It’s all about color, says Craig Davis, when discussing the upcoming Bothell 2011 LiveARTS Festival.
Last year, about 7,000 people attended the two-day festival on the Cascadia Community College/University of Washington-Bothell campus. Davis, the festival chairman, said he’s looking forward to seeing that amount of art enthusiasts again when the free event takes place from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. June 25 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 26 on the schools’ shared campus at 18345 Campus Way N.E.
“The overall impression I get is that it’s a very nice, smaller-sized festival in a beautiful setting,” he said. “There’s a lot of color (in the art), and it’s surrounded by the trees, the campus and the architecture — it’s a very comfortable festival.”
There will be 150 juried (selected) paintings in the main gallery with cash prizes ranging from $350 for third place to $850 for best of show. For juried miniature paintings, the cash goes from $100 for third to $250 for the top piece.
The festival will also feature student art from the Northshore School District “Reflections” program, a 50-piece quilting exhibit and 52 artisans setting up outside displaying ceramics, glass, metalwork and more. Live entertainment (like the Canyon Park Elementary marimba band and a wandering barbershop quartet), food, a wine-and-beer garden and a children’s corner with sidewalk chalk art will also be on the docket.
“I like lots of color and I like the variety in the gallery (oil, acrylic, watercolor, pencil and more),” Davis said. “I like the things outside just as much: the handcrafted things, people that work with metal — it’s amazing.”
To bring the “live arts” aspect to life, Davis noted that a chalk artist will start drawing a mural at the entrance Saturday morning and others will be painting on the spot, as well.
“People can come and see some art actually being done,” said Terri Davis, Craig’s wife, an artist of 20 years and instructor at Arts Umbrella in Country Village.
Terri, a realism artist who takes pictures and then paints them in oil, will painting outside, too, as part of the Northwest Artists in Action group.
Like her husband, she is a fan of her fellow artists at the festival.
“I’m always looking for something unique to take a picture of, even if it’s a piece of glass or reflections in sunglasses or if they have a piece of metalwork that reflects interestingly,” Terri said. “There’s plenty of opportunities for that sort of thing.”
This will be the fourth festival offered by the LiveARTS Bothell group, a nonprofit (501c3) sub-committee of the Bothell Arts Council. The festival is an all-volunteer effort with local sponsors, including a grant from the city of Bothell lodging tax.
In its second year at Cascadia/UW-Bothell, Craig said the group will be holding tours of the wetlands and eco-friendly school buildings. They will also offer another scholarship to a local high-school student; last year, they handed off two for $1,500 each to Bothell High grads Jana Raport and Lauren Fricks.
A preview party will be held from 6-8 p.m. June 24 in Cascadia’s Mobius Hall, with award presentations at 7 p.m.
For tickets to the party and more information, visit www.liveartsbothell.org and “Bothell’s Live Arts Festival” on Facebook.
