SEBASTIAN — Now in its 12th year, the Sebastian Riverfront Fine Art and Music Festival draws a loyal following of art, food and music lovers to Riverview Park for the two-day show.
The show’s theme is “Where art and the river meet” and it’s become an annual tradition.
The show brings in artists from out of state and as close as the Sebastian River Art Club, because founder Lisanne Monier-Robinson said she believes in starting “in your own hometown.”
“They’re going to see some familiar faces and a bunch of new faces. There are some artists who have been there several years, which is good because people who collect them want to come back and see them,” Robinson said.
What’s new this year are 30 artists who have never exhibited their art at the annual Sebastian juried art show before, and three first-timers chosen by the festival committee to participate gratis, in recognition of their promising talent and enthusiasm.
The new “emerging artists” program, according to Robinson, helps fulfill the educational facet of the festival’s purpose.
“Besides bringing cultural enhancement to the community, another part of our mission is education,” Robinson said. “We picked artists who had the passion, the talent and the initial wherewithal to put their artwork in a show.”
The festival bought tents for the artists to use and granted them free space at the show and a free membership to the National Association of Independent Artists.
The artists, in turn must bring enough work to show and figure out how best to display their paintings inside of their tents.
“It’s a great way for them for getting to get the experience of being in a show – setting up a booth and dealing with the public,” Robinson said. “And our judge, artist Frances Mesaros, donated his judging fee to give an award to one of the emerging artists, so they’ll also be vying for an award. It should be a wonderful experience for them.”
The three artists are Pat Ledwith, Alan French and Brandi Stubbs.
All three are painters – French a plein air artist in watercolors and Ledwith and Stubbs in acrylics.
Robinson praised all three, noting that the trio represents various ages and styles.
The youngest, 16-year-old Stubbs, Robinson said, “has a lot of heart.”
Stubbs, a student in Sebastian River High School’s International Baccalaureate academy, has about 15 paintings ready to show in her booth.
Most of them are landscapes, a couple of them depicting the skies and the tops of the slash pines, the view from her North County home.
Three of her paintings show off her prized electric guitar.
“I really like to paint my guitar,” she said.
According to mom Rosi and dad Ken, Stubbs has been very artistic ever since she started scrawling with a crayon as a toddler.
She’s sold a couple of pet portraits and landscapes that were done by request from photographs, but she’s never done an art show and never attempted to sell her work to strangers.
“I just want to say thank you to the festival for making my first show be the biggest show in Sebastian,” Stubbs said.
Stubbs said she hopes to pick up some pointers to improve her painting technique, as she’d like to learn how to paint more intricate landscapes, and on larger canvases.
Robinson said the artists enjoy camaraderie and a sense of generosity with their time, encouragement and expertise – something not only the emerging artists will experience as part of the show.
“This is a show where I have not asked them to demonstrate,” Robinson said. “But if you ask any of the artists about their process, they will gladly share that – that’s part of the education we do.”
Also toward the goal of art education, the festival donates $500 each to four area elementary schools to purchase art supplies, and students painted a canvas backdrop for the bands this year, with donated paint from Sherwin-Williams.
“Our organization is about giving back to the community and not just sponsoring an event,” Robinson said.
T-shirt sales enhance what the festival can do for charity. Each year a different artist designs the shirt and the collectible T-shirts usually sell out.
This year’s design is the masterpiece of painter Ray McClinton, who Robinson described as a “Highwaymen by relations.”
“He always exhibits every year. His design I thought was kind of cool,” she said. “It has the Royal Poinciana tree, which is typical Highwaymen, but if you look carefully there’s the Sebastian Inlet and a spoil island in the background.”
Robinson has been doing art shows for about 40 years. She said she’s down to about 12 per year, but she used to do 25 per year.
She brought all that experience into the founding of the Sebastian Riverfront Fine Art and Music Festival.
The Sebastian show, Robinson said, goes back to her roots.
“This is an old-fashioned art show how I remember them 30 years ago.”
“My priority and my showcase is the artists who are there,” she said.
Robinson said she’s excited about the 130 artists in the show this year.
“There will be some very high-end investment pieces and lots of more affordable ones,” she said. “Everyone will have the opportunity to go home with a treasure.”
In addition to the artists, the two-day festival is packed with live entertainment – nationally known blues artists, plus reggae and bluegrass music.
“The music this year is fabulous,” Robinson said.
Food vendors ranging from pizza to burgers to “Tony the Greek guy” as he’s known in the festival circuit, to local vendors like Island Smoothie Café will be on hand, and the Sebastian River Area Chamber of Commerce will be running the beer and wine concession.
The festival runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in Riverview Park on U.S. 1. Parking and admission are free.
For more information visit www.SebastianArtShow.com.