After last year’s oh-so-soggy September event, the Cultural Council of Indian River County opted to hold its third annual Celebrate the Arts festival slightly later in the fall, moving it this year to Halloween day. The weather was perfect this time, with a soft breeze and bright sunshine beaming down between the shady oaks at Riverside Park.
Festival goers wandered throughout the park, and enjoyed meeting with the various members of the CCIRC. Representatives of galleries, theaters, restaurants, service organizations, individual artists and local performance groups were all on hand; some presenting themselves to members of the public who may not ordinarily see their work.
Traffic was a little light, no doubt due to the various Halloween parades, trick-or-treat activities and haunted house tours taking place around town, but the folks who came out were appreciative of everything being offered.
“We held the event a month later, so many of the schools could not perform because they are in competition phase, but there are many great performances going on today,” said Mark Wygonik, stage director for the event. “When you think of the arts in Indian River County you think of theaters and galleries but you may not know about organizations like the Capoeira Martial Arts Dance Troupe from South America or performers you have not seen before at smaller venues.”
Barbara Hoffman, CCIRC president agreed that the primary purpose of event was to make the public aware of local cultural events and to give Cultural Council members a chance to present their work to the community. “It also gives new events and members a chance to introduce their upcoming schedules,” added Hoffman.
One such premiere event is a new Vero Beach Wine & Film Festival being planned for June 2016. Its founder, Jerusha Stewart, hopes to offer roughly 40 independent films and hold the festival at 10 different venues. Because a large crowd is expected, the week-long event has been planned for off-season, when hotel rooms and restaurants are more readily available.
“It kicks off with wine maker dinners and then we have film screenings and filmmaker panels,” said Stewart. “We are very excited because one producer is coming from Italy just for our event.”
Although better known for the wonderful Italian restaurant Scampi Grill, Mimmo Amelio is also an artist, and had a display to show some of his work, including his 32963 tie collection. “People are losing contact these days, always on their phones, so the best thing about this event is that I can make contact with people and show them my work. I just love meeting people!” beamed Amelio with his ever-present smile.
Palm House Gallery artist Emily Tremml allowed the public to interact with her work, handing over her paintbrush to attendees so they could add their own strokes to her demonstration canvas.
“I think it is so engaging because a lot of people have a desire to paint and they do not allow themselves to do it,” said Tremml. “Sometimes if you put a paintbrush in someone’s hand, it releases their desire to paint.”
