Art on the rise
Published 3:01 pm Sunday, March 30, 2014
Above are a few of the events visitors to the Austin ArtWorks Festival took part in last year. The Festival plans even more events for 2014. Illustration by Eric Johnson
Like a snowball pushed downhill, the Austin ArtWorks Festival just keeps picking up steam and adding events.
In its third year, the celebration of art is following the progress the second year made as it steamrolls to being one of the biggest art festivals in southern Minnesota and maybe even the state.
“I’m hoping to get even more people to attend,” said Executive Director of the Austin Area Commission for the Arts Jennie Knoebel. “More people outside of Austin have heard of the festival. I’m am just excited it’s continuing to grow and excited more people are getting involved.”
The feel of this year’s festival is definitely something orbiting expansion. The festival will delve into the culinary arts and children’s activities as well as attempt to involve even more of the downtown area.
In fact, some of the feedback Knoebel has heard the most of is having more of a presence throughout downtown.
“We’re exploring trying to do more downtown this year, “ Knoebel said. “We’re working with the Vision 2020 Downtown Destination committee to get some other ideas to beef up the draw downtown. Either way we will have something downtown and there is an interest. Local retailers have talked to us to bring traffic downtown from the festival.”
Another aspect of change will come in the area of food with a push to experiment in the culinary arts.
The most glaring change will be the number. There will be only one vender this year — The Holiday Day Inn Convention Center — and while on the surface it may look drastic to drop the number of food venders rather than raise them, Knoebel thinks the opposite will happen.
Poet Michael Hall recites his work during the Austin ArtWorks Festival last year at the downtown power plant. Herald file photo
“We’re giving them free range to do whatever they want,” Knoebel said. “They will have the opportunity to create all sorts of culinary items. They will also be serving beer and wine.”
Children’s activities will also receive more attention. There will be, of course, the VW Beatle that youngsters will get the opportunity to paint, as well as muralist Jimmy Longoria and mosaic artist Patrick Hensel. There is also the possibility of something called a large, found-object chandelier as well as a large loom that will allow kids to weave various kinds of fabrics.
“The overall goals is to find more to get festival goers involved in festival arts,” Knoebel said.
There will be some smaller changes as well including a shift in where some things will be located. Semi-professional artists will be moved to where authors gave their talks and readings and in turn the authors will be moved to an adjacent garage space, giving them more room.
Room availability itself is a strong indicator of how popular the festival has become in that there is no more room at the downtown plant. After the success of last weekend’s Build Art Bike Show in the downtown bank building, organizer Andy Hull and Knoebel have talked about doing something bigger in connection with the festival.
While the idea is being embraced, what to do with it will require more discussion.
“The vibe was people would like to have it indoors and that’s something we’ll have to talk about,” Knoebel said. “At the Utilities building we are maxed out.”
Of course there will be another big outdoor concert like last year which featured Cloud Cult and Martin Zellar. Knoebel teased the festival is close to nailing down those acts, but they are keeping that information secret until later.
With a strong mix of returning events and new events, Knoebel is looking at an even more successful festival this year, but more than success is the diversity they are trying to elevate.
“I enjoy seeing art in all things,” Knoebel said. “There’s a fine line there. I feel [the festival] makes art more accessible to people. The more we can expand into art that is more familiar to people the more people will enjoy.”
“It’s exciting to see how diverse our community is and our struggle is to see how we can get our entire community involved,” she added.
Looking for an intern
The Austin ArtWorks Festival will look for an intern to help out this year. Hours will be lower at the beginning of the internship, but will ramp up as the summer gets closer to the festival itself.
For more information call The Paramount Theatre at 507-434-0934. Those interested should send a resume and cover letter to director@paramounttheatre.org.
The person hired will receive a $2,000 stipend.
