First Huntley Artfest A Hit

It wasn’t only rain that poured into Huntley’s First Artfest this weekend, but hundreds of people flooded in as well to come to check out a variety of artists from all across the nation.

Despite Saturday morning’s torrential downpour which ruined several pieces of art, organizers and festival goers said the event was a success.

“I think they did a great job of selecting vendors,” said festival attendee Lorraine Handlin. “The range of different talents was wonderful and beautiful.”

Artists from as far as Saginaw, Mich., and as close as right here in Huntley showed off photography, cartoons, music, ceramics, creative writing, jewelry, clothes, cotton wood carvings and many other talents at the event. Artfest chairperson Tom Heling said artists ages ranged from teens to people in their 80’s.

The festival also included free face painting, food, free how-to art demonstrations and a large stage area featuring musical groups, singers and dance troupes throughout the weekend.

“I think it brings in culture,” Heling said. “This is also to inspire young people to become an artist in all different forms. It doesn’t necessarily have to be oils or watercolors, it can be music, it can be dance. So it’s also to inspire young people to aspire to something.”

The sponsored and hosted the festival on what they call their “Field of Dreams,” a large grassy area near the church.

Heling said the idea of an art fair first came up in January. Organizers put in a lot of long hours and committed to passing out 2,500 brochures to artists at other art fairs a few months ago. He said the most challenging part was finding artists so late in the year.

“Being so late in the year many of the artists already have their circuit scheduled,” Heling said. “We ended up with 55 artists, which is phenomenal. I’ve put art fairs up in Wisconsin and for a first time art fair, if you get 30 to 35 [artists] you’re doing a good job.”

Many artists also commented on the set up of the fair, as well as the eagerness of the organizers to pick up the damage and put the fair back into full swing as soon as possible after Saturday morning’s storm.

“You had very industrious people organizing the show because they came to me three times this summer to tell me about it and say ‘come and do our show,’” ceramic artist Kristi Sloniger said. “So I looked at their website and they were so enthusiastic so I said “okay, I’ll come!”

With such positive feedback, Heling said he is already looking towards the future.

“It’s going to be a juried fine arts show next year," Heling said. "We anticipate next year we will have around 100 artists. It all depends on the feedback we get from the community and if it’s all there, we plan to expand.”

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