Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Top of the crop

Artists gather in Atkinson Park this weekend


By JENNIFER LIEBRUM
Express Staff Writer

The artists selected to participate in the Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival have been considered by a jury and deemed some of the best in the U.S. Courtesy photo Sun Valley Center for the Arts

The jury has spoken, and you can see its rulings when you stroll the aisles of this year's Sun Valley Arts & Crafts Festival in Atkinson Park from Friday through Sunday, Aug. 10-12.

Now in its 44th year, the free festival features live music, artist demonstrations, family and kids activities and food from local vendors in addition to some of the finest arts and crafts to be found in the nation.

The three-day festival has grown from a small gathering of artists to one of the top 100 outdoor juried festivals in the nation. Hundreds of artists apply every year for the chance to display and sell their handmade fine arts and crafts—from glasswork, fiber and jewelry to paintings, woodworking and sculpture—at a wide range of prices.

Every year brings a fresh mix of new faces and old favorites from across the country and locally.

Among the returning artists this year are 2011 Best of Show artist Robert Erickson with furniture, Best of Ceramics artist Carol Lebreton and Best of Fiber artist Lisa Telling Kattenbraker.

As always, there is a fabulous interactive children's activity area open each day from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Over the course of the weekend, teacher/artist Danica Mattias, the creator of the installation seen recently in Sun Valley Meadows called "1 in 8" and a tribute to those affected by breast cancer, will work with kids to make "talking" cards, creative disguises and sun hats.

All ages will enjoy artist demonstrations, which will be held daily from 1-4 p.m. It's a chance to meet the artists and learn more about what is behind their work.

The performing arts stage at the Arts & Crafts Festival showcases the rich musical talent in the Wood River Valley, from country-style folk and bluegrass to jazz and rock. You can pick up food on site from local vendors and pull up a chair and listen for a while—or all afternoon. The music starts each day at 11 a.m. (noon on Friday) and continues until 6 p.m. (5 p.m. on Sunday).

Festival hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Aug. 10 and 11, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12. Atkinson Park is located in west Ketchum at the corner of Eighth Street and Second Avenue. Parking is available at the Hemingway Elementary School lot. Overflow parking is available at the Simplot lot (future home of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts) across from the post office. No dogs are allowed in the park.

For a complete list of participating artists and musicians, visit www.sunvalleycenter.org.




About Comments

Comments with content that seeks to incite or inflame may be removed.

Comments that are in ALL CAPS may be removed.

Comments that are off-topic or that include profanity or personal attacks, libelous or other inappropriate material may be removed from the site. Entries that are unsigned or contain signatures by someone other than the actual author may be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or any other policies governing this site. Use of this system denotes full acceptance of these conditions. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

The comments below are from the readers of mtexpress.com and in no way represent the views of Express Publishing, Inc.

You may flag individual comments. You may also report an inappropriate or offensive comment by clicking here.

Flagging Comments: Flagging a comment tells a site administrator that a comment is inappropriate. You can find the flag option by pointing the mouse over the comment and clicking the 'Flag' link.

Flagging a comment is only counted once per person, and you won't need to do it multiple times.

Proper Flagging Guidelines: Every site has a different commenting policy - be sure to review the policy for this site before flagging comments. In general these types of comments should be flagged:

  • Spam
  • Ones violating this site's commenting policy
  • Clearly unrelated
  • Personal attacks on others
Comments should not be flagged for:
  • Disagreeing with the content
  • Being in a dispute with the commenter

Popular Comment Threads



 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.