We recently spoke with Liz Rundorff Smith, Program Director of Artisphere, an exciting fine arts weekend festival in Greenville, South Carolina. This is what Liz had to say about the event.
Let’s talk about the 2009 festival...what are the highlights that everyone should be aware of this year?
Artisphere, Greenville’s Arts Weekend, will be held in Downtown Greenville’s Historic West End on May 8-10. Recently ranked 46 out of 600 Fine Art Shows nationwide in Greg Lawler’s Art Fair Sourcebook, Artisphere expects another spectacular year. This year’s programming includes tried and true, crowd-pleasing favorites as well as several new attractions to keep patrons entertained for three solid days.
DESIGN STRATEGIES OPEN AIR ARTIST ROW – One hundred artists were carefully selected through a juried process from a pool of 585 applicants. The final roster that comprises this year’s Artist Row includes some of the highest caliber visual artists from across the United States and beyond. Artist mediums vary from ceramics to photography, glass to jewelry and metal works to sculpture.
COLDWELL BANKER CAINE ART IN ACTION – Performing visual artist and festival favorite, Brian Olsen returns to Artisphere. Olsen’s highly energetic performances on the stage in Falls Park have been drawing huge audiences since the inaugural festival in 2005.
PEACE CENTER GUNTER THEATRE - On Saturday and Sunday the Gunter Theatre will offer Southern Arts Federation’s Short Circuit Traveling Film Festival. This program spotlights twelve short films created by filmmakers from the Southeast.
PEACE CENTER OUTDOOR AMPHITHEATRE – On Friday evening the Peace Center will present Grammy-award winning, singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega. Best known for her self-titled platinum album with its hit single “Luka,” Vega has sold over 7 million albums worldwide. Tickets are $20 and are available through the Peace Center Box Office. On Sunday, the free Local Performing Arts Showcase will feature performances by the SC Children’s Theatre, Carolina Ballet Theatre, the Greenville Symphony Orchestra, Warehouse Theatre and the SC Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities.
CHAIRMAN’S GALLERY EXHIBITION – The Founders’ Room above Larkin’s on the River will feature works from two well established galleries in the Carolinas: Jerald Melberg Gallery (Charlotte, N.C.) and Hampton III Gallery (Greenville, S.C.). Featured works will be on display and available for sale on Saturday and Sunday during festival hours.
ARTISTS OF THE UPSTATE: April 3- May 29: Centre Stage - S.C. – This juried exhibition is open to artists living within a 35-mile radius of Greenville, S.C.and seeks to recognize the outstanding quality and diversity of work being generated by artists living in the Upstate region of South Carolina. The exhibit is free to the public and will be viewable during Centre Stage’s regular hours of operation and during performances.
Do you have a theme or special focus for the 2009 festival?
Artisphere’s new tag line is “arts.culture.life” we feel that the new tag line expresses the focus of the festival.
What do we look forward in 2009 that will be new to artists and street painting fans?
Look for spontaneous performances by roving Visual and Performing Artists throughout the festival including steel drums, jugglers, unicyclists, acrobatics, live statues, marching bands, bubble people, caricaturists and, of course, street muralists! Street Muralists (street painters) will create famous reproductions by Degas and Raphael.
Street Painting art on the walk in front of Riverplace at Artisphere.
How have the residents of Greenville expressed their support of the street painting component of the Artisphere International Arts Festival?
The street painters from Art for After Hours and the work they create draws a huge crowd every year and always makes a big splash in local media.
Does the festival work with arts education or related subjects?
KIDSPHERE is a free craft activities area for children which offers an experience in arts education for festival attendees. In Kidsphere, children take a trip around the world creating arts and crafts including African Congo shakers, Mexican Aztec fans, Australian kangaroo puppets, Chinese kites and USA Abstract Expressionist paintings. Volunteer students from the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities will be on hand to help children create their masterpieces. On Saturday from 2-4 PM, children can participate in “STOMPing Ground.” This will be an interactive area where kids of ALL ages can have fun playing along with the STOMP video on unconventional percussion instruments such as brooms, metal buckets and rubber hoses!
We have always liked the idea of children’s squares and the fun the kids have doing them at festivals throughout the country. What is your view on encouraging and inspiring the street painting art form with children and younger student artists in a 2009 festival?
I hope we can organize this in the future!
Where do you see the festival going and growing in the near future?
The audience seems to grow every year so I hope that the trend continues! I think the structure is there for the programming of the festival but I would hope that as the festival grows the offerings within each area of programming, both visual and performing, will grow as well.
Is there anything that we may have missed that is unique and special to the festival?
Artisphere was recently ranked 46 out of 600 Fine Art Shows nationwide in Greg Lawler’s Art Fair Sourcebook, Mayor Knox White commented that “the high rankings not only reflect the quality of the festival; they reflect the support from the Greenville community and the importance we impart on the arts and quality of life. Artisphere has helped catapult Greenville into the spotlight as an arts destination.” I think the Greenville community makes Artisphere a special event.
Recent Comments