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A Day of Art in the Park

Gazebo Arts Festival committee

The leaves on the trees in Macomb’s Chandler Park have not yet started changing colors, but there will nonetheless be plenty of color in the park on Saturday, September 21.

The annual Gazebo Arts Festival will take place from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The exhibit will include photography, jewelry, ceramics, paintings, and more.

The combination of having all of this fine art and the music together just really makes a beautiful time

Arts festival committee member Gayle Carper said there will also be digital fractals by Deb Lutz of Good Hope.

“She just won First Prize at the Illinois State Fair in digital photography,” said Carper. “She does some amazing digital fractal designs.”

Carper said two artists will demonstrate what they do: one is a silkscreen printmaker and the other creates items out of metal. In addition, there will be an area set aside in the park for children to create art from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Materials will be provided.

Carper said the Gazebo Arts Festival is a juried exhibit, with the “Best in Show” prize worth $750. Prizes will also be given for First, Second, and Third Place, plus a couple for Honorable Mention.

Carper said most of the artists are from Macomb and the surrounding area, but a few are from other places such as Peoria, Bloomington, and Chicago.

Gazebo-RadioStory.mp3
The radio story

Carper believes some version of the Gazebo Arts Festival has been around since the late 1960s. She said it was originally called Art in the Park and later evolved into Artists Market. At times it was held at the Art Gallery at Western Illinois University.

Eventually, it was moved back to Chandler Park, became the Gazebo Arts Festival, and was held the same weekend as the Al Sears Jazz Festival.

“The combination of having all of this fine art and the music together just really makes a beautiful time,” said Carper. “Plus you have this absolutely picture postcard perfect park.”

She called the combination “one of those classic kind of little events.”

Rich is TSPR's News Director.