{"id":4981,"date":"2016-02-02T17:31:38","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T22:31:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/?page_id=4981"},"modified":"2016-02-02T17:31:38","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T22:31:38","slug":"art-festival-brings-fun-to-community-support-to-ums-lowe-art-museum","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/our-reporting\/art-festival-brings-fun-to-community-support-to-ums-lowe-art-museum\/","title":{"rendered":"Art festival brings fun to community, support to UM’s Lowe Art Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted February 1, 2016<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By BREANA ROSS<\/p>\n

Laughter, chatters of excitement, and smells of fresh cuisine from various food stands filled the air as spectators enjoyed the variety of artwork displayed at the Beaux Arts Festival of Art, a free, fun weekend for Miami residents and an opportunity to support the Lowe Art Museum.<\/p>\n

Artists from across the country and around the world vied for spots to showcase their art in Miami\u2019s Beaux Arts Festival of Art on Jan. 15-16. From watercolor paintings, to stainless steel sculptures, to whimsical blown glass, more than 220 exhibits were displayed at the festival.<\/p>\n

\"Watercolor<\/a>

Watercolor paintings by Best in Show winner Randy Eckard hang in a display at the Beaux Arts Festival of Art (Photo by Breana Ross).<\/p><\/div>\n

The festival began 65 years ago as a \u201cclothesline sale,\u201d an exhibit where artists would hang their work on clotheslines for the public to see.<\/p>\n

At the time, the city of Miami did not have an art museum. The event was held in an effort to raise money to open a museum, eventually leading to the construction of the Lowe Art Museum.<\/p>\n

Decades later, Miami\u2019s booming art industry and eager art consumers make it a great location for artists to exhibit and sell pieces.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going to be successful in this business, you have to travel where people want to buy art,\u201d said Cheryl Ward, an artist from St. Augustine, Fla.<\/p>\n

The festival also gives artists the opportunity to give back to the community. \u201cWe always donate a piece every year to their art auction,\u201d Ward said. \u201cWe\u2019re happy to do that. We like this show a lot, we do well, and we like to give back to shows we do well in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artists have an opportunity to foster a love for art among spectators by sharing their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s another component to us, not only making work and making a living and doing what we love to do but then also creating an atmosphere of people that want to collect art,\u201d said Douglas Sigwarth, an artist from Wisconsin specializing in whimsical styles of blown glass.<\/p>\n

The proceeds from the festival provide an extensive amount of funding for the Lowe Art Museum\u2019s staff salaries, the art, and programming for children in the community. \u201cHands On\u201d is one program for children that is funded by the proceeds of the festival. Through this program, children are bused from Title I schools to the Lowe Art Museum. Participants get to work on a project, learn about the museum, and take home a souvenir.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor some of them, if not most, it is their first time at a gallery or museum in their life and that is a neat thing,\u201d Past President of the Beaux Art Festival Becky McCarron said.<\/p>\n

An art showcase, displaying the art of 150 young artists, is also funded by the proceeds and was held the Tuesday before the festival in the Lowe Art Museum.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve always focused on the professional artists and we thought, \u2018Wow why don\u2019t we look at the school art that\u2019s in our community,\u2019\u201d Festival Co-Chair Linley Cilrobea said.<\/p>\n

The effort to support young artists is appealing to many exhibiting artists who feel like their craft is dying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think schools have been cutting back on art left and right over the last 10 to 20 years and I just think it is a mistake to not encourage the arts because surrounding ourselves with beautiful things and having the opportunity to be creative I think is something every kid should have the opportunity to do,\u201d Best in Show winner Randy Eckard said.<\/p>\n

The funding that the Beaux Art Festival provides for children\u2019s art programming provides kids with the opportunity for art education and experiences.<\/p>\n

The benefits of the festival also extended to the spectators, who received a free weekend of culture, entertainment, and fun. Food stands, face painting, and a spot for children to do art with professional instructors made the festival an event the whole family could enjoy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like the atmosphere, it\u2019s fun, it\u2019s positive and upbeat,\u201d veteran spectator Marti Beyer said.<\/p>\n

Students particularly appreciate an event that helps to support the Lowe Art Museum on campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Lowe Art Museum definitely provides a lot of culture on campus and access for students who are interested in the creative arts,\u201d UM student Rachel Gunder said. \u201cI\u2019ve been there several times for several of my classes and it\u2019s just a beautiful museum. They definitely need support keeping it up, so it\u2019s a great thing we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The weekend of art and culture at the Beaux Arts Festival of Art provided an opportunity for artists to share and sell their work, spectators to enjoy a free weekend of fun, and the Lowe Art Museum to receive support to continue making a difference in the lives of Miami residents, one work of art at a time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Posted February 1, 2016 By BREANA ROSS Laughter, chatters of excitement, and smells of fresh cuisine from various food stands filled the air as spectators enjoyed the variety of artwork displayed at the Beaux Arts Festival of Art, a free, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":46,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-4981","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4981"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11810,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/4981\/revisions\/11810"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/46"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reporting\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}