Bellevue Festival Of The Arts Returns This Month

From Bellevue Fest: As the leading local arts festival that’s uniquely by artists, for artists, the 2018 Bellevue Festival of the Arts returns for its 34th year from July 27-29, 2018 in downtown Bellevue, Washington. Presented by the Craft Cooperative of the Northwest, the BFoA curates an award-winning show of rich and diverse multiple mediums, featuring artists hailing from the Pacific Northwest, from across the United States, and the world beyond, as one of the three popular fairs that make up Bellevue Arts Fair Weekend each Summer.And 2018 promises to be one of its best yet! The BFoA showcases exciting, beautiful, and diverse works of art in a variety of mediums, presented along lovely tree-lined paths in a rare and inviting open-air urban setting. Audiences who visit the BFoA get the unique opportunity to view beautiful works of art, and (even better) to also meet and talk to the talented artists who create them.

This year’s artists include such acclaimed Pacific Northwest talents as Justin Hillgrove, Gunter Reimnitz, Ashmita Gulati, Pepe Moscoso, Margarita Castillo-Bernard, Julia Garrels, Jesse Kelly, Michele Raney, Susie Aoki, Sharrey Doré, Tim Wistrom, Katy LaReau, Jean-Claude Louis, Bob Wilfong, Jason Napier, and many more.As always, the BFoA goes beyond art, as a yearly committed community partner in which the proceeds from the festival, are donated to local and global charities that will help make the world a better place. This year’s charitable contributions and community partners include Education at Elevation, L’Arche Noah Sealth of Seattle, CERF (Craft Emergency Relief Fund), American Indian College Fund, Teen Feed, and more. 2018

Attractions and Events

In 2017, the BFoA honored the memory of dear friend and artist Aubrey Morgan by unveiling Aubrey’s Corner, a free children’s art activity tent returning in 2018. The attraction will once again provide a welcome space during the festival where little artists can make projects while parents participate, encourage, and learn about local art programs.Something for Everyone: Food, Fun, & Live Music

As it does each year, the BFoA also showcases an array of terrific food and even more live music, in a lovely, shaded food court with a stage for live music, as well as seating for over 100 festival-goers. This year, the BFoA is also hosting a performance by the Seattle Philharmonic Orchestra Cello Choir and Anjuman, an Indian/Afro-Cuban ensemble, as well as the young dancers from the Tibetan Language & Culture Class of the Tibetan Association of Washington, performing traditional Tibetan dances on Sunday, July 29, 2018 at 11 a.m. Learn more at https://www.bellevuefest.org/food-and-music/.

Location

Located out-of-doors, just four miles east of Seattle in downtown Bellevue (North of I-90 and South of 520), the BFoA is easy to find, at 10300 NE 8th Street (near Bergman Luggage), at the intersection of Bellevue Way NE and NE 8th St., directly north of Bellevue Square (across the street from BAM’s Artsfair, and West of the 6th Street Fair).Facts at a Glance

When: July 27-29, 2018

Where: Open Air Art Festival—Intersection of NE 8th St. & Bellevue Way, across from Bellevue Square

Hours: Fri and Sat, 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sun, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m.Price:

FREE!FOR THE PUBLIC:

For more on the BFoA, visit www.bellevuefest.org or call (206) 363-2048. FOR REPORTERS ONLY (NOT FOR PRINT): For info or images, contact Angela Mitchell at (904) 982-8043 or News@paranoidpr.com. For interviews, contact Ann Sutherland at (206) 363-2048 or info@bellevuefest.org. Snapshot: A Few 2018 Local/Regional Artists

Every year, the BFoA includes unforgettable fine art and craft from some of the Northwest’s leading artists and beyond. Here’s a useful snapshot of just a few of those participants in 2018:Gunter Reimnitz (Sculptor, Port Townsend, WA)

http://www.abraxascrow.comPress Contact: (360) 379-3281 or reimnitz@olypen.comBorn and raised on Kodiak Island, Alaska, Gunter Reimnitz spent his childhood fishing for salmon on a 42-foot fishing boat with his family. As a young adult, he received a scholarship to the San Francisco Art Institute, where he earned a BFA in sculpture. He now resides in Port Townsend, Washington, working full-time as a sculptor, and showing his work throughout the Northwest.Bob Wilfong (Sculptor, Clarkston, WA)

http://bobwilfongsculpture.comPress Contact: (702) 325-2476 or bjwilfong@hotmail.comA nationally recognized sculptor who believes the primary element in good art is its ability to stimulate emotional response in the viewer, Bob’s limited-edition, stylized figurative and abstract lost-wax cast sculptures are made of bronze with specific chemical patinas, giving each sculpture its own coloration. No two sculptures of the same edition are ever exactly alike (nor are meant to be), with each one special and distinct due to aspects such as wax mold thickness, the ceramic mold, the welding, the patinas, and the artist's touch.

Pepe Moscoso (2D Mixed Media, Portland, OR)
www.theblindinsect.comPress Contact: theblindinsect@hotmail.comPepe Moscoso is a Portland-based community arts producer and visual artist whose 2D Mixed Media creations explore the concepts of inclusion, personal narrative, identity, diversity, and storytelling in a variety of forms. He also helps to coordinate FusionArte, an organization committed to promoting Latin American arts and culture through educational programming and cultural events, and he hosts FA Radio, a Portland Spanish-language radio show on KBOO, 90.7 FM.

Melanie Brauner (Jewelry, Shoreline, WA)
www.versojewelry.comPress Contact: versojewelry@gmail.com Melanie Brauner is a metalsmith, bookbinder, and papermaker with a studio in Shoreline, Washington. Inspired by the sinuous lines of Art Nouveau and the elegant details in nature, from petals to dewdrops, to spider webs, her handcrafted jewelry is made from metal forms cast in delicate handmade paper. The concept is the same as making a sheet of handmade paper, but around a three-dimensional form, and by building up thin layers over the course of several days. The forms are then hand-dyed and heavily sealed for water-resistance and durability. Melanie holds a BFA from Oregon College of Art and Craft, where she studied books, arts and metals.

Sharrey Doré (Metalsmith Jewelry, Seattle, WA)
www.sharreydore.com Press Contact: s.dore@comcast.net or (206) 283-8103Sharrey Doré is a talented metalsmith jewelry artist who is inspired by construction, problem-solving and the challenge of creating a beautiful piece of art. After exhibiting at both the BFoA and BAM, Sharrey decided that the festive outdoor atmosphere of the BFoA was a better fit for her as well as her art, and she is enthusiastic about its open, fresh-air atmosphere, chemistry with organizers, and ever-growing following of collectors. Her love of texture and form is a constant influence, and patterns, layering of metals, colors, and the beauty of precious and semi-precious stones are ultimately the driving elements of her work.Michele Raney (Jewelry, Port Townsend, WA)
www.enanimals.comPress Contact: (360) 344-3864 or info@enanimals.comMichele specializes in hand-carving and the art of painting with glass on precious metals, in an innovative version of the centuries-old, French method of enameling called Basse-taille. She learned the fine (and nearly lost) arts of engraving and enameling at Sir John Cass Polytechnic in London. With designs inspired by the beauty of nature, she combines these techniques to create her exquisite line of wearable art.

Margarita Castillo-Bernard (3D Mixed, Tigard, OR)
www.fantasyfigurativeart.comPress Contact: marca@dollsbymarca.com or (541) 301-7173Margarita Castillo-Bernard specializes in designing characters with an unconventional twist. Her manipulation of Polymer clays and resins (acquired from work in motion picture special effects and toy prototype development) has helped to set her art apart. Her characters often feature natural and/or recycled materials such as cotton, hemp, linen, silk, bamboo, and wool. She dyes and felts many of the garments worn by her characters, and all designs are original and crafted by hand.

Jesse Kelly (Seattle, WA, Glass)
http://www.jessekellyglass.comPress Contact: JesseKellyGlass@gmail.com or (206) 354-7368Glass artist Jesse Kelly has worked with a number of inspiring glass artists, both locally and abroad, and he has been a member of Italian master glass artist Lino Tagliapietra’s team for the last ten years, also teaching glassblowing at the Pratt Fine Arts Center. In 2004, he worked as a guest designer and gaffer in the Czech Republic, in an exchange of Western and traditional Czech glassblowing techniques. He draws inspiration from the icons of his childhood and meaningful life experiences, and his body of work includes a variety of glass landscape installations and glass sculptures, vessels, and more.

Justin Hillgrove (Painting, Snohomish, WA)
http://www.impsandmonsters.comPress Contact: impsandmonsters@gmail.comAcclaimed artist Justin Hillgrove grew up in Snohomish, and has been enjoying artistic expression since he was old enough to color on the walls. Mostly self-taught, he spent years in the design industry before setting out on his own to spend his days paintings monsters, robots, and more. In the last 15 years, Justin has worked on everything from books and magazines to collectible card games and toys, and his book Imps and Monsters celebrates 10 years of his art.

Ashmita Gulati (Painting, Bellevue, WA)
www.ashmitagulati.comPress Contact: ashmita@hotmail.comThe BFoA was Ashmita’s very first show in 2011, and her artistic talent has continued to garner rave reviews and critical acclaim worldwide. Driven by her passion to interpret and bring out the unique beauty of various natural elements around us, Ashmita’s works are vivid and multifaceted.

David Lutrick (Wood, Issaquah, WA)
www.davidlutrick.comPress Contact: lutrick2@comcast.net40 years ago, David Lutrick bought a lathe and began his journey to becoming an acclaimed and initially self-taught woodturner. He received inspiration, encouragement and instruction from the master turner Yosh Sugiyama, and today is acclaimed for creating a variety of bowls, hollow vessels, urns, ornaments and other fine woodturnings from native, orchard, and ornamental trees from the West Coast (including such beautiful varieties as big leaf maple, redwood burl, black locust, madrone, cherry, deodar cedar, holly and cascara). Ultimately, his work spotlights the color, grain, and surface texture of the wood—and the original beauty that sets it apart.

Image via Shuttershock