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PrintCOLUMBIA — The Fall into Art festival will debut this weekend at the Parkade Center, 601 Business Loop 70 W.
**The Columbia Office of Cultural Affairs sponsored a similar festival, Festival of the Arts, but the city discontinued it due to declining participation and revenue, short staffing and its labor-intensive nature, said Sarah Scaggs, program specialist in the office.
The similar festival had been held outside the Boone County Courthouse and offered catered food. Fall into Art will be held inside, with costs offset by utilizing nearby restaurants and charging each artist $80 for a booth and $10 for a license. It is not sponsored by the Office of Cultural Affairs.
What: Fall into Art
When: From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: Parkade Center, 601 Business Loop 70 W
More information: Visit the Fall into Art website.
- Mary Verdi-Fletcher performs with Carly Dorman during the Columbia Festival of the Arts on Saturday. The Dancing Wheels company from Cleveland incorporates seated and standing performers in modern dances.
- Frank Stack's oil on canvas painting "Missouri River-August" is featured on the Columbia Festival of the Arts promotional poster. The festival will be held Sept. 29 and 30 in Columbia.
“There was a void," said Farah Nieuwenhuizen, one of the coordinators of the new event and a 40-year resident of Columbia. "Lots of people were saying they really missed it, they really wanted it."
Nieuwenhuizen sent out e-mails in January and an overwhelming response prompted her to begin planning the event in February.
“We couldn’t have it outside in case the weather was bad or something like that,” Nieuwenhuizen said. “So we talked to the Parkade management, and they let us do it, and they have been a great help.”
The festival will feature more than 30 artists, Nieuwenhuizen said. She plans to display her jewelry.
“I started as a painter," she said. "The last 20 years I started making jewelry. I kind of liked the stones that I bought one time and they were so beautiful and I just didn’t want to leave them there, so I took some courses at MU."
Nieuwenhuizen graduated from MU with a degree in art education and taught art and jewelry classes at Hickman High School for 20 years.
Other mediums on display will include mixed media, watercolor, pottery, photography, woodworking and more.
Nieuwenhuizen wants to bring the community together, especially children. Access Arts will be giving demonstrations on throwing pottery with a wheel and weaving on a loom and Stephens College Children's School and the Columbia Art League will be doing children's art projects.
Children can decorate pumpkins provided by Wilson’s Garden Center and can also have their faces painted. For older attendees, there will be wood turning, rug hooking demonstrations and live music.
The weekend’s performances will include an orchestra trio from Hickman, a jazz combo from Rock Bridge High School, the Rogers Street Quartet and the Heart of Missouri Chorus, with live piano and guitar interludes between sets.
The festival will have food for sale from two restaurants near the Parkade Center. Kojaba, a Japanese and Korean barbecue, will feature a supplemental menu and the Cherry Street Artisan kiosk inside the center will offer deli foods.
“We hope it can become annual," Nieuwenhuizen said. "We want more people to join us. Parkade is a big place. We want it to be well received."
The artwork on display is for sale and the event is free to the public.
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