Hometown Artists Shine at ArtiGras

Hometown Artists Shine at ArtiGras

by Rebecca Seelig | Photography by Jason Nuttle

On Presidents’ Day Weekend, the City of Palm Beach Gardens will host the ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival, the county’s premier outdoor, fine-arts show. ArtiGras features more than 300 artists from around the country who will showcase their art in 12 different mediums ranging from painting to fiber and metal to photography.

Along with bringing art lovers and artists from all over the country to Palm Beach Gardens, ArtiGras nurtures the art that is in the city. Each year, ArtiGras does a call for new artists to be part of their popular Emerging Artist program. The Emerging Artist program offers selected developing artists mentoring services, professional booth photos and complimentary tent rental. Qualifications include artists who have never exhibited in a show and reside in the Palm Beach County area.

“We started the Emerging Artist program to help local artists lower their stress by guiding them and assisting them to prepare for the festival,” said Alishia Parenteau, who heads the Artist Relations Committee and helped develop the Emerging Artist program in 2009.

Painter Sarah LaPierre, who grew up in Palm Beach Gardens, is no stranger to art festivals. She has been attending them since she can remember as a little girl, following her father, Joseph LaPierre, around the state as he set up shop to display his artwork. However, Sarah didn’t start showing as an artist at festivals until she entered the Emerging Artist program through ArtiGras in 2010.

“The Emerging Artist program is really an amazing starting place for entering the world of fine art show and exhibiting, and I don’t know of any other shows in Florida that do it like ArtiGras,” said LaPierre. She creates original paintings using heavy body acrylics with impasto/palette knife techniques that give her local and Florida inspired landscapes and iconography vivid color and textures.

“Both the media exposure and being in a highlighted section that let patrons know who we were, was very helpful,” she shares.” The other great factor is being in a group of newbies, so you feel a little braver because you’re not the only one just starting out.”

Currently, Sarah has a pop-up studio at the Arts Warehouse in Delray Beach through March 15, 2023 and attends art festivals with her mother, Melody, and fiancé, Mike Zinni, who support her efforts to showcase her talents. And her talent has been noticed. In 2015, LaPierre was asked to create the 30th anniversary commemorative poster for ArtiGras and the poster for the South Florida music festival SunFest.

For Palm Beach Gardens resident and porcelain sculpture artist, Sharon Bastin, the ArtiGras Emerging Artist program helped her learn the ropes and make networking connections within the art industry.

“I was an emerging artist my first year and really enjoyed the experience. With the ArtiGras staff’s help, I learned how to put on a successful show. They assisted in the setup and prep along with how to organize myself and my work for the show. The experience was a valuable lesson," said Bastin, who will be showing at ArtiGras in 2023 for the fourth time since being an Emerging Artist.

“Since my first year, I have made connections with other artists, learned from seasoned artists and have a little bit of a following. I have even had people come back to visit me from previous years to ask about the new work or hope I had something from previous years they wanted. It has been a very fulfilling experience.”

North county resident and photographer Matt Lerer says the Emerging Artist program helped him gain confidence in his work. Lerer, a tennis professional at Admirals Cove, partook in the Emerging Artist program in 2020.

“Being at ArtiGras helped me develop easily and build my confidence to show my work,“ said Lerer, who prints his underwater and landscape photography directly on ChromaLuxe panels. “The Emerging Artist program made it comfortable for me to show my work to so many people.”

The 38th Annual ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival, February 18-19, 2023, will be held at The Gardens North County District Park on 117th Court North. Along with the juried exhibition of outstanding fine art, ArtiGras showcases activities which include live entertainment, a special Amazon ArtiKids Zone and Baptist Health Youth Art Competition.

Returning for 2023 will be the Culinary Arts Studio which incorporates the art of food into the festival. This studio will have a full kitchen set up provided by Kitchen Concepts & More, and will showcase the creativity of cooking through live food demonstrations and tastings. This area of ArtiGras will surely satisfy the palate with chefs from Ganache Bakery Café, Eau Palm Beach Resort & Spa, and Chef’s Table Catering. In addition, Stormhouse Brewing and Lucky Shucks will be going through drink pairings for the food presented.

There is a something for everyone at ArtiGras. Ranked as a Top-10 fine arts festival by Sunshine Artist Magazine, ArtiGras offers its patrons an immersive arts experience like no other.

“The best part of ArtiGras for me is the combination of being a part of a large festival where I can show and sell the work I have generated over the year and being able to admire the work and creativity of others,” stated Bastin.

WANT TO BE PART OF ARTIGRAS?

Volunteer shifts are still available in the following areas: Amazon ArtiKids Zone, Parking/Transportation, Artist Relations, Site Operations, Volunteer Committee, Baptist Health Youth Art Competition Committee, Information Booths and Merchandising. Volunteers receive a free T-shirt, free admission to the festival before or after their shift the day of volunteering, special parking and free food and beverages in the volunteer area. Students will also receive community service credit for the hours they volunteer.

For more information on volunteering for ArtiGras and details about the festival and the artists, visit www.artigras.org or call 561-746-7111.