Neighbor News
Wickford Art Festival Announces "Host an Artist" Program - Local Residents Invited to Participate
Wickford Art Festival Host an Artist Looking for local residents to volunteer to host a visiting artist during the festival - July 8th & 9th
The Wickford Art Association will host the 55th annual Wickford Art Festival—the town’s premier summer event—on July 8th and 9th in the heart of Wickford Village.
The Art Festival will include the “Host an Artist” program again this summer. Local residents are invited to participate by offering a guest room or spare bedroom to artists who are traveling to Wickford for the festival. Many of the visiting artists quickly signed up to enjoy the local hospitality.
The program was founded last year by Josefina Sundblad, an exchange student from Argentina, as her senior project at North Kingstown High School. As an aspiring artist, she was very excited about the Art Festival and its value to the community. To complete her project she designed a website, including survey forms for the artists and hosts as well as social media accounts on facebook, Twitter and Instagram to promote the program. “North Kingstown is a special place to me and I’m happy I created something for the art community that continues after I’ve left. I plan to come back and show my work at the festival some day, but for now I hope other young artists will be able to participate because of this program.”
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The Art Festival Director, Francie Christopherson, is looking forward to including the program again this year. "I'm passionate about the Wickford Art Festival and Wickford Village," Francie said. "Offering accommodation with local families helps the artists defray some of their costs and it helps members of the local community feel connected to the show. Last year we found a host for every artist who wanted one. This year we are expecting greater interest, so we’re encouraging the North Kingstown community to participate.”
Jill Long, a North Kingstown resident, hosted an artist last summer and she is enthusiastic about doing it again. “We hosted a ceramics artist who drives up from Pennsylvania for the festival. I’ve been admiring his work for years and it was so much fun to get to know him,” she said. “Several of my neighbors hosted artists too. It was a fantastic way to get more involved in the festival.”
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Local residents who are interested in hosting an artist for festival weekend can complete an online form and receive a list of interested artists. For more information or to sign up as a host: WickfordHostanArtist.org.
About The Wickford Art Festival: The Wickford Art Festival is one of New England's longest running, outdoor, fine art festivals. Taking place every summer since 1962, this juried festival features over 200 fine art artists from New England, the US and beyond.
About the Wickford Art Association: The purpose of the Wickford Art Association is to educate its membership, the local arts community and the general public, and to promote the arts in the community. They bring art to the community through classes, scholarships and partnerships with local businesses. They have a gallery at the Wickford Town Beach with shows every month which are open to the public. The Wickford Art Association is the creator of the Wickford Art Festival. For more information: www.wickfordart.org.
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