Annual event shows off city’s Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts

By EVA THOMAS/Murphy News Service

On a recent warm, sunny Sunday morning, art vendors arrived at an empty Manomin County Park next to the Mississippi River. A few hours later, white tents and a frenzy of people filled the Fridley park’s green spaces.

Such was the scene at the 17th annual Art at Rice Creek festival held Sept. 13. Those attending were greeted with great weather, food to eat and artwork to peruse. The festival takes place annually on the second Sunday in September at the historic Banfill-Locke Center for the Arts. Bethany Whitehead, Banfill-Locke’s executive director, said the event is “our celebration of all types of the arts that we share with the community.” She added that it is their largest event of the year.

Vendors selling an array of artwork and crafts, ranging from photographs to handmade jewelry to pastel paintings, are able to participate for a fee that is far below that of other art festivals. For a few vendors, this year’s Art at Rice Creek was their first time selling their work at a craft show.

“The thing I like about our festival is that it is very accessible for artists to show their work,” Whitehead said. “And we’re a nice entry level for [them].”

Rebecca O’Donnell was one of these first time art vendors. Prior to participating in Art at Rice Creek, O’Donnell had sold her handmade bags and accessories at local farmers markets.

“Getting to sit by the creek and listen to the music has been pretty awesome,” O’Donnell said, adding that she would come back again next year.

But there were also some veterans at the event.

Joyce VanderWyst has been selling her photographs and pastel, watercolor and acrylic paintings at the festival since the very beginning.

“I’ve been here for 17 years,” she said. “The whole festival is fun. And the entertainment [is great], which not everyone has.”

In addition to listening to live music and opening their wallets in support of local art, festival-goers were able to visit various stations where they could partake in drawing workshops and a scavenger hunt that challenged them to search for messages within the current exhibition in Banfill-Locke Center.

A community booth made its debut at this year’s festival. Eleven organizations from the community shared the work they do. The Fridley Historical Society, Fridley Women of Today, Tedx Fridley and the Anoka County Historical Society were a few of the local organizations to attend.

A group of green-thumbed women known as the Dirty Dozen Volunteer Gardeners offered gardening tips while giving away free packets of seeds. And a booth titled “Make It Known” asked visitors to voice their concerns about things missing from the city of Fridley as well as things they love about the small town.

But it’s not just the free art workshops, arts and crafts, info booths and music that draw the crowd. The location of Art at Rice Creek is one that sets it apart from others in the Minneapolis area. Lush green spaces and the gleaming Mississippi encircle Manomin County Park, creating a setting in which the festival-goers, artists and vendors are inspired by their surroundings.

Returning for a third year, Angelica Romero-Ackerman said she loves, “the nature, the trees, the landscape, the music, the dance and the art.”

But for Banfill-Locke Center, the event is organized with the hope of bringing the community and the arts together.

“We always like good attendance and good weather,” Whitehead said. “And we don’t necessary need to grow to twice the size [because] I think we’re a nice size. I just want to make sure everyone who would enjoy the event knows about it and can be part of it.”

Reporter Eva Thomas is studying journalism at the University of Minnesota.