Free ARTreach Festival Returns to Long Reach Village Center

The Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) is pleased to announce ARTreach, a free, outdoor, community arts festival at the Long Reach Village Center on June 11, 2016 from 11 AM to 4 PM.

From world music to watercolor, ARTreach has something for everyone! Talk with artists from a variety of disciplines and watch them practice their craft. Participate in drop-in, hands-on arts activities for all ages. Listen to a lively selection of music by regional performing artists. Be entertained by stilt walkers, magicians, mimes, balloon twisters and more.

Musical performances include Afro-pop band Elikeh; progressive hip hop and electric cello with Christylez Bacon and Wytold; Latin pop band Ocho de Bastos; and Baltimore-based blues band Ursula Ricks Project. Attendees can also enjoy demonstrations of capoeria, an African-Brazilian martial art incorporating music and dance-like movement, and children’s performances by Drama Learning Center and Beale Street Puppets. At 12:15 PM, County Executive Allan Kittleman (invited) and Council Chair Calvin Ball will welcome the crowd from the main stage. A detailed schedule is available on the ARTreach website, artreachhoco.org.

Visual arts demonstrations scheduled to date include: blacksmithing with Ken Strosnider; ceramics with the Columbia Association Art Center; chainsaw-carved sculpture with Evelyn Mogren; fiber arts with the Weavers Guild of Greater Baltimore; fused glass with Jean Marie Mettee; glass bead-making with Alice St. Germain-Gray; stone-carving with Ferenc Gregor; watercolor with Chaya Schapiro; and woodworking with the Mid-Maryland Wood Turners Club.

In addition to enjoying performances and demonstrations, festival-goers can participate in a variety of free hands-on activities. Among these are piñata-making with Creative Alliance Artesanas Mexicanas master artists Aurelia Vargas, Flor Gallegos, Lilia Torres, Griselda Torres and Yesenia Mejia; Chinese brush painting with Jing-Jy Chen; paper-casting with Dirk Joseph of Azi Arts; origami with Shawnnee Holmberg of Shabana; printmaking with Jereme Scott; poetry with HoCoPoLitSo; and opportunities to make tie-dye t-shirts, puppets, and more. There will also be free face-painting, henna painting, and caricatures.

The arts are vital to building positive, thriving places to live, work, and play. ARTreach is a partnership between Columbia Association, Columbia Association Art Center, Columbia Festival of the Arts, Howard County Government, Howard County Arts Council, and Long Reach Community Association. Help us engage the community of Long Reach—the village with a heart—by infusing its center with visual, literary, and performing arts.

To learn more or to get involved, contact 410-313-ARTS (2787) or outreach@hocoarts.org, visit artreachhoco.org, and follow ARTreach on Facebook: facebook.com/ARTreachHoCo and Twitter: @ARTreachHoCo.