Arts Council announces festival, accepts vendors
The Chilton County Arts Council is once again supplying artists with a way to showcase and sell their work with its fifth annual Arts Festival.
This year’s festival will be held at the Clanton Conference and Performing Arts Center, located on the Jefferson State Community College campus in Clanton, on Nov. 7 and 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The Arts Council is currently accepting applications for vendors, with the final deadline to apply being Oct. 15.
According to CCAC President Sue Anne Hoyt, last year’s event saw approximately 30 vendors, which was a “light” year for the festival.
Previous years have generated close to 50 vendors.
“The festival is centrally located in the state, so we have local artists and artists from other areas of the state,” Hoyt said. “We always have a really wide variety of art, so it’s very interesting.”
Paintings, sculpture, woodwork, jewelry, doll making and gourd art are just a few of the many mediums artists display and sell at the festival.
Hoyt said the festival committee will “jury” the artwork prior to the festival, which means they will look at an artist’s work to see that it is hand-made or hand-crafted.
“We all use materials in our art,” Hoyt said. “We just ask that the work submitted is original.”
No commercial or mass products will be accepted.
This year, the Council is offering an “early special,” in which booths measuring 10 feet by 10 feet are $40 and booths measuring 10 feet by 20 feet are $60. The early offer ends Aug. 28, after which only the booths measuring 10 feet by ten feet will be available for $50.
Those who participate will also receive a free one-year membership to the Arts Council, as well as a free Arts Festival T-shirt.
According to Hoyt, Festival Ballet Arts will be returning for a second year at the festival and will provide live entertainment for those in attendance.
She said the festival committee is currently in the process of acquiring more live acts to make use of the center’s stage.
The event is free to attend, and the community is invited to look around, shop and even pick the brains of the artists.
While much is still in the works for the November event, Hoyt said she is confident that it will be a success.
“We’ve always had so many creative things. It’s amazing,” Hoyt said. “We owe it to the vendors. They do some incredible artwork.”
Applications are available at the Chilton County Arts Council website at chiltoncountyartscouncil.com/chilton-county-art-festival.html.
To register for a vendor booth, fill out the application and send it to CCAC, at P.O. Box 2561, Clanton, AL 35046.