Now in its 44th year, the Cottonwood Art Festival is the premier fine arts event in North Texas. The festival also features local bands, a children’s area and a courtyard where patrons can sit in the shade by the lake and relax while they enjoy the music. Food and spirits are also available in the courtyard.
Cottonwood Art Festival is a juried show. This year approximately 1,400 artists submitted their work for consideration. For each show, jurors select over 240 artists to exhibit their museum-quality work. The artists compete in 14 categories: 2D Mixed Media, 3D Mixed Media, Ceramics, Digital, Drawings/Pastels, Fiber, Glass, Jewelry, Leather, Metalwork, Painting, Photography, Sculpture and Wood. A list of this year’s artists can be found on the Event Artists page. The featured artist is chosen to represent Cottonwood’s marketing pieces, including t-shirts and posters. This year’s featured artist is Mark Keller.
ArtStop, the festival’s hands-on, interactive children’s area includes the following this year:
Crazy Cool Caps – Let the kids show off their pint-sized personalities by creating their own overthe-top hat! There is plenty of glitter, feathers, pompons, ribbon and foam shapes for all to use!
Throwin’ Mud – It’s ok for the kids to play in the mud at this activity station with Masta Potta, Mr.Kirby!
Canvas Classics – Be an artist by painting your very own canvas painting.
Bag Full of Color – Kids can “go green” while using their imaginations to paint canvas backpacks, which are handy for toting around their Cottonwood ArtStop masterpieces!
Petite Pottery – Just in time for Mother’s or Father’s day! Kids can paint their own petite pottery, the perfect gift for mom and dad.
The Big Picture – Kids can leave their mark on Cottonwood Art Festival by painting a piece on the Monster Mural!
Other ArtStop activities include Chalk Board Easels (for young children), Chisel Away (kids chisel on a large block of plaster) and Magnetic pieces
The twice-a-year event has extended its hours and is set for 10 AM – 8 PM Saturday, May 5th and 10 AM – 6 PM Sunday, May 6th at Cottonwood Park in Richardson (1321 W. Beltline Rd.) Admission and parking are free. Full details are available at www.cottonwoodartfestival.com or 972-744-4581.
