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John Harris '83 was part of a 131 artist show in Westport.
The Westport art festival is a two-day event and features fine artists
from around the world. I volunteered at this event to gain
experience for our Arts
on the Quad Celebration in September. A portion of the
proceeds from this event are donated to charity including Paul
Newman's Hole in the Wall camp for children with cancer. |
John Harris in front of
his work at the Westport show.
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| Setup began at 5 am on Saturday morning.
Each artist drove into the barricaded Main Street of Westport, checked
in with the volunteer with a clip board (me part of the time) and was
checked off by booth number. At that time they were also handed
a packet containing a sign for the booth, a copy of the program and a
name badge. |
The artist had their own tents, |
some building a
sturdier, more elaborate structure , |
and setup in the assigned spots, marked in chalk on the street. |
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Saturday was a beautiful
day for the many attendees. The festival had balloons and stilt
walkers to entertain the children. A clown also made balloon
animals for all who wanted one. |
| Prizes were awarded
to best in category as well as best in show. |
DeAnn L. Prosia, Monroe, CT - Drawing |
Teresa Howley, Ithaca, NY - Sculpture |
Robin with Michael J. Leu, Forest Hills, NY - Printmaking |
Carol Fitzsimmons, Melborne Beach, FL - Watercolors |
An easel lists the entertainment events of the day |
Art patrons take a break to listen to the music |
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Henri RB Lepetit, an artist from Germany, leaves for
Iraq following this show.
Henri is represented by the
Eclectic Fine Art Gallery
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The tables were decorated with flowers donated by Gardner's Eden. |
 The art festival
is in it's 31st year and t-shirts were purchased for the event,
designed without a date, so the unsold shirts can be used again the
next year. |
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Diane Farrell,
Westport's First Selectwoman, thanked the artists, the committee and
the sponsors. |
Robin Asken and Mark Solsburg were co-directors of this year's
festival |
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| The artists
were invited to dine on 70 feet of sandwich, 24 bowls of salad
(Newman's Own dressing), chips with Newman's Own salsa, wine beer and
soda |
| A
Carvel concession stand was set up at each end of the street both days
with a smoothie booth next to the entertainment tent. The tents
closed up Saturday night and were reopened Sunday morning.
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 The
artists were provided coffee and a continental breakfast as they
reopened. |
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A contingency plan for closing early Sunday was
designed in case of rain. The artists were provided a written
plan with a layout for traffic flow. The show began closing at 3
pm, the streets were flooding by 5 pm. Robin said that this year
provided the smoothest breakdown ever - in spite of the rain.
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