Friday, May. 16, 2008

2008: Another Successful Festival

Economy, Weather Keep Art in the Square Funds from Breaking Record

By Angelique York

Contributing Writer

A large crowd on Friday and Saturday, April 25 and 26, helped keep this year’s Art in the Square fundraiser within range of the annual event’s record last year. However, cool weather on Sunday morning combined with fewer major sponsors and a languishing economy to keep the gross fund total at about $280,000 to $290,000. Last year’s gross total was more than $300,000.

"We had well over 100,000 people for the weekend," said Barbara Cohen, co-chairwoman for the weekend fine arts festival. "Even with the cold weather on Sunday ... we are very happy with the results."

In 2007 the Southlake Women’s Club made about $170,000 in donations to charity from funds generated by Art in the Square. It’s s still too soon to tell what the net total for the 2008 event will be. But whatever the amount, it will be good news for the 22 local non-profit organizations that will benefit from the proceeds.

The 2008 festival, which provided art work from 140 artists, along with nonstop music and entertainment, had some notable successes.

Local favorite Independent George rocked the crowd on Friday night, setting the pace for a weekend of high-energy performances on two stages. On Saturday night, headliner Carolina Rain entertained in a packed venue of about 2,000 people. The country trio drew more than any single entertainer in the event’s history.

An addition to the performance schedule was the Chinese acrobatic troupe, Cirque Chinois. They were brought in by the women’s club when another act cancelled at the last minute. The acrobats, from Shanghai, have been stranded in the U.S. at one point when their promoter disappeared. They were a big hit with festival goers.Art off the Vine, a wine tasting event that was new to the festival, was so successful that the Southlake Women’s Club plans to bring it back next year.

The Zone, an interactive entertainment area, raised twice the money it did last year and is already scheduled to return. One of the most popular tents was the Kid Zone, displaying a juried art competition for students.

"We have serious talent here," Cohen said. "I was blown away. "It was really nice to see the professionals looking at the kids’ work, talking with them and sharing advice," Cohen said. "It was a great experience for all of them."

The artists themselves were very pleased with the festival. They were happy with their customers and their sales were excellent.

"The artists did very well," Cohen said. "They all told me they want to come back every year. That’s good, because it means we’ll have great artists competing for the available spots.

"It’s always sad when it’s over," Cohen said. "You work so long and hard and have so much fun. But in just a few weeks, we’ll start planning for next year. It will be our 10th year, and we want it to be spectacular."