Easton’s 15th Annual Riverside Festival of the Arts: Save the Date!
By Ellen Shaughnessy, Riverside Festival of the Arts Organizer, Poster art by Joey Gourniak
The Arts Community of Easton is still accepting applications for artists and fine craft artisans to participate in the 15th Annual Riverside Festival of the Arts. The festival will be held on Larry Holmes Drive along the scenic Lehigh River where it meets the Delaware in Easton PA, on Saturday and Sunday, September 17+18.
ART * MUSIC * LITERATURE: The Riverside Festival is a multi-arts event, the centerpiece of which is a Juried Art Show and Sale showcasing local artists and artisans from the regional area. Art and fine crafts will be exhibited for sale and for evaluation by this year’s panel of judges. $1600 in cash prizes will be awarded in two categories: Fine Arts, which includes painting, drawing, pastel, printmaking, photography and sculpture; and Fine Crafts — featuring jewelry, mosaic, fabric and fiber, stained glass, metalwork, pysanky eggs, woodwork, and claywork.
The Riverside Festival of the Arts has historically attracted thousands of individuals who come to view and purchase the art, stock up on really special holiday gifts, enjoy the live music, partake in literary events, join in the plein air painting contest, or watch & learn art demos. It’s a picture-perfect setting to enjoy art. This festival hosted over 50 artists and fine craftsmen in 2010. Artists can find some alumni comments about exhibiting here, on the website.
This year will also feature a figure-painting clinic run by famed local NYU art professor / world boomerang champion and local personality: Dr. Barnaby Ruhe.
Easton artist Joey Gourniak (on facebook) has just completed his painting for the 2011 poster, and it is now on auction to help raise money for the festival. It can be viewed in the front window of the Grand Eastonian Suites hotel in downtown Easton.
The festival’s mission is “to promote the Easton and Two Rivers area as a cultural/arts center to benefit the community and to build bridges between the visual, literary and performing arts” …save the date!
ACE and Riverside Festival Committee want to thank the 2011 festival Premier Sponsor, the Phillipsburg Mall! Watch for QR-code special promos that the mall will conduct to celebrate their countdown to the Riverside Festival of the Arts. Other major sponsors include Crayola, Braun Daub Autos, and the City of Easton. Back by popular demand, this year will also feature a Plein Air Painting Contest, sponsored by Shaughnessy Law offices.
For more information stop by Connexions Gallery in Easton, or refer to www.EastonRiversideFest.com for updates or applications for a spot, the painting clinic, or plein air contest. There is no admission! It’s just a wonderful weekend to really appreciate both the beauty of Easton and its many inspired artists.
Find the ‘Riverside Festival of the Arts’ Group on facebook.