Opinion: Thirty-Five Years of Fine Arts & Crafts

By Marc Gendron

The Walnut Creek Sidewalk Fine Arts & Crafts Festival began 35 years ago with artists lining the sidewalks of North Main Street displaying their art on A-frames and potter's shelves. The event has since grown in both size and scope to include more artists lining the sidewalks of North Main and Locust between Civic and Mount Diablo and the closed street of Cypress between North Main and Locust.  
 
To keep the event vibrant over the years, Pacific Fine Arts Festivals, the promoter of the show, has worked closely with the City and the Walnut Creek Downtown Business Association to design it in a way that increases foot traffic in downtown while generating awareness for its merchants. There is no food or drink offered for sale at the festival given the many delicious offerings from restaurants and cafes in the downtown area.
 
For Walnut Creek Sidewalk Fine Arts & Crafts Festival as well as all of its other events, Pacific Fine Arts Festivals requires that all artists and craftspeople have a California Resale license, a body of work and a way to display it. Each applicant’s work is juried, or reviewed by a small committee, based on technical skill, creativity, the medium, and other requirements. Pacific Fine Arts Festivals takes great care to ensure a comprehensive and even mix of artists and craftspeople at every show.
 
More about Pacific Fine Arts
 
Pacific Fine Arts was founded in 1973. In 1980 Judy Cunningham became the owner and Director. Prior to promoting, Judy sold her husband David Cunningham's bas relief sculptures at art festivals for seven years. This experience provided her with a insight into the needs of the artists that exhibit their work at PFA events. In 2000 Dana Hale-Mounier joined Judy as a partner in Pacific Fine Arts. Dana also has that special insight having been around art shows all of her life as the daughter of long time exhibitors Karen and Tom Hale.
 
The goal of PFA is to produce the highest quality Art Festivals possible. All persons interested in participating are juried prior to being added to PFA's rosters. Pacific Fine Arts produces approximately 25 two- and three-day events per year, primarily in the Bay Area. At some festivals, the artist's displays are set up along the sidewalks or in parks, while at others streets are closed and displays set up down the center of the thoroughfare. Festivals are located in towns and cities both large and small, as well as in tourist destinations such as Mammoth Lakes and Lake Tahoe.
 
The majority of PFA's events are Fine Art Festivals featuring paintings, drawings, photography, sculpture, ceramics, graphics, and jewelry. A number of Arts and Crafts Festivals are also produced where, in addition to fine art, handmade clothing, leather goods, wooden toys, country items, and dried flowers can be found.
 
Several of PFA's festivals have been ranked in the top 200 outdoor festivals in the country by Sunshine Artists Magazine. In 1997 they awarded first place in their First Annual National Poster Contest to the poster for the California Strawberry Festival, a PFA event.
 
Pacific Fine Arts is appreciated by artists and craftspeople as well as the host communities for the high quality of its exhibitors, integrity, professionalism, and efficiency of operation. If you've attended a PFA event, you know firsthand about the quality of the work presented. If you haven't yet had the opportunity, please check the current schedule for a festival near you.

The 35th annual Fine Arts and Crafts Festival is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday on Cypress and North Main streets, Walnut Creek.