Wow, so it has taken all week, but I am finally feeling recovered from the marathon day last Saturday.
Thank you to all of my friends that came out to support my booth at ArtsGoggle this year. I was fortunate enough to spend the day sharing the booth with my dear friend Whitney McLean, who is a photographer and painter in the Fort Wort area.
If you have never been, ArtsGoggle has become one of the largest art festivals in the area, and this year was no exception. With over 950 artists, we were surrounded by some pretty impressive artists, and thousands of patrons that came out for the beautiful weather, amazing music and great food.
This festival has come a looong way from when I first moved to Fort Worth and started working at the Art Station. If you are not aware, the Art Station is a non-profit Art Therapy organization that has been around for about 15 years now. I have had the pleasure of working there for the past 13-ish years, and ever since I started, ArtsGoggle has been a part of our schedule.
However, it was not nearly the event it was this past weekend. ArtsGoggle began in the NearSouthside area of Fort Worth, which is south of the hospital district. The businesses on Park Pace Avenue and 8th Avenue had an interest in participating in Gallery Night near the museum district. However, being a bit farther away, the organizers of gallery night thought that it would not be appropriate to include our area in the festivities. So, like many motivated people that don’t like being told ‘no’, the Park Place businesses decided that they would organize their own event, and called it ArtsGoggle. Not having a museum on this part of town, or a gallery for that matter, the local businesses agreed to pair up with local artists to show their work, and provide refreshments in true gallery night opening reception style, once in the spring and once in the fall.
Rather than opening up to local artists, the Art Station used the opportunity to feature artwork by some of our client populations (with their permission of course) and occasional opportunities for friends of the Art Station to display art. As the event got more and more popular, booths were arranged down the middle of the street, and more streets were being included in the festivities. The organization of the even became under the command of the Near Southside organization, and over time, they grew the event into what it was this past weekend. Unfortunately, with growth, the event continues to move closer to downtown as a way to bring life to the revamped Magnolia Businesses, and even newer Main Street businesses, and no longer held on our street at Park Place.
Once known for our white wine sangria, and giving tours of the old fire station building that we are housed in, the Art Station now participates as either a booth on Magnolia making art with the community, or like this year, with our individual art therapists showcasing their own art. One positive, we no longer spend the next day cleaning up sticky floors from the dribbles out of the the slightly loose sangria spigots!
ArtsGoggle this year was a marathon of 14 hours for the artists, and even longer for the organizers! Speaking of the organizers, I was so impressed with the block captains, the maps, the instructions and the friendliness of the artists near us. Everyone worked together to get tent booths up, parking was close by for us, and we really were able to host a lot of cool art, and bring customers to see our art, and in some case purchase. It was such a great experience, and I hope to participate in many more art festivals because of the positive feedback by the patrons that came to our booth, the fun I had watching Whitney stage the art and make our booth beautiful, and the confidence that all of that gave us to hear the positivity as people listened to us talk about our art.
Check out my print store here to purchase your own art that was featured at ArtsGoggle!
