My sister Susan and I drove down to Delray Beach from Stuart, Florida yesterday afternoon to see the 25th Annual Delray Beach Art Festival. And let me say first that downtown Delray Beach is VERY lively on Sunday afternoons. East Atlantic Avenue was packed with people walking up and down the sidewalks checking out the shops or lunching on outdoor patios. I spotted 4th Avenue, where the festival was being held, and found a parking spot a few blocks away. And I must say, we both enjoyed the festival very much. There was a lot of very good modern art, sculptures, and a fair number of photographers displaying their work. One of the sculptures we looked at was $8,500, and so I suspect a lot of the artwork was geared to the carriage trade. Which is not us. The art show extended down 4th Avenue for two blocks, and was a very pleasant place to view the art.
Looking at the advertisement for the festival, I realized that it was produced by Howard Allan Events and American Craft Endeavors, which together put on many art and craft festivals in Florida. In fact, they were the producers of the festivals we attended in Palm Beach Gardens and Juno Beach a few weeks ago. A few of the artists were the same as at those festivals (the photographer featuring Barbie and Ken action photographs immediately comes to mind), but the majority of the artists were new to us. These are all juried art shows and artists must apply and be accepted in order to participate. I imagine the size of the shows depends on where they are being held. I was surprised to learn that among the shows they produce are the Downtown Aspen Art Festival and the Beaver Creek Art Festival, which I once attended and was really impressed by. In any case, it was definitely worth the trip down to Delray Beach, although once again, I made no art purchases, being a confirmed cheapskate. So sue me.
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