Museum Center at 5ive Points hosts a new kind of fall arts festival
Photo courtesy of Kaley Schwab
The Museum Center at the 5ive Points Square in Cleveland held its successful Fall Arts Fest on Saturday, Oct. 25 that showcased the talents of 29 local artists within a 150 mile radius of Cleveland.
The festival offered a wide variety of items to buy from the local artists including wood art, jewelry, pottery and photography. Five artists held live, interactive demonstrations of the creation of their artwork. These artists included Jessica Klaaren, Michael Lalone and Sherry Johnson Jessica.
Jessica Klaaren is a resident from Athens, Tennessee and has made jewelry that was included in the press swag bag at the 2012 Academy Awards and jewelry that was gifted to celebrities at the Mercedez Benz Fashion week. Her jewelry has also been worn by the character Natalie, who is played by Lyndon Smith, on the hit television show "Parenthood."
Michael Lalone is from Murphy, North Carolina and creates a variety of artwork from clay, including the design and production of the lighthouse finial for Universal Studios Islands of Adventures. He is also the John C. Campbell Folk School's clay resident artist, and recently graced the Lee University ceramics class with a demonstration of his work.
Sherry Johnson is a local resident of Cleveland, Tennessee, and she provided a demo of weaving on the loom. She has also done other types of hand sewing including knitting, embroidery, needlepoint, counted cross-stitch and hemstitching. Johnson has even taught classes in needlepoint.
"The event highlights the rich, artistic culture of the Ocoee region," Store Manager Hulon Dunn said. "It brings together the arts in this community."
Many other artists were at the Fall Fest to discuss and sell their own unique forms of artwork.
"After I graduated from college, I needed money," Blythe Mayfield said. "I was obsessed with old magazines and wanted to do something with them."
Blythe Mayfield is an art therapist that turns magazine clippings into magnets, among other things. Images that can be found in Mayfield's magnets include business logos such as Wendy's and American Airlines, nostalgic television show characters such as the Rugrats and Spongebob Squarepants, and personalized letters.
"Everything is about computers these days, and this is a way to keep our newspapers alive and to honor them," Mayfield said.
Another unique artist at the Fall Fest was Janice McClung, who takes old Christmas cards and turns them into framed collages. McClung tries to convey the message of forgiveness and restoration from Jesus in her collages.
"I'm a grandma who can't throw her Christmas cards away," McClung said. "Everything I use is used. The messages are still on the back, we get the frames from yard sales and it's all repurposed."
This isn't the first fall festivity that the 5ive Points Museum has hosted, although it is the first to be held outside.
"It's a way to bring the community into the event. It's more relaxed than the indoor festivals," Dunn said in discussing the different nature of an outdoor festival.
Food at the Fall Fest was provided by Kenny's Smokehouse Barbeque, which is located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Kenny's Smokehouse Barbeque offered an array of delicious food items for purchase such as the pulled pork sandwich, chicken fingers and fries, lemonade and funnel cakes. The portions were plentiful and the food was freshly cooked.
Live music played throughout the event by bands including RP Wells band, Argene Pearson, Stormy and Adrienne Fisher and the Full Moon Crazies. There was a mixture of originals and covers played by the bands that performed, some of which were by Bob Dylan, the Beatles and Johnny Cash.
Upcoming events at the Museum Center at 5ive Points include the last day of the Learning the Curve exhibit by Matt Moulthrop on Nov. 15, Wild River documentary screening and discussion on Nov. 18 and the opening of the Pioneer Pulpits exhibit to the public on Dec. 5.
