Charles City Art-a-Fest will take place Saturday in the park

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The 51st annual Art-a-Fest will be held on Saturday, Aug. 17, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Charles City’s Central Park, with a wide variety of artists showing, demonstrating and selling their works, along with live music, food vendors, interactive arts activities for kids and more.

More than 40 adult artists and three Charles City High School artists make up the exhibitors this year, showing their original works.

The free event is organized by the Charles City Arts Center and the Art-a-Fest Committee with the goal of making the arts accessible to the entire community.

Musicians will be Christine Burns of Charles City, Emily Ann Bauer of Omaha and the jazz duo of  Greg Deitrick on horns and Sam Crosser on keyboards.

Food vendors will include Happi Lao Foods, Black Sheep Coffee Baa, Churasan, the Taco Truck, Island Grille Filipino Cuisine, Tellurian Brewing and Chris’ Kettle Corn.

Kids free activities include yard games, sidewalk chalk art, spin art, marble art, rock painting, handprint art and sensory bins.

Judge for the art show for participating artists is Kent Shankle, who has spent more than 35 years working in community arts administration, since 2013 serving as director of the Waterloo Center for the Arts and overseeing cultural and arts programming for the city of Waterloo.

Area businesses and individuals help sponsor the event with financial contributions, and cash prizes are awarded to artists whose work is judged superior. Art-a-Fest bucks are awarded to attendees that can be used to purchase artwork.

Artists scheduled to appear at the 2024 Art-a-Fest are:

• Janiece Bergland, Floyd – Watercolor artist painting landscapes, figures and portraits.
• Ann Bishop McGregor, Charles City – Currently working in soft pastels to explore Iowa landscape, flowers, still lifes and Iowa barns; past training in oil and watercolor.
• Lori Biwer-Stewart, Osage – Linoleum printmaker creating pieces that encourage interpretation and have symbolic images that help tell a story.
• Amy and Lisa Chatfield, Floyd – Original artwork as prints, stickers and postcards in synthwave and traditional styles with digital art medium.
• ​Douglas E. Cole, Sumner – Wheel-thrown stoneware pottery specializing in vases, bowls, and a variety of lidded forms, often embellished by found objects.
• Cheryl DeBower, Charles City – Painting since she retired at the age of 70, every year she tries something new, including painting with acrylics in the past year.
• Wendy Ebbers, Rockwell – Paints with acrylics and watercolors and enjoys collage; inspired by gardens and using texture and color.
• Family Fancies, Alpharetta, Georgia – Charles City native family creates fanciful artistic items including beaded jewelry, metal sculptures, and fabric and leather purses and bags.
• Kathi Fehr, Clutier – Weaver who recycles old items into new and useful items, using creativity with colors and textures.
• Anna V. Gilbert, Bondurant – One-of-a-kind jewelry using high-quality natural stones and crystals; also small oil paintings that are full of life and color, using palette knives.
• Lisa L. Glaser, Des Moines – Silversmith who creates jewelry with cut stones and faceted gemstones set in individualized, hand-fabricated settings.
• Ryan Halbur, Independence – Gives new life and meaning to discarded objects such as scrap metal, reclaimed wood, glass insulators, covering a variety of themes and sizes.
• Meredith Hamm, Charles City – K-7 art teacher who works in ceramics, photography, painting and drawing, finding most of her inspiration from nature.
• Mike Hassig, Iowa Falls – Paper collage artist using colored paper cut and torn into various shapes deconstructing the original image.
• Bill Haywood, Janesville – Uses salvaged pieces discarded by lumber mills, creating one-of-a-kind furniture pieces.
• Dennis Helmers, Charles City – Retired plumbing and heating owner who creates jewelry.
• Steve Hosch, Gilbert – Printmaker whose designs his work then transfers it to hand-carved, hand-printed lino, much of it inspired by nature.
• Mickey Johnson, Waterloo – Creates mixed media bead fountains incorporating glass, copper and steel that add color and motion to their environment.
• Yoshiko Johnson, Charles City – Mainly functional clay work inspired by Japanese pottery; has been working with the medium for about 30 years.
• Ron Kahler, New Ulm – Potter who produces functional wheel-thrown stoneware and pottery.
• Susan Kennicott, Jesup – Raised on a farm in west central Illinois, started painting 3D mixed media pieces 10 years ago, stacking layers of resin; also enjoys painting canvas in acrylics and oils.
• Bob Kling, Indianola – Creates in a variety of media including paintings, pottery, drawings, sculptures and photographs that reflect his varied interests.
• Ashley Koebrick Schmidt, Charles City – Fine art oil painter whose subjects range from portraiture to landscape, in realism and photo-realism styles.
• Mike Leedom, Waverly – Creates funny characters in wood.
• Bruce W. Litterer, Shell Rock – Self taught colored pencil artist whose work is inspired by rural Iowa and his experience of growing up on a dairy farm.
• Collette Lorentzen, Clear Lake – Artist, author and illustrator whose artwork reflects passion capturing “the essence of life,” using colored pencils, acrylics and other media.
• Melissa Nelson, New Hampton – High school art teacher who loves making weird creatures, jewelry pieces that shift colors as you wear them, and stained glass flowers.
• Annette Olesen, Charles City – Watercolor artists who does mostly animals but ventures out to landscapes.
• Mariah Piippo, Mason City – Creates mixed media works of acrylic, sand, mica powder and more that are textural and colorful.
• Wayne and Karen Ruff, Bennington, Nebraska – Have been creating sculptures for about 20 years using various steel, stone, granite and pottery.
• ​​Stephen Schiller, Charles City – Fine art photographer who tries to capture attention and draw people into the moment.
• Judy Sebern Beachy, Des Moines – Charles City native with experience in drawing, charcoal, pastels, acrylics, watercolors and now experimenting with collage.
• April Singewald, Lawler – K-12 art teacher who does printmaking projects, using mixed media to embellish them.
• Alisa L. Engelhardt Smith, Waterloo – Creates functional ceramic pieces such as coffee mugs, wine glasses, small tumblers, garlic roasters, spoon rests and bowls that hold chopsticks.
• ​Andreas Soemadi, Iowa City – Uses Mathematica programing to create artworks as well as in teaching physics and math
• Annie Survis, Mankato, Minnesota – Tries to help people remember child-like wonder through fantastical paintings as well as detailed natural illustrations.
• Madalyn Vorrie, Dows – High school art and pottery teacher who creates ceramic sculpture, pottery and jewelry, using using coil, slab and pinch techniques.
• Kurt Wedeking, Charles City – Creates one-of-a-kind art pieces that may be functional or simply decoration.
• Brittany Wheeler, Waterloo – Charles City native who was a jewelry designer for 11 years, making lightweight polymer clay earrings, including for those with sensitive ears
• Cynthia Zelenak, Floyd – Pours coaster sets, lazy Susans and canvasses, and photographs her art and makes it into clothing.

CCHS Student Artists

• Ellie Gassman – “I make art because I love the idea of being able to create or capture something beautiful.”
• Taylor Mhyre – “I create all kinds of art, with an emphasis in acrylic and water color painting, and jewelry. Most of the time, my work is seen through a child’s perspective, to mimic my own experiences. Other times, I like to create portraits of nature.”
• Nyssa Salinas – “I’ve loved doing art since I was a little kid and this year I got to experience AP art for the first time. I get to experiment with the work I do and I get to show my true colors.”