Redlands Festival of Arts

By Robert Klimper |Staff Writer|

Redlands Festival of Arts created a relaxing atmosphere with several different handmade crafts on sale for festival goers, from May 27 until the 28.

The festival itself was held in between the backside of the Smiley Library and the Lincoln Memorial Shrine near downtown Redlands.

“I had always dreamed of having an outdoor art festival modeled after La Jolla or La Quinta where you bring in artist, professional and otherwise for the weekend”, said Shirley Harry, Chairman of the Redlands Festival of Arts board.

The event itself is put on alongside the Art in Park event in Redlands, which according to Harry, used to be held on Mother’s Day.

However, since the inception of the Festival of Arts, it has moved and shared its day with the festival.

The spot in which the festival is held in a smaller area; however, it still allows a nice and concise festival go-er experience.

“It’s a challenge to layout and put artist on the best display…it’s like putting a puzzle together because we don’t want all the fabric people to be together, we don’t want all the jewelers to be together—we want the painters dispersed throughout so that you pull and flow your guests through the entire festival,” said Lynn Whitmer, president of the Redlands Festival of Arts board.

Whitmer also explained that having the festival on the park grounds brings its own challenges with uneven ground, yet is a better choice for them than having the event in the smaller streets around the library.

Handmade art, including pieces from ceramics, digital, fiber, glass, jewelry, painting, photography, sculpture and wood were all on display.

“I like this show, the way it is organized is great, I have met several nice people and make good sales”, said Seung Lee, a returning artist who has participated for four out of the five years the Festival of Arts has been going on and makes woodcut based art.

Visitors could also enjoy live music and a beer and wine garden.

The Festival of Arts also had a sidewalk chalk art demonstration, where students from Redlands East Valley High School (REV) and Redlands High School (RHS) recreated art pieces over the two days of the festival.

“I have been doing this chalk art project with my students at REV for the past several years, but I wanted to take it outside the campus so more people could see what students could do but also so students could get feedback from the public,” said Tracy Massimiano, an art teacher from REV. Massimiano helped put together the sidewalk chalk art demonstration.

Artists at the event only had to pay a fee to set up a booth. Artists strictly profited from any sales made during the event.

Redlands Festival of Arts is made possible by the community, volunteers, and by people with a love of art.