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Teresa

SoWal Guide
Staff member
Nov 15, 2004
30,648
9,458
South Walton, FL
sowal.com
ArtsQuest is right around the corner May 8-10 in Grand Boulevard at Sandestin. Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County (CAA) announces Amanda Bennett as featured artist for this year's festival. This 27th annual festival is a Mother's Day Weekend tradition and this year promises to be more spectacular than ever with a French Circus theme.

ArtsQuest is a juried fine arts festival featuring over 100 artists in various mediums including but not limited to ceramics, glass, oil and acrylics, photography, sculpture, metal and wood. These exhibiting artists from around the United States will compete for awards and cash prizes totaling $10,000.

Inspired by Bennett’s artwork, ArtsQuest will be styled in a French circus theme with traveling entertainment, jugglers, stilt walkers and more. The Grand Park Main Stage will feature continuous live musical performances for the entire family with a special Friday night by Boukou Groove, 30A Dancewave, the Emerald Coast Theatre Company, The REP, 30A Ballet and the Ohana Institute will all perform in ArtsQuest’s “ImagiNation (where kids rule),” which also feature arts activities and a student art exhibit.

ArtsQuest will be the setting for the exhibition of the Full Plate Project, CAA’s joint fundraiser and community-wide art project and fundraiser with Food for Thought Outreach. Plates painted by children and adults in the community will be sold with proceeds funding arts in education and food for children in need.

Live art demonstrations, a CAA Member exhibit featuring over 50 artists, and the new “Gallery Lane,” showcasing a select number of regional galleries, will round out the weekend. A full cash bar and food offerings will be available in Grand Park.

artsquest poster 2015.jpg


About Featured Artist Amanda Bennett
Amanda Bennett remembers painting with her grandmother as a child, who used a spatula as her primary tool. However, it wasn't until years later, staring at the blank walls of her loft in Birmingham, Alabama, that she rediscovered her passion for the process of creation. Though it began as a practical answer to the abject poverty of life after college, this act of thrifty outfitting inspired her to cultivate her own unique style, a place where process demands as much attention as its end result.

As a Huntsville, Alabama native, Bennett moved to Nashville eight years ago where she finally got serious about her art. Her music inspired art gained local attention, as her signature guitars found their homes in local digs such as Fanny's House of Music on the east side. When Bennett finally decided to release the paces of nine to five living, her art reflected her transformation. She moved through a transcendent few months of abstracts and then awakened one morning from a night of mixed media dreaming.

If you're wondering where you'll find Bennett lately, it's snapping crazy cool shots of local characters and characters around Nashville and beyond, most recently capturing the soul and local flavor of the Mississippi Delta and New Orleans. Her latest series demonstrates her ever-evolving and rare perspective, a photographic journey of tales untold in the way Deep South. She has taken two things she loves, acrylic mediums and photography, and transformed them in to a funk style mash up on plywood for your viewing pleasure.
However, Bennett is never too far from her grandmother's easel, creating art inspired by the technique and the soul of her teacher.

The event is open to the public and a $5 admission donation is suggested. For more information on exhibiting artists and a full schedule, visit Artsquestflorida.com.

140510-artsquest-040-sowal-2000.jpg
ArtsQuest at Grand Boulevard 2014. The new location was a big hit with artists and everyone! What a perfect venue for the weekend.

ArtsQuest began as a small community gathering in Grayton Beach in 1989 and now features nearly 200 exhibiting national, regional and local artists competing for $10,000 in cash awards, art workshops, live art demonstrations, music, food, wine, ImagiNation (where kids rule) and more.
 

Teresa

SoWal Guide
Staff member
Nov 15, 2004
30,648
9,458
South Walton, FL
sowal.com
ArtsQuest%20Web%20Header-01.jpg


Volunteers are needed Thursday, May 8th - Sunday, May 11th for all positions such as load in, merchandise tent, artist hospitality, wine booths, and ticket sales. Please let us know if you have a preference and we will be happy to try and accommodate.

Consider encouraging friends and family members to join you to share in the fun. This will be a rewarding experience, meeting people who share your love for the arts and community.
There are volunteer opportunities for everyone and ArtsQuest Fine Arts & Music Festival is a great way to contribute your time and talents.

Signing up is easy, just click HERE NOW or call our office at 850-622-5970 and ask to speak to Renee or Lee.
 
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