Spring into Outdoor Art
The Lubbock Arts Alliance may have finally found a way for Lubbock citizens to enjoy the signs of spring without fear of an unexpected storm.
“We’re transforming the civic center into the garden,” said Elizabeth Regner, executive director of the Lubbock Arts Alliance.
Bringing the outdoors indoors, “Arts in the Garden” is the theme of the 29th annual Lubbock Arts Festival.
Beneath brightly colored kites swooping from the ceilings in the Civic Center, more than 100 booths will display a wide variety of art forms.
“What we strive to do is provide exhibits and performances in the various forms of art” Regner said.
The displays this year will include a special performance by Ballet Lubbock, an ongoing
30,000-pound sandcastle demonstration and “The Golden Fork” Culinary Competition, “ a celebration of the culinary arts in which attendees judge entrees from Lubbock restaurants.
A special gallery will be set aside for the festival’s spotlight artist, watercolorist Renee Steger Simpson. Regner said the Lubbock native’s work has brought her international fame, particularly Simpson’s “Sooty Women” series.
“They’re basically the women she was forced to meet when she went to charm school,” Regner said.
Another special guest attending the festival is Mike Gutierrez, an appraiser who has appeared on the television program “Antiques Roadshow.” Michelle Dillard, program manager with KTXT, said Gutierrez will be one of several appraisers who will evaluate attendee’s treasures for an additional fee. Though Gutierrez specializes in sports memorabilia, she said there will be other appraisers on hand to deal with antiques from other categories.
“Hopefully we’ll have a little bit of everything for people,” she said.
The event can also be a learning experience, a glimpse of the past, Dillard said.
“It’s just fun to learn about our history, it’s very nostalgic too.”
Other festival events include performances by jazz ensembles, a singing contest and an ice carving demonstration.
