STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
A 50th Anniversary Celebration Party & Concert featuring folk singer Sarah Jane Scouten will be held this weekend to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts and Crafts Festival.
The concert/part will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 10 at Atkinson Park in Ketchum. People are invited to enjoy a glass of wine and beer in the event, sponsored by Atkinsons’ Market, Sun Valley Brewing Company and Lorna’s Catering.The Center’s Junior Patrons Circle is hosting lawn games for adults and kids alike.
The 50th annual Sun Valley Center Arts & Crafts Festival will be held Friday through Sunday, Aug. 10-12, at Atkinson Park in Ketchum.
“The 2018 Festival is time to celebrate the past 50 years of art on both the local and national scale, said Festival Director Sarah Stavros. “It’s a time to show that we value the presence of art and recognize that our lives and experiences are deeply enriched by being around it, creating it and exposing one another to it.”
The festival will feature 130 potters, sculptors, dressmakers, moccasin artists, carpet artists, glass artists, jewelry makers, skillet craftsmen, photographers, woodworkers and other artists selected by jury.
Among them: Hailey artists Sally Metcalf, Melissa Graves-Brown and Margery Friedlander, and Bellevue artist Anne Jeffery.
The Festival is ranked among the top 100 fine art festivals in the United States, according to Art Fair SourceBook.
The Center is passing the festival off to a new producer Art Daves, owner of Altitude Events Group, next year. The festival, which will be held Aug. 9-11, It will continue to be run as a juried event, with The Center helping to run the 2019 jury process to ensure a smooth transition.
Daves has spent the last 25 years producing a wide variety of events, including the Summer Olympics and Goodwill Games, professional cycling stage races throughout the United States, made-for-TV events and charitable fundraising events. He was contracted with the Sun Valley Center for the Arts to produce the 2016, 2017 and 2018 Wine auction and the 2017 and 2018 Arts & Crafts Festival.
The transition will allow The Center to deploy its resources on The Center’s main mission: education, said Christine Davis-Jeffers, The Center’s executive director.
“It’s hard to let the Festival go, but it’s critical that we direct our resources to educational programs that align with our mission and make the greatest impact," she said. “Finding a qualified presenter who knows the festival, understands the value of artists and their work and wants to continue the festival was an important part of our decision making.
HERE'S THE ARTS & CRAFTS FESTIVAL AT A GLANCE:
HOURS: 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
KIDS ACTIVITY AREA will feature hands-on art project for youngsters free of charge from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily
Friday—Collage Cakes
Saturday—Party Cup Painting
Sunday--the ever popular Paper Party Hats
ARTIST DEMONSTRATIONS: 1-4 p.m. daily
Friday—Jonathan Nasvik, mixed media and concrete
Saturday—Jack Sept, saddle maker and leather worker
Sunday—Bob Dix, drawing and charcoal
FOOD VENDORS will be on site.