can actually use as four local artistscreate and install sculptural bicycle racks in downtown Charleston.
Most of FestivALL's art events are free and most have beendreamed up by local artists who are interested in bringing somedifferent offerings to the capital city.
Naomi Bays, an artist who heads the public arts committee forFestivALL, said ideas spring up throughout the year.
"I ended up with a collection of artists who wanted to dosomething for FestivALL," she said.
"In talking with artists, we'll get crazy things going. We lookat a lot of stuff on the Internet and see what other cities are upto."
The sculptural bike racks, for example, was an idea taken fromlarger, bike-friendly cities. Lexington, Ky., for example, hasbicycle racks throughout the city, Bays said.
"It's not a new idea, but we're making it our own," she said.
That's what happened with the catfish display that is hung duringthe second weekend of FestivALL at Brawley Walkway. Other citieshave highlighted an iconic feature - horses in Lexington, Ky., pigsin Cincinnati, Ohio, and asked local artists to create artisticversions of them.
FestivALL has a number of events that encourage audienceparticipation, if you will.
"For the Public Paint by Numbers, I think that idea just came upwith wanting to find a way to have people and kids interact withpublic art," Bays said.
The Art Parade, organized by local artist Vasilia Scouras, was anidea repurposed from another city. The event invites anyone with anartistic talent (family friendly!) to join in the fun down CapitolStreet.
"Last year we had about 20 entries and this year we'reapproaching 40 entries," Bays said. The event includes an oldvehicle donated by the Good News Mountaineer Garage that artistshave decorated to help lead the parade.
Some events evolve under discussion, such as the Musical EaselsProject, scheduled for 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and again June 26at the Lee Street Triangle.
Local artists will set up easels and paint or draw a scene, thenrotate the easels to each other in sync with music of streetmusicians.
"That came up as a weird conversation with (artist) Rudy Panucci,who came up with some kind of live art project and it turned into amusical thing," she said.
"This year, we're going to pile a bunch of materials into themiddle (that artists can use) and each easel will have aninspirational message on it, something from poetry to a random bunchof words, just to get the gears turning," Bays said.
The centerpiece art event for FestivALL, of course, is the artfair that takes place the second weekend. It includes the CapitolStreet Art Fair, the Children's Art Fair and the Stray Dog AntiqueFair.
One way to hone in on the art events for FestivALL is to use thefeature on the FestivALL website at www.festivallcharleston.com.From the main schedule page, click to highlight all of the visualarts events.
courtesy photo The Capitol Street Art Parade will feature nearly40 entries this year.
Contact writer Monica Orosz at monica@dailymail.com or 348-4830.
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