community SPRING ARTS PREVIEW
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SECTION C • SUNDAY, APRIL 22, 2018
Sarah Delano has a crowd watching her as she works on a detailed eye from chalk at the 2016 ArtsFest Gwinnett in Lawrenceville. The city of Lawrenceville will hold this year’s ArtsFest on Saturday. (Photo: Cole McCauley)
The f o t ar g n i r sp
Danny Ahlrich works on some details with his art at the 2016 ArtsFest Gwinnett in Lawrenceville. The city of Lawrenceville will hold this year’s ArtsFest on Saturday. (Photo: Cole McCauley)
ArtsFest Gwinnett highlights artistic creativity April 28
BY CURT YEOMANS
curt.yeomans @gwinnettdailypost.com
Gwinnett County residents who attend Lawrenceville’s ArtsFest Gwinnett celebration April 28 will get to watch a challenge: Can artists come up with an image that represents Gwinnett County’s bicentennial? And can they do it in chalk on a sidewalk? A bicentennial-themed sidewalk Chalk Walk art contest is one of the activities that will be featured at ArtsFest. The event will take place from noon
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IF YOU GO What: ArtsFest Gwinnett When: Noon to 6 p.m., Aurora performance at 7 p.m. Saturday Where: Lawrenceville Lawn, 147 Luckie St. in Lawrenceville For more information: www.lawrencevillega.org
to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Lawrenceville Lawn, with the Aurora Theatre offering a concert performance of “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” on the lawn at 7 p.m. “We were looking for ways to celebrate Gwin-
nett’s 200 years (of history) because we’re the county seat,” Lawrenceville Director of Economic Development Lisa Sherman said. “So goes Gwinnett, so goes Lawrenceville and so goes Lawrenceville, so goes Gwinnett. … “We view ourselves as the capitol of Gwinnett and in doing so, we want to do everything we can to promote, support, encourage, propel anything that Gwinnett County is doing for our region.” This will be the third year that Lawrenceville has held ArtsFest, and the
second year that it has included a live concert version of one of the Aurora Theatre’s productions. It is sponsored by Consolidated Supply and Pipe Company, McCray’s Tavern on the Square and Kona Ice. The event is held annually as a way to highlight Lawrenceville’s arts community, with local arts vendors expected to have booths at the event, Sherman said. The idea is to build awareness of local artists in the minds of people near and far. “It’s also an opportunity on a little bit of a broader scale to highlight the
Aurora Theatre,” Sherman said. “That is an economic impact driver for our downtown and a gem to Lawrenceville.” The Aurora Theatre had previously performed concert versions of different shows at Lawrenceville’s Prelude to the Fourth Event every July 3. City officials decided to move it to ArtsFest last year, however, because they felt an event that promoted the arts was a better fit for the annual performance. Aurora Theatre Producing Artistic Director See ARTSFEST, Page 8C
DRIVIN’ N CRYIN’ ... 2C • FERNBANK MUSEUM ... 4C • MAMMA MIA! ... 3C
McGraw, Hill show to highlight Infinite Energy Arena schedule Staff Correspondent
When Tim McGraw was preparing for his first major tour in 1996, he chose Faith Hill to be his opening act. That worked out OK. They wound up falling in love and getting married that October. Now the old married couple — they’re both 50 — are concluding their third Soul2Soul tour, which includes a stop at the Infinite Energy Center. The two country music icons began Soul2Soul: The World Tour in New Orleans in April 2017 and will end in Sacramento in July. The couple will play more than 100 shows and will be in concert in Gwinnett on June 23. The couple has appeared on stage together many times and performed many duets, but they released their first joint album, “The Rest
Singers Faith Hill and Tim McGraw perform on stage at the CMA Awards on Nov. 8. (Photo: CNN/File)
of Our Life,” in November. “I don’t see myself as a performer, just as a singer,” Hill said. “But I feel more
relaxed on stage now than in Hill was the first to enjoy the past. To be on stage with success. She had crossone of the greatest perform- over hits in “This Kiss,” ers of our generation. …” “Breathe” and “The Way
You Love Me.” In the early 2000s, McGraw emerged as one of the hottest country artists in the world, placing 23 straight singles in the Billboard Hot Country Top 10, including five consecutive No. 1s. The couple’s special guest will be Minnesota singer-songwriter Caitlyn Smith, who was named one of Rolling Stone Magazine’s “10 New Artists You Need to Know.” The Hill-McGraw show is part of an all-star lineup of shows and concerts scheduled this spring and summer at the Infinite Energy Arena. Here’s a look at some of the other top attractions: Leadercast, May 4: Nine world-class speakers will appear on stage for the all-day event designed See ARENA, Page 8C