Lazy Daze are Here

Local arts council hosts 19th annual summer festival

By Stephan Reed

The Grandview Heights/Marble Cliff Arts Council will give area residents and visitors an excuse to be “lazy” this summer.

The council will present its 19th annual Lazy Daze of Summer festival July 28 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event will take place on Ashland, Oakland and West First avenues and the surrounding lawn. Anyone can participate in the free festival.

“We have babies on up,” says Jeri Diehl Cusack, arts council board member. “We always pray that it’s hot, but not rainy. We also don’t like it to be 95 degrees because that may limit Grandma from staying all day.”

The silent auction is a big hit among the adults, Cusack says. “Many of the items are donated by the exhibitors who are there trying to sell that day,” she says. “There is a wide variety of hand-crafted items and gift certificates to local businesses and restaurants.”

Inside the Grandview Heights Library will be the Friends of the Library’s paperback and video sale. “They typically do it outside on the lawn, but this year it’s inside,” Cusack says. “They’ll be able to sell more items and we think that will be a reason for people to come inside, (if) only to enjoy the air conditioning if it happens to be a 90-degree day like it often is.”

Profits from the festival go to the arts council’s endowment fund. “Every year we do a scholarship for Grandview High School students who are graduating and going on to study some area of the arts in college,” Cusack says.

The event offers festival-style food and free arts and crafts for children. “We encourage the little ones to come in the afternoon,” Cusack says. “Ruthanne James, the president of the arts council, is a retired elementary school art teacher, so she coordinates that event.”

Local artists’ work will be displayed and on sale at the festival, including hand-crafted jewelry, sculptures, ceramics, paintings and photos. “It’s incredible to see the type of products people are willing to spend hours to create and share at an event like this,” Cusack says. “You can’t just come in and sell flea market stuff. It has to be hand-crafted and something you made yourself.” Judges will review