Arts Fest: Notre Dame College

I've been meaning to write this post, but you know how impromptu summer nights can draw you away from writing...

Anywho, I am so happy to share my adventure at the 2nd annual Notre Dame College Arts Fest. There is practically an arts fest in CLE every weekend and we are so lucky to live in a city that appreciates, encourages, and brings exposure to the arts. (Special thanks to fellow CLE blogger Eat*Drink*Cleveland too for her recent blog post on many great art/events/festivals coming up in July. Looking forward to going to Boston Mills Art Fest -thanks for the tip!)

 I was incredibly  proud of my Mom too for putting so much work into organizing and making the event a success (although she's way too humble to take any credit!)

The campus was transformed with crafts, live music, kids playing, food and amazing artwork. I was thoroughly impressed by the vendors including extraordinarily talented students. Here are some of my favorites:

 

Tina Meeks: monoprints



 Tina, a recent grad of Notre Dame College, makes these gorgeous monoprints. I ended up buying her print on the left, which I did not take the best shot of, but it is an awesome color combination of a sunset and gondolier in Venice, Italy. When she explained the process of printmaking, I was blown away by the tedious effort she puts into making these prints. Her bubbly personality and enthusiasm for her craft made her a stand out at the show. Keep up the good work!



Aurelia Nuber: body art and photography


Aurelia, another student from NDC, had some seriously unbelievable work--and my photo does not do it justice. I've been to several art shows/festivals before and have never seen anything quite like hers! She paints the entire human body, literally, (in the picture shown here) in the most unexpected and disarming ways. My favorite was the one on the far right of a woman painted and pearls and feathers incorporated into it too. She also had several prints of your not-so-average people (piercings, tattoos, fire-blowers). Her work was the perfect combination-- very inviting, humanizing, and alarming all at the same time. Her labor intensive process of painting people in the most beautiful way was stunning. You can check out her cool portfolio and work here. Seriously you gotta see it!

William Stenson: wood work

Last,  but not least, was William Stenson. He won first place in the show and his craftsmanship was undeniably terrific. He creates these abstract displays by inlaying the wood and with some serious patience. The one on the right was out of this world! He also is a vendor at the Saturday morning North Union Farmers Market at Shaker Square so you can check out more of his work (including bowls, utensils, coasters and more) there or on the web.

Overall, the show was great for only its second year. And the cool part was that students were able to participate and showcase their work professionally too.

Well, we are off on this hot Saturday for another arts fest, this one being the 10th annual Waterloo Arts Fest, over by Beachland Ballroom. I've never been to this show before so I am excited to check it out. It's today only--so don't miss it! I'll be sure to keep you posted on how it goes. Support local!!!