Arts Alive: Downtown Decatur's River Clay Fine Arts Festival to feature 67 artists
Oct. 19—Using wood, clay, glass, metal and oil, dozens of artists, including a fiber artist from Missouri, a photographer from Indiana and a jewelry maker from Louisiana, will transform the Decatur City Hall lawn into an outdoor gallery this weekend for the eighth annual River Clay Fine Arts Festival.
The City Hall lawn is steps away from where people have been gathering, in front of City Hall, to protest the shooting death of Steve Perkins by Decatur police on Sept. 29.
"River Clay plans to continue on as planned," said Kim Mitchell, a member of the River Clay steering committee and executive director of the Carnegie Visual Arts Center. "We support everyone's right to peacefully protest and assemble."
A cornerstone of downtown Decatur's expanding arts economy, alongside the Princess Theatre, the Carnegie and the Alabama Center for the Arts, River Clay typically attracts 4,000 to 5,000 visitors and 60 to 70 artists to the city's downtown area each year.
"Art and music have become such an integral part of downtown Decatur," Mitchell said.
This year, 67 artists from 10 states will display works created with stones, paint, salvaged materials and more. There will be a mixed media artist who makes brooms, a leather worker who makes handbags, notebook covers and spur straps, a metal worker who makes corkscrews, knives and fire poker stands, and a ceramicist who makes planters, vases and wall tiles.
"There is something for everyone," Michell said. "We hope everyone will bring their family — we are even dog friendly — and stay all day."
The two-day festival will take place Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Weekend passes cost $5 for adults and are free for children 12 and younger accompanied by an adult.
Local artists selected for the juried arts festival include Kristi Hyde, Leigh Ann Hurst, Bonnie Hurst, Rebecca Sower, Bryan Johnson, Johanna Littleton, Betsy Stark, Scotty White and Rickie Higgins, all of Decatur, Dakota Olinger and Cindy Williams, both of Athens, and Emily Barkley, of Tanner.
"I'm not just saying this because Decatur is my hometown, but River Clay is one of the nicest shows for both the artists and patrons. It is wonderful," jewelry artist Leigh Ann Hurst, who has been participating at River Clay since the second annual festival in 2016, said of the event.
Artists will also represent Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, Indiana, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana and Ohio.
Along with the artists and demonstrations, the festival will include food trucks, music, a display of student art and a children's activity tent.
One of the can't-miss activities at this year's River Clay is the children's tent, which will feature a full-sized Ford truck, which children will help paint.
"We can't wait to find out what it looks like once it's finished," Michell said.
The arts festival will kick off Friday with River Clay Rendezvous, which includes a sneak peek of the artist market followed by music, food and drinks at the Alabama Center for the Arts. Tickets to the rendezvous cost $60 and are available at riverclay.org.
Another art event slated to begin this weekend is the new mural project in the outdoor arts venue in the Johnston Street alley behind the Railyard restaurant. Construction of the $282,500 venue started in March and includes a performance space big enough for a three-man band, cobbled stone, landscaping, and installation of stairs and a slide. Artist Britt Floyd will create the mural.
Other outdoor art to check out while in downtown Decatur includes a tribute mural to Jimmy "Yellowhorse" Webster at Webster's Karate, 113 Sixth Ave. N.E.; the "Welcome to Decatur" mural at 253 E. Moulton St.; "What Lifts You" wings at 219 Second Ave. S.E.; "Homecoming" mural at 206 Second Ave. S.E., and "A Stitch in Time" mural at Morgan County Archives.
— cgodbey@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2441. Twitter @DecaturLiving.
