Local Artist Selected for Paradise City Arts Festival

Simsbury sculpture and ceramics artist Vicente Garcia is one of 260 artists chosen to exhibit work at the Paradise City Arts Festival in Northampton, MA, this weekend.

Garcia, who teaches art at Central Connecticut State University, was selected out of a pool of 1,000 applicants to participate in the annual arts festival which will be held at the Three County Fairgrounds in Northampton May 26-28.

Many of the selected works of the exhibiting artists are displayed in major art gallery collections, museums, and magazines. Garcia feels he will be in good company.

"The quality of the selected work is exceptional," Garcia said.

The Paradise Arts Festival is ranked third in the Top Ten Art Fairs nationwide by American Style Magazine, according to a release. The festival has ranked in the top ten every year since 2004.

Garcia has participated in the event many times since he was first selected in 1997 but chose not to attend for the past two years.

"It's expensive for the artists to participate and in a bad economy art is usually the last thing on people's minds," Garcia said.

This year Garcia entered photographs of five of his steel sculptures and all were chosen for the festival.

"As an artist it means you've been accepted because your skills are an acceptable level," Garcia said. The artist said he understands that the judging is subject to the taste of the judge.

"I can't focus on that. I do things that I think are cool and I hope people like it," Garcia said. "But it at least makes me think I'm on the right track."

The local bike advocacy group Bike Walk Simsbury is purchasing a large-scale steel bicycle sculpture created by Garcia which will be installed near Hopmeadow Street at the Winslow Place commuter parking lot. The sculpture was unveiled during the ArtWalk Simsbury event last weekend.

The Paradise City Arts Festival will be open this Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Monday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission to the event will cost: $12 for adults; $10 for seniors; $8 for students; $15 for a three day pass;
and children under 12 will be admitted free.

For more information visit the Paradise City Arts Festival website.