Art is… by Bev Jackson Cotter

What an exciting day it promises to be! From 1 to 5:30 p.m. next Sunday, the Family Festival of Sports & Arts is taking place in and around the new pavilion at Edgewater Park. With sports activities for all ages, artist exhibit booths, demonstrations, beer tasting, helicopter rides, lots of food and live music, this brand new Art Center sponsored activity could be the beginning of an annual community event.

With the fund raiser for the Art Center’s move into the Freeborn National Bank Building as the focus, the Edgewater committee has been working for months to bring together all of the people that make a festival of this sort happen, and the enthusiasm is infectious.

For several years, the Art Center sponsored Art in the Park, which brought in artists from around the region and was eagerly anticipated by area art enthusiasts. This year the committee decided to include the sports side of the community. It is not hard to combine interest in a wild life painting with the art of tying flies, the beauty of carving on gun stocks or the design of fishing rods. The two go hand in hand, and sampling craft beers fits the program, too.

We are looking forward to visitors who might enjoy a helicopter ride over the city, who love to view art by local vendors, who enjoy eating tacos or brats, who are fans of the music groups 3 Wheels and A-flat or the Armbands, who enjoy watching the Bayside Skiers, or woodcarving and maybe haven’t considered archery and hunting and art in the same category, but find they have a lot in common.

It will be a fun day for the children in the family too. They can experience the Bounce House, bracelet making, face painting, large hoola-hoops, noodle tag, and old-time relay races. And the family can enjoy canoeing and kayaking.

Almost all of the activities are free to families, with the only ticket cost $20 (ahead of time at the Art Center and from committee members and $25 at the gate) for those who want to participate in the beer tasting sponsored by the Green Mill. The free activities are available thanks to several area businesses who have offered to co-sponsor this event.

In a time when there are so many different community organizations and events to participate in, how neat it is to have one that combines the interests of so many people, and that offers activities for all family members.

We hope that you will set aside Sunday afternoon, August 24, to attend the Festival of Sports & Arts at Edgewater Park. It promises to be a day that you will remember for a long time.

 

Bev Jackson Cotter is a member of the Albert Lea Art Center, 226 W. Clark St., where the show “Envision the Impressionists” will be on display through Sept. 27. Art Center hours are from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.