Calling All Volunteers!

Are you an art lover with time to spare? Then come out and volunteer for the City of Evanston at the 2009 LAKESHORE AND ETHNIC ARTS FESTIVALS!

Both festivals are located at the beautiful Dawes Park (at the intersection of Sheridan Rd. and Church St.) and house some of the best artwork that Evanston and Chicago have to offer. With a myriad of entertainment and food vendors, these events are sure to be fun and exciting!

Volunteer Positions Available are:

Lakeshore Arts Festival – August 1st and 2nd

FAMILY CRAFT TENT - working with children to create original craft pieces
SILENT AUCTION - loading in, setting up, watching bid sheet, and processing transactions
INFORMATION BOOTH - selling merch, folding shirts and answering questions
FLOATERS - walking around helping artists in their booths

Ethnic Arts Festival – July 18th and 19th

FAMILY ARTS ACTIVITY AREA - working with kids and crafts; HOSPITALITY - greeting artists and helping the load-in
INFORMATION BOOTH - selling merch, folding shirts, and answering questions
PARADE OF NATIONS - presenting the nations represented
FLOATERS - walking around to aid artist vendors with booth sitting and questions

PLUS, FOOD VOUCHERS AND A FREE T-SHIRT WILL BE PROVIDED!!!!

If interested please contact Lauren Echevarria by e-mail at lechevarria@cityofevanston.org OR by phone at (847)448-8260.

Thanks!

-L.A.U.R.E.N.

New Email Newsletter: Sign Up!

We here at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center are going more technologic than Daft Punk. I am here to officially introduce our brand new, epically inventive, and outrageously cool

EMAIL NEWSLETTER!

Located in the Right-Hand Column ---->

By signing up, you are given the choice of recieving information about any one (or more!) of our summer fun activities: The Ethnic Arts Festival, The Lakeshore Arts Festival, or The Starlight Concert Series. These emails will contain information on Artist and Vendor Applications, Entertainment Schedules and Updates, Volunteer Opportunities, and other general updates.

Sign up now to start recieving updates!

- L.A.U.R.E.N.

Application Fee Discount for Evanston Artists!

For the first time, the Cultural Arts Division has introduced an application fee discount for Evanston artists who are applying to participate in the Evanston Ethnic Arts Festival or the Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival.

Evanston artists have first priority. The discounted price will be only $20 as opposed to the general public fee of $35! Applications will be online shortly at www.cityofevanston.org/arts.

Be sure to check out all the application information there! If you wish to recieve an application via mail, please call 847-448-8260 for more information.

photos by Sara Pooley.

Lakeshore's Best in Category Winners!

The 2008 Lakeshore Arts Festival featured an abundance of spectacular arts and crafts, but there we a select few who stood out among the rest. We would like to congratulate all of our Best in Category winners for their fine artwork!

Joan Ladendorf snagged the award for her treasured fibers.

Mary Lou Hess wowed the judges once again with her extraordinary prints & drawings!

Lloyd Cheney's woodworking was remarkable!

Sarah Chapman was ecstatic her jewelry won the big prize!

Devin Somerville's glass works won!

Gina Hutchings was all smiles when she triumphed with her ceramics best in category win.

Libby Harvey's sculptures surpassed them all!

Richard Smith's paintings may have been small, but they won the grand prize!

Daniel Olguin's photographs were picturesque!

Fran Jaffe stole the show again with her unique mixed media.

Lynn Miller and her watercolor works made a big splash at the festival.

Thanks again to all of our participating artists, and our on-site judges: Barbara Goldsmith, Bert Menco, Laura Montenegro and Peggie Robinson.

This is Kristina signing out...

Lakeshore Photo Journey - Part Two

Fun at the Kid's Craft Tent! Children of all ages came down to the craft tent to make dream catchers, marbled paper, and drawings! The legendary Janice Brown was our face painter and Gauri Mohnalkar was the henna tattoo artist who made beautiful designs for our festival-goers!

The Dreamtree Shakers lit up the Family Stage on Saturday.


Urban Beat Dance rocked the tent with energetic dance!


Angela Allyn: Pirate Girl! Aye, what a treasure!


Jugglers and Gymnasts galore from our neighbors the Actors Gymnasium!

The food at the festival was delicious! So many vendors to choose from, so little time!

- L.A.U.R.E.N.

Lakeshore Photo Journey - Part One

Below is the beautiful location of our Lakeshore Arts Festival. The lagoon gave us a gorgeous backdrop for the show and even a few picturesque little ducks (who were a bit camera shy.)

This Evanstonian is "Pretty in Pink."

LeRoy Bach performs Saturday afternoon with a friend.

The Mike Allemana Quartet on Sunday.



Chicago musicians Al Erich and Liz Johnson perform at Lakeshore as a classical duo.

Brooks Binau opens Lakeshore on Sunday.

Jamal Moss plays ambient electronic music and Incendio was a crowd favorite on Sunday.

L.A.U.R.E.N. A.N.D. L.A.U.R.A.

Shh! Secret? ---- The Best Deals Are at the Lakeshore Silent Auction

On Saturday and Sunday of the Lakeshore Arts Festival, the Silent Art Auction gave patrons a chance to bid like they were at Sotheby’s or Christie’s in New York. Festival-goers browsed through donated auction items from almost 85% of the artists participating in the festival. Because of great interest, most of the bidding did not end until 6:00pm on Saturday and 4:00 on Sunday, with an exciting countdown from our own Noyes Cultural Arts Director - Jeff Cory. Items sold for a range of prices from as high as $175 to as low as $8. One festival patron said, “The auction is my favorite part of this festival. I can browse through the items, bid on what I like, and then find those artists’ booths. Plus, I love winning!”

The Lakeshore Silent Art Auction is definitely the best place to find great deals from the festival artists. Some items valued at nearly $150 sold for only $40! I even purchased a fun, 80s inspired pair of earrings for only 10 bucks. Artists participating in the festival came out to bid on other artists’ items too, and stopped for a bit to check out the competition and the status of their own items.

This year, the Silent Auction was put in charge of one person (me!), which made set-up, check-in, and auction procedure go very smoothly. With the installment of new color coded bid sheets, bidding became easier, simpler, and just plain fun. This great interest in the auction led it to be a wonderful success, and with the help of our wonderful volunteers and festival patrons, we made nearly twice the amount than we did last year! Thanks for the support and make sure to come out and bid next year!

Nuff said,

Lauren

Glass Blowing - Hiram Toraason

At last year’s 2007 Lakeshore Arts Festival, Hiram Toraason dazzled everyone with his hand-crafted glass. The winner of Best in Category for glass, Toraason believes that it is important to take glass “out of a factory setting and [put] it into an artist’s hands to create fine art.” An ancient art form that can be traced back to the first-century B.C., glass blowing has become a popular form of artwork in the 21st century.

Born and raised in a small Illinois community know as Peru, Torasson experimented with oil painting, ceramics, printmaking and bronze casting when he was in high-school. He stumbled into glass work when he was in college and studied under acclaimed glass blower Bill Boyson. Torasson continued studying in Costa Rica and North Carolina before returning to Illinois in 2003. He now lives in Peoria with his wife and children and continues glass-blowing in his studio, Toraason Glass.



Torasson is not only a passionate man, but a fantastic artist. “I take a lot of pride in what I make and where I put it,” he says, “I’d like to think that everything I create is art.” And, it truly is magnificent art. We are very pleased to say that Hiram Torasson will be at the 2008 Lakeshore Festival again this year!

Make sure to stop by and discover all that Torasson Glass and the Lakeshore Arts Festival has to offer!

Brooks Binau Grooves Over To Lakeshore

When you first hear Brooks Binau, you’ll be surprised to find out that he is not a 50-year-old jam band leader. However, with a soulful deep voice and expert musicianship you wouldn’t be too far off. The 20-year-old singer-songwriter was raised in the historic country fields of Hagerstown, Maryland and picked up his first guitar at the age of 10. It wasn’t long before Binau realized his adeptness for guitar and began taking lessons with one of the towns most acclaimed Blues Guitarists Lew Palladino. With Palladino’s guidance, he began to explore the roots of Soul and Blues in America and to hone in on his own original sound. By his mid-teens he was writing his own songs, perfecting his guitar playing, and working with his vocal abilities. Booking gigs at local coffee houses, he enlisted the help of Doug Groove who helped to bring a creative rhythm to Binau’s soulful tunes. In 2006 Brooks moved to Ithaca College in New York, and began hitting the college town’s streets and diving into the music scene. Binau collaborated with Groove again in late 2007 to release his first EP entitled Latte Roasted EP, giving homage to those local coffee shops.

Thoughtful and intelligent, Binau’s songs discuss everything from personal freedom and politics to the current state of the world and the local on-goings around him. Influenced by greats like Neil Young and Johnny Cash and newcomers like Ben Harper and Michael Franti, he blends old-world soulful rhythm and blues with classic funk to form an original sound that makes a statement.

Going on tour this July and August, Binau will be performing at this year’s Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival at 11:00 on the Main Stage.

Can’t wait until then? Check out Brooks Binau on iTunes or at this website brooksbinau.com!

Fran Jaffe and Her Unique Canvases

Fran Jaffe, winner of the 2007 Lakeshore Arts Festival first prize in the Mixed Media category will be back in 2008 with her unique work, and we couldn’t be happier.

Fran paints with mixed media on gourds, slate and granite tiles, river rocks and wood. She uses individual dots of acrylic paint to create the illusion of beading and she employs dye methods and faux batik in her artwork.

However, this is just the material side of Fran Jaffe’s art. The spiritual side is what guides her hand and what informs every piece. Her inspiration has come from her many travels throughout America, India and the Middle East. She has a deep admiration of Tibetan thangkas and mandalas, Native American painting and beadwork, Australian Aboriginal art and the artisans who create such work. Her mission is to bring together spiritual symbols and images of all cultures to show the similarities and unity of the human spirit that has existed since the beginning of time.

Fran is a self taught artist who began painting in 1995 after meeting an artist in Arizona who demonstrated the Australian Aboriginal dot art technique to her. Another aspect of her work that sets her apart is her frequent use of gourds as canvases onto which her elaborate and detailed works are painted. They are truly a sight to behold and we hope that you will stop by Fran’s booth at this year’s Lakeshore Festival to meet the artist and see her incredible work.

Sarah Chapman, Metalsmith

Sarah Chapman is a metalsmith based in Chicago who makes intricate jewelry out of silver, copper, brass and gold. She burnishes the metals with a patina to give her work a specific look, and found objects or semi-precious stones distinguish her pieces as Sarah Chapman originals.

Chapman’s work can be found in retail stores across the Midwest, and her pieces have an industrial yet delicate feel that stand out from the pack. One of her distinctive necklaces resembles a sleek, stylized Slinky, dotted with pieces of silver. A bracelet incorporates silver rings, burnished gold and a pearl clasp that mesmerizes due to its juxtaposition to the metalwork.

Sarah was the 2007 Lakeshore Arts Festival winner for Best Jewelry and we are thrilled that she will be returning to the 2008 festival!

Lakeshore Arts Festival, Featured Artist, Mary Lou Hess

The Evanston Lakeshore Arts Festival is 36 this year and we are celebrating with a fresh, new logo (to be revealed in a few weeks) and this amazing blog. In this space we will profile artists and vendors who will be featured at Lakeshore this year.

The first artist we are highlighting is printmaker Mary Lou Hess. Mary Lou has been etching and printmaking for 25 years. Mary Lou is a returning artist, and this year she will triumphantly return, having won in the Prints and Drawings category in 2007.

Inspired by the landscape of the Midwest and beyond, Mary Lou says that she "always see(s) space, shapes, and textures in nature. Landscape is an excuse for making an etching. To conceive an idea by seeing a commonplace thing, and make it my own by building or designing a picture is my goal." For those of you unfamiliar with the process, an etching is when a detailed drawing is created on a metal plate, usually zinc, by corroding it's surface with nitric acid. Once the plate is completely etched with a design, the plate is inked and run through a hand press. Because each print is run individually, no two etchings are exactly alike with each being an original print. Mary Lou works on a smaller scale, and each individual piece is a jewel of texture and color.

Mary Lou has a studio in New Albany, IN and sells her work online at mlhessetchings.com. Recently, she collaborated with author Diane Aprile on the book, “The Eye Is Not Enough”. Please come visit her booth at the Lakeshore Arts Festival at Dawes Park August 2-3, 2008.

Slideshow on the Right

Perhaps you may be wondering what the slideshow on the right is. Well, the answer right now is that it is of irrelevant internet clip art. I <3 clip art but expect that to change soon--i.e. Thursday--we will have shots of artwork from artist exhbibitors from both Ethnic and Lakeshore. upgrade!

Ethnic, Lakeshore Artists 08 Selected

After an image review by 4 established Evanston artists, the Ethnic artist exhibitors have been selected. Accepted artists for Lakeshore are in the process of finalizing booth reservations with us and after we get that info we will be posting lists of artists right here and at www.cityofevanston.org/arts. We'll be having some returning faves as well as some new artists coming into the fold this year. Congrats selected artists!

Evanston's Lakeshore Arts Festival '07 Re-Cap