Westport Fine Arts Festival in 37th Year

Five years ago, Rockwell Art & Framing owner Steve Desloge wandered down Main Street for his first time to the Westport Fine Arts Festival and "marveled" at the diversity of original art displayed there.

Now, the festival — hosted by the Westport Downtown Merchants Association and the Westport Arts Center — is in its 37th year and Desloge is serving as the event's chairman. He intends to maintain the festival's tradition while keeping it fresh.

"Our group of dedicated organizers and professional jury work hard to maintain the caliber of the show; we know what people expect but we can't rest on past laurels, so we look for new ways to keep the event vibrant," Desloge said in a news release.

One of those changes is moving the show to the riverfront.  

"The show is now more spread out, has a beautiful setting and visitors can stroll  the riverfront all the way through Gorham Island and leisurely enjoy 140 or so booths, chat with the artists and purchase fine art at a reasonable price," Desloge added.

The jury of respected art professionals has invited back last year's first place winner in the painting category, Ning Lee. Ning Lee is a contemporary realist who paints still-life paintings and landscapes. 

For the first time, photographer David Rowell also is coming to the Fine Arts Festival from Saint Petersburg, Fla. For Rowell, photography is a representation of an experience—not a record of it. Through the use of various blur techniques: time exposure, camera movement and selective focus his current series presents minimalistic, somewhat abstract images of the seacoast that have been described as "serene" and infinite." His award-winning fine art photography has been featured in solo and group exhibitions in galleries and museums throughout the United States.

Also new this year is a trip for children to "The Emerald City," at the Westport Arts Center, inspired by L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Children will be able to create tie-dye rainbows, tin-men made out of "found" objects, good (or evil!) witch hats, three dimensional collage lollipops, and "characters of a different color," inspired by the works of Andy Warhol.

Visitors wanting to spend even more time experiencing some of the best that downtown Westport has to offer, can take a little walk from the festival to Jesup Green, where the library will be holding its annual Book Sale.  There will be about 80,000 items for sale.  Children, inspired by their time in the "Emerald City" can visit the children's book tent where they might discover a copy of The Wizard of Oz to take home.

The festival is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 17 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. July 18 at Parker Harding Plaza & Gorham Island.

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