Two public events that celebrate art have begun in Downtown Fort Worth. Main Street Arts Festival is celebrating its 36th year; this is the second year for Sundance Square's "Fort Worth Art Fair."
Main Street Arts Festival draws 400,000 people from across the country. A panel of judges selected 212 booths from more than 1,000 entries this year. Visitors from Fort Worth say the event gives them a chance to see artists' work they would not have been able to get to know otherwise.
"They're from all over the country," one woman said. "It's amazing. It really is. From the jewelry to the artwork, it's great."
In addition to paintings, Main Street Arts Festival includes woodworking, ceramics, photography, jewelry, glass and other forms of art.
"We usually walk out of here with at least one print," a woman visiting from New Orleans said.
"We needed new koozies, too," her husband said.
Main Street Arts Festival also has two stages with live music and four food areas featuring local restaurants. Tarrant County College also has a "Makers Zone" at 2nd and Main where kids can work with local artists and also experiment with different crafts.
Details about Main Street Arts, including artists, music, food and parking options, can be found at https://mainstreetartsfest.org/ .
For the second year, Sundance Square is hosting its Fort Worth Art Fair. The event around the plaza includes local artists and music.
"We don't really see it as competing, we see it as complementary," says Sundance Square's Ruth Meharg. "We're kind of offering something even more for the city."
Meharg says Sundance Square has worked with Downtown Fort Worth Inc. to ensure both events can grow. She says DFWI provided access to let artists unload materials around Sundance Square.
She says Fort Worth Art Fair can introduce Texans to local art.
"Fort Worth has a lot of artists who are hidden," Meharg says. "They don't always have a chance to show their work at a gallery experience."
"It's inspiring to know just because I live in Fort Worth doesn't mean I can't become an artist," says Jackdaw, who was showing folk art on the plaza Friday.
Jackdaw says he hopes Fort Worth Art Fair can show young people with an interest in different forms of art they do not need to move to New York or Los Angeles to succeed.
"My work is very Texas-centric, very Fort Worth-centric," he says. "Somebody from New York might not even get my work, might not even understand my work, but somebody from here, it might speak to them."
Details about Fort Worth Art Fair, artists and music line-up are available at https://www.fortworthartfair.com .
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