ART SPONSOR PROGRAM
Support the Arts in Gainesville: Become an Art Sponsor
Show your support for the arts in Alachua County by becoming an Art Sponsor at the 30th Annual Downtown Festival & Art Show on November 12 and 13, 2011. Presented by the City of Gainesville Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, the Downtown Festival & Art Show is recognized as one of the most successful and distinguished art festivals in North Central Florida. Help support the work of local artists, and show your commitment to the arts in your community by becoming an Art Sponsor.
You can become an Art Sponsor by pledging a minimum of $50 in advance toward the purchase of any piece of art. Art Sponsors have the opportunity to choose their favorite art work from a wide variety of original pieces. Once an Art Sponsor selects a favorite piece, the chosen artist proudly displays a ribbon and certificate personalized with their sponsor’s name. Art Sponsors will be recognized throughout the Festival during live announcements from the Plaza Stage. To request a pledge form, contact Festival Coordinator Linda Piper at 352-393-8536, or open the attached form below.
About the Downtown Festival & Art Show:
During the Downtown Festival & Art Show on Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the tree-lined streets of historic downtown Gainesville will be transformed into a celebration of art and creativity, complete with live music, performing arts and a spectacular array of food. The streets from City Hall to the Hippodrome State Theatre, welcome more than 250 professional artists, whose works will be available for purchase including vibrant paintings, decorative ceramics, unique sculptures, dazzling jewelry, vivid photography and more.
While adults explore the booths filled with artwork, children can create their own art at the Imagination Station, which features a large selection of free hands-on activities including sidewalk-chalk drawing, painting, mask design, puppet and button creation and clay sculpting. The Imagination Station will also feature entertainment including magic shows, puppet shows and musical performances.
For music lovers, the Festival features continuous, live entertainment on three stages by local bands, solo musicians and dance companies.The weekend kicks off with the Downtown Blues Concert, a display of sultry sounds and electric notes, by the North Central Florida Blues Society on Friday, November 11th at 7 p.m. at the Bo Diddley Community Plaza.
Since 1996, the Downtown Festival & Art Show has consistently ranked in the Top 200 art shows in the nation. In 2009, the Festival ranked No. 30 among the best 200 fine art shows in the country by Sunshine Artist magazine, and chosen as one of the “American Bus Association’s Top 100 Events” in North America for group travel. This year, the festival was ranked among the top 100 fine art festivals by Greg Lawler’s Art Fair SourceBook.
(Requires the free Adobe Acrobat)
City of Gainesville
Cultural Affairs
302 NE 6th Avenue
(352)393-8536
(352)334-2249-Fax
Mailing address: Station 30
PO Box 490
Gainesville, FL 32602
The 2011 poster artist, Mary McIntyre, served as one of the festival's first directors, and she and her husband have owned and operated a local stained glass studio and art gallery since 1980. Though their inspirations come from many sources, much of Mary and Mike McIntyre’s work depicts local flora and fauna. This year’s poster image, featuring a stained glass representation of a sandhill crane nestled among a magnolia and palm tree, is no exception. Sandhill cranes live in Florida’s marshes and prairies. Most noticeable during the fall and spring seasons, McIntyre said, these birds announce their annual return to Florida with distinctive calls that cause locals to stop, listen and appreciate the rich and vibrant natural beauty of north central Florida. Mary McIntyre has been a full-time stained glass artist in Gainesville for more than 30 years. Mostly self-taught, McIntyre graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in education. Her husband studied architecture at UF, and he and his fellow students were asked to design a building for a stained glass studio. A slideshow of the studio’s stained glass images sparked Mary and Mike McIntyre’s interest in this beautiful medium. On a trip to California in 1976, they were further exposed to stained glass craftsmanship at a local art gallery. That same year, they began designing stained glass of their own, and they opened their first studio in downtown Gainesville in 1980. The nuances and creative possibilities of this medium and the ever-changing effects of light passing through glass continue to challenge and fascinate them, McIntyre said. McIntyre creates her award-winning work through time-honored, traditional techniques in order to ensure the structural integrity of her pieces. A strong sense of design, attention to detail and a commitment to superb craftsmanship are hallmarks of the pieces she and her husband produce. |