More than 40 selected artisans, including some from Columbus and surrounding areas, will show at the 11th annual Jerry Brown Arts Festival in Hamilton, Ala., Saturday and Sunday, March 2-3.
The City of Hamilton’s Colby Building, located off Highway 278 East, will showcase the “slowly made, homegrown art” of potters, painters, carvers, jewelry makers and more.
Known for its quality of folk art, the festival will be headlined by Smithsonian potter and Hamilton resident Jerry Brown, and returning guest artist Charlie “The Tin Man” Lucas of Selma, Ala. The festival was named a Top 20 event for March by the Southeast Tourism Society for the third time in five years.
The festival’s special guest artists will be brothers Ian and Evan Terrell, gifted young painters, age 13 and 9 respectively, from Nashville, Tenn.
The 2013 edition features artists from Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina. Media include pottery, metal art, wood art, jewelry, textiles and photography. A new addition is the ancient oriental art of bonsai trees, presented by Conley, Ga., resident Hiuying Lee.
While the number of artists has been reduced due to a smaller facility, Carrie Bolton, president of the Northwest Alabama Arts Council, host organization of the festival, said, “This year’s festival will feature the best of the best as selected by an agency in Florence, Ala., to include three returning former ‘Best in Show’ winners, Denise Brown (pottery), Linda Lindale (fiber/jewelry) and Helene Fielder (pottery and clay sculptures).”
Artists’ demonstrations will include pottery, painting, textile work, glass-blowing, broom-making, quilting, jewelry-making and chair caning. There will also be a kids’ art station, where children can paint and make small clay items at no charge. There will also be an educational display by the Echota Indian tribe and an exhibitaion by the photo club of the Northwest Alabama Arts Council.
Bolton said, “The JBAF is about quality, not quantity. Our festival is a family-oriented festival. It is a great way to spend a day or two, seeing the wonderful art and the tremendous artists who are the root of our continued theme, Reflections of the South.”
The festival has been known to attract art gallery owners, many of whom come each year to shop in one spot for traditional Southern folk art, organizers said.
Festival hours are Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There is no charge for admission. Additional information can be found at JBAF.org.
Area vendors participating include Sharon Foster and Mike and Debbie Childs, all of Columbus; Don and Louise Coulson of Aberdeen; Linda Lindale of Amory; and Jerry and Sandra Brown, Kenneth and Sarah Boyett, Missy Miles, John and Peggy Berryhill, and James Brassfield, all of Hamilton, Ala.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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