News release from Arts United:
2011 Taste of the Arts Bigger and Better than ever!
Saturday, August 27, 2011 Noon-7:00pm – Dessert…party after the Taste until 10 pm
Arts United Center and Main Street, Downtown Fort WayneWhat better way to end a great summer season of festivals than with Fort Wayne’s finest arts, culture and food festival? This year’s Taste of the Arts promises to be the biggest and best ever.
Love music, theatre, dance and the arts? Six performance stages will feature over 40 performing groups with everything from Burmese dance to salsa, brass and drums. Stage schedule and participants.
Love the idea of being a Fort Wayne foodie? Taste everything from bruschetta to burritos; berry cheesecake to bagels from the over 30 restaurant booths featured. List of participating restaurants.
BuskerFest fan? This year, Freimann Square becomes Busker “Square” and features a bigger than ever celebration of the art of the street performer – including Peru Circus entertainers, Vaudeville comedy acts, jugglers and more! Stage schedule and participants.
Want to be inspired artistically? The Art Marketplace will feature a diverse group of artists and hands-on activities for all ages, including Artlink, who in addition to their featured exhibition, will also host an artwork “moving” sale!
Not satisfied yet – don’t forget Dessert – the party after the Taste offering more food, cool beverages and a great line-up of headliner bands from 6:00-10:00pm.
Free trolley service between Tin Caps, Rock the Plaza and Dessert? Check! Overnight stay and play available at the downtown Marriott? You bet! Bike valet if you choose that mode of transportation? Absolutely!
The 2011 Taste of the Arts is a great way to end the summer – with tons of fun for everyone! Plus, food and beverage sales help fund arts education grants for field trips and Artist-in-Residence programs for area schools.
See you at the Taste!
2011 Taste of the Arts bigger and better than ever!
Festival activity details:
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[li]Seven staged areas for performances are the showcase of the event. Promoting arts and culture is the main goal of the festival (one stage was just added last week!).[/li]
[li]About 40 arts and culture organizations set-up displays around Freimann Square offering hands-on activities and information about their different programs. Face painting, dance workshops, an instrument playground, and poetry readings are just a sampling of activities to try.[/li]
[li]Busker Square – a new partnership with Arts United and the Downtown Improvement District (DID) brings the art of street performing into Freimann Square for the day. The DID is sponsoring a full-line up of scheduled acts as well as bringing buskers to demonstrate a variety of skills and talents around the festival grounds. To participate as a street performer, contact Katherine Walker at the DID 420-3266, ext. 307 or Katherine@downtownfortwayne.com.[/li]
[li]New this year, the new Auer Center for Arts and Culture will host an acoustic stage inside, tours will be offered and the Fort Wayne Ballet will have rehearsals throughout the day. The Music Variety stage will be located in the parking lot next to Auer instead of at the Hall Community Arts Building.[/li]
[li]Great food will be a highlight of the festival with over 30 local restaurants selling samples from their menu. Beer and wine will be served and this year festival goers will be able to carry their beverages around the grounds, rather than being in a designated area. Tickets for food and beverages will be $1 each, with most items ranging from 1 to 4 tickets. Restaurants will be contributing half their proceeds to Arts United for arts education grants to area schools and cultural district projects. List of participating restaurants[/li]
[li]An Art Marketplace will feature 15 artists selling their high-quality works and the Museum of Art will be free all day with two new exhibits: We are the Ship, The Story of Negro League Baseball: Original Paintings by Kadir Nelson and Steven Sorman: Works from the Collection.[/li]
[li]Fort Wayne Trails will have the bike valet in the lawn by the Arts United Center. Bicyclists can park their bike and trust it to be safely stored while perusing the activities during the festival. Bike Valet hours are 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.[/li]
[li]Costumes will be on display inside the Arts United Center throughout the day.[/li]
[li]The History Center is open for free during the festival. Stop by the History Center’s booth near the Arts United Center before you go to the museum.  Kids will get a special prize for telling us what you liked best about your visit after you’ve been there.[/li]
[li]At the Hall Community Arts Center, Artlink will have its final exhibit in that gallery before their move to the Auer Center for Arts and Culture in September.  The Fem-In-Us Exhibition features work in all media from over 30 different area artists.  The exhibition is a partnership between Artlink and the Motherlode Group. Artlink will also host a moving sale during Taste of the Arts from noon to 9 p.m. This includes artwork not picked up by artists from past shows!  Look for discounts on a variety of pieces.[/li]
[li]Cinema Center will run free movies during the festival at their Clay and Berry theatre.[/li]
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After the Taste there is more to do downtown!
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[li]This year, DESSERT begins as the Taste ends featuring four of Fort Wayne’s most popular bands, including Dag and the Bulleit Boys, The Elky Summers, Jon Keller Band and Elephants in Mud. These groups have played across Fort Wayne and rocked venues ranging from The Brass Rail to The Tiger Room at CS3, from Early Birdz to Columbia Street West. DESSERT will be Keller’s final Fort Wayne performance, before relocating to Nashville, TN, and will celebrate the release of his second album of original music, The Deceiver.[/li]
[li]Several food and dessert vendors will stay late for Dessert, Mad Anthony will serve beverages and the Bike Valet will remain open for bicyclists.[/li]
[li]From 6:45 until 10:45 – The Downtown Improvement District is sponsoring a free old-fashioned trolley to travel every 15 to 20 minutes between three downtown events running loop around the cultural district. The trolley will connect Dessert, the last Rock the Plaza for the summer and a Tin Caps game ending with fireworks. The first and last stop for the trolley will be at the corner of Lafayette and Main Street.[/li]
[li]The Mariott Courtyard is offering a special rate to festival patrons who want to stay and enjoy downtown night life.
Arts United will use this event as an annual catalyst to fund new projects. This year, proceeds from food, beverage sales and goodwill donations will be used to expand a grant fund for schools for artist-in-residence programs or for field trips to local cultural institutions. If the festival raises enough funds, some of the proceeds will go toward other new grant programs and cultural district funding as well.[/li]
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Sponsors for Taste of the Arts make the event possible. Thanks go to Gold Sponsors: Downtown Improvement District, Emley Design Group, & Fort Wayne Metals; Silver Sponsors: Frontier Communications, PHP, Three Rivers Federal Credit Union; and Bronze Sponsors: Indiana Michigan Power, Lupke Rice Financial Services. Media sponsors: NIPR 89.1 fm, WAJI 95.1, Comcast and WANE-TV15, One Lucky Guitar and Jam Crib.
New for 2011 is a citizen level for donations to the Taste of the Arts festival and for the programs funded by the event. Friends of the Taste will be acknowledged at the event for any gift between $50 and $999. Friends of the Taste include: Carson Boxberger, Fort Financial Credit Union and Mark Michael. Donations to Arts United can be tax deductible and Friends of the Taste should be noted on the memo line.
Taste of the Arts volunteers are busy pulling the final details together to make the event possible for everyone who wants to sample some of Fort Wayne’s culinary, cultural and artistic treasures. Our websites are regularly updated. For Taste of the Arts activities: www.TasteoftheArtsFortWayne.org and for the evening band showcase see www.DessertFW.com.
Related posts:
2011 Taste of the Arts restaurant list
2011 Taste of the Arts stage schedule and participants
Related Images:
