Vendors at Orr Park for Montevallo Arts Festival. Photo by M.K. Bryant, News editor. By M.K. Bryant, News editor
Every year, on the third Saturday in April, the Montevallo Arts Collaborative hosts the Montevallo Arts Festival in Orr Park. This year’s festival was held on April 20, and featured work from over 100 Alabama-based artists.
Live music played throughout the event, with artists including Alexa Fontaine, Ramblin Ricky Tate, Murder of Jane Crow, Shaheed & DJ Supreme and The High Fidelics.
The festival also included face painting, balloon animals and a children’s craft table.
Montevallo Arts Collaborative member Emily Gill explained the growth of the festival over the years.
“It started as a way to bring people to town, and to see all the new things we’ve got, but also just to engage with all the different artists who call Central Alabama home. And now, we have people from all around the region, which is very exciting,” Gill said.
Leading up to the day of the festival, the Montevallo Arts Fest Facebook page highlighted some of the different artists who would be in attendance.
Some of these artists included Melanie Poole, William Colburn, Catherine Blake and Tim Tingle— the artist known for carving the trees in Orr Park.
Tingle explained some of the work that goes into making the Arts Fest a success each year.
“We work hard at it. We go to other shows, and all the time, we’re looking for good artists. We always find some good, unique artists, and we invite them to the show. So, the number of artists has increased the last few years because we do that,” Tingle said.
Gill discussed the Montevallo Arts Collaborative’s effort to keep the artists at the center of the festival.
“Sometimes, when you’re doing these festivals, you think a lot about what activities you can do. But what the Arts Collaborative has decided to do is make the artists the core. Sure, we provide food and children’s activities, but what we really want is for the artists and their booths to be the focus of it. That’s what holds people here,” Gill explained.
Following the event, the Montevallo Arts Fest Facebook page posted the winning artists of the festival.
The winners were:
- Best in painting: Tammy Evans.
- Best in printmaking: Aiyanna Boykins.
- Best in photography: Butch Oglesby.
- Best in mixed media: Eva Pun.
- Best in wood: Essie Ebrahimi.
- Best in metal: William Colburn.
- Best in clay: Kim Orsini.
- Best in glass: Rhandie Weaver.
- Best in jewelry: Antje Shiffer.
- Best in textiles: Paan Jindapon.
- Best in other: Steve Gilbert.
- First place in fine art: Candy Mayer.
- First place in fine craft: Ron Herbster.
- Best in show: Eva Pun.
Other events hosted by the Montevallo Arts Collaborative throughout the year include Tinglewood Festival, Art Stalk and, their most recent addition, a holiday market called Merry Market.
More information about these events can be found on the Montevallo Arts Collaborative Facebook page.
M.K. Bryant is a contributing journalist for The Alabamian. She’s majoring in mass communication with a concentration in multimedia journalism, and she’s double-minoring in theatre and creative writing. When she’s not busy watering her plants or writing, M.K. can probably be found wandering around an art museum or a library.
