The Cherry Creek Arts Festival

Every year I make a point of attending the Cherry Creek Arts Festival, and this year, it's 35th, was no exception. This event took place this past 4th of July weekend in Denver's North Cherry Creek neighborhood and featured 260 juried artists from across the world. It has been awarded the Gold Grand Pinnacle Award, presented by the International Festivals and Events Association (IFEA), that association's "highest accolade," "recognizing festivals and events that excel in balancing all key elements essential for a successful event." In other words, this is a very prestigious art festival, and even I recognize the high quality of the artwork presented. I especially liked the paintings with a touch of humor to them, as well as some of the very colorful modern artwork, most of which was selling for thousands of dollars. But as usual, I was especially interested in the photography, which was also very good, including the work of Igor Menaker, who specializes in black and white images of Chicago and whose booth is seen in the photograph on the left. You can view his work at https://www.menaker.com/.

Menaker has exhibited his photographs at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival a number of times, as has Xavier Nuez, who is also from Chicago and describes his photography as "light painting," which is very spectacular indeed. His booth can be seen in the photograph on the right. Nuez lights his photos, which include abandoned factories, deserted streets, walkways, and other subjects in a variety of colors, creating stunning effects, which can be seen at https://www.nuez.com/. There was another booth also exhibiting light paintings by Chris and Katie Robleski, which were also quite good. Nuez has conducted workshops on his technique for many years, and I have to wonder if these photographers might be former students now competing against him. And I did notice on his website that he is not conducting any more workshops until October of 2027. Perhaps hoping to avoid still more competition? I also enjoyed the work of Joel Anderson, especially his farm animals, which can be seen at https://www.joelandersonphoto.com/. 

I was also impressed with the photography of Brad Pogatetz, who specializes in photographing ruins, and Kyle Spears, with his wonderful photographs of Europe. But as I mentioned before, there were all manner of art forms on display at the Cherry Creek Arts Festival this year, most of it very good, including the humorous paintings hanging on the side of the booth in the photograph on the left. And, as you can imagine, this festival is great for peoplewatching. In fact, I attended this event twice this year, once to take photographs and the second time to just look at all the artwork and do more peoplewatching. A great festival that I hope to attend next year, too.