Coming This Summer to Paradise Park: 2011 Celebration of the Arts

Calling all Middletown artists: the town’s first ever arts festival is set for August 20 at Paradise Park.

The event, several years in the making, came together through the efforts and planning of the town’s new Committee for the Arts, working in conjunction with Town Council liaison Richard Cambra. The event will give Middletown visual artists, poets and performing artists, as well as culinary artists, the opportunity to showcase their work without having to travel to Portsmouth, Newport or Tiverton.

The event was officially approved Monday night when the Middletown Town Council voted to authorize the funds needed for the initial upfront costs of about $1,870, which will cover renting a main tent and paying for other ancillary costs. Town officials and organizers plan to use the revenue raised from nominal vendor fees and an on-site fundraiser at the festival to perpetuate the event to be self-sustaining in future years, they discussed Monday night.

Town Administrator Shawn Brown said the initial funds are likely to come from the Parks & Recreation Department budget.

Brown also commended the committee led by Chairperson Linda Phelan and Councilor Cambra for organizing the event.

“This is a great opportunity for the community,” Brown said.

In her presentation to the Town Council, Phelan, also a local artisan, described how Middletown residents have experienced a void without an organized arts event or place for the local arts community to come together. They have always had to go to Portsmouth, Newport or elsewhere for the arts.

The last Town Council voted to create the Committee for the Arts about one year ago and since then the group has conducted a community needs survey. The Arts Festival was one of the results of that assessment.

“Just having our idea become a reality is great,” said Committee Vice-Chairperson Amy Cordeiro.

Artists will be able to sell their works at the festival.

Cambra said the committee and event organizers would also incorporate the event into a larger outreach effort to involve and connect more underprivileged children from various neighborhoods to the arts.

Others on the committee described the event as being a great opportunity to help promote Middletown and was not intended to detract from the work of other non-profit arts organizations on Aquidneck Island.

Artists will be charged a $25 participation fee. The event will also feature activities for children, live music, dance and other performance artists, as well as food vendors and the opportunity for culinary artists to participate, organizers said. 

The next step is to put out a call for Middletown artists to participate in the event, committee members said. The event will also be open to students, they said.