The Riverssance Festival of Fine Art will have quite a few changes in its first year being run by MidCoast Fine Arts.
The festival, Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Village of East Davenport's Lindsay Park, will feature stilt-walking harlequins (called "Harleys"), a wine garden, and new gates and way-finding signs, while still featuring more than 100 of the area's top regional artists and a children's art tent.
Although Riverssance is now run by a different organization, it is in one key way returning to its roots. Larry DeVilbiss, who was one of the festival's founders back in the late 1980s and ran the event for eight years in the 1990s, returns as director for MidCoast's inaugural year. (He stopped running the festival to pursue a master's degree.)
The shift from the independent organization to MidCoast was done with the intent of expanding the event's reach. "The festival had grown as far as it could," said Jodean Murdock, who organized Riverssance's jury process this year.
"MidCoast will be able to help with getting more of the public there ... which in turn will get even more interest from the artists," DeVilbiss said.
The festival has averaged between 15,000 and 20,000 people a year, DeVilbiss said, and "we should be able to do better than that. ... I'd basically like to see it become a major regional celebration of the arts." Increasing attendance could be critical to the event's future success. Surveys from the 2000 Riverssance indicated that a significant number of artists - about half of those who responded - said that Riverssance sales were less than what they expected or lower than other art fairs.
When Riverssance and MidCoast joined forces last year, one goal was to give the festival a higher profile through MidCoast programming and publicity - "more involvement in community arts programming on a year-round basis and more ways to maximize our event's capabilities to achieve that year-round involvement," Kathy Nelson, then Riverssance's president, said last year.
In the long run, DeVilbiss envisions "fun, creative adventures," with things such as a kinetic-sculpture race and a sculpture on the river. "We just weren't able to pull that together" this year, DeVilbiss said.
One of the technical changes in governance is that MidCoast is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization and therefore eligible for a wider range of grants. For example, Riverssance received a $16,000 grant from the Riverboat Development Authority that was used to pay for new gates and signs, the wine garden, and harlequin costumes. In addition, MidCoast brought in a new sponsor, Lujack's Auto Plaza.
Transportation to Riverssance will be aided by a MetroLINK shuttle bus going from Hobby Lobby (2121 Kimberly Road in Bettendorf) to the Riverssance entrance every half hour during the festival. And there will be an open-air tram taking visitors from Mound Street Landing to the Riverssance gates every 20 minutes. Illinois residents can get to Riverssance by using MetroLINK's Channel Cat water-taxi service.
Inside the festival, attendees will enjoy plenty of new features. The stilt-walking harlequins "should add some energy to the event," DeVilbiss said. The harlequin has been the logo of Riverssance since its inception, and these eight-foot-tall additions will bring life to it.
And the landscaped wine garden will also be a bright spot. Two Iowa vineyards will offer samples, and people at the festival can get a commemorative tasting glass and tickets for 10 samples for $10. The area will also include hors d'oeuvres and dinner giveaways from the Olive Garden.
Those upscale touches are one thing that consistently differentiates Riverssance from other festivals for art lovers. "We have always maintained a high quality," DeVilbiss said. He called Riverssance "the classiest festival in the whole area."
But the artwork is the main focus of Riverssance, and both Murdock and DeVilbiss said it's crucial to maintain the quality of the artists.
Murdock said 132 artists applied for 105 booth spots this year. Artists submitted four slides of their work and one slide showing how they might set up a booth, and they were judged in four areas: creativity, technique, materials, and how they used their materials. The jury included community members, arts administrators, and artists. "Jurors tend to look for consistency in the work, perhaps something a little different," Murdock said.
While many shows have a jury of one, MidCoast uses a group process. That way, a single juror's biases don't limit the range of work in a show. "You get more of a broad range," she said. Still, "only the best works come out."
For the festival's awards, judge Rob Lipnick will visit each booth on Saturday morning. Prizes total $3,000 with best in show getting $600 and 12 other artists receiving $200. "The artists really appreciate that sort of thing," DeVilbiss said.
Artist Liz Robertson said she and her husband applied to Riverssance last year because of a "good buzz about the quality of the show and the treatment of artists." The couple is back this year. "I liked the idea of artists doing a show for artists. ... All the facets are empathetic to our needs," she said.
DeVilbiss said that because Riverssance organizers have always included artists, the show is more artist-friendly than many. There are, for example, "art angels" who will man an artist's booth while he or she gets food or looks at other artists' work.
DeVilbiss added that in the long run, he would like to see Riverssance bring the number of artists "down to a little lower number, a little higher quality." The goal, he said, would be to help artists earn more from their efforts.
Admission to Riverssance is $2. For more information about the festival, visit (http://www.midcoast.org/riverssance.htm).
Although Riverssance is now run by a different organization, it is in one key way returning to its roots. Larry DeVilbiss, who was one of the festival's founders back in the late 1980s and ran the event for eight years in the 1990s, returns as director for MidCoast's inaugural year. (He stopped running the festival to pursue a master's degree.)
The shift from the independent organization to MidCoast was done with the intent of expanding the event's reach. "The festival had grown as far as it could," said Jodean Murdock, who organized Riverssance's jury process this year.
"MidCoast will be able to help with getting more of the public there ... which in turn will get even more interest from the artists," DeVilbiss said.
The festival has averaged between 15,000 and 20,000 people a year, DeVilbiss said, and "we should be able to do better than that. ... I'd basically like to see it become a major regional celebration of the arts." Increasing attendance could be critical to the event's future success. Surveys from the 2000 Riverssance indicated that a significant number of artists - about half of those who responded - said that Riverssance sales were less than what they expected or lower than other art fairs.
When Riverssance and MidCoast joined forces last year, one goal was to give the festival a higher profile through MidCoast programming and publicity - "more involvement in community arts programming on a year-round basis and more ways to maximize our event's capabilities to achieve that year-round involvement," Kathy Nelson, then Riverssance's president, said last year.
In the long run, DeVilbiss envisions "fun, creative adventures," with things such as a kinetic-sculpture race and a sculpture on the river. "We just weren't able to pull that together" this year, DeVilbiss said.
One of the technical changes in governance is that MidCoast is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization and therefore eligible for a wider range of grants. For example, Riverssance received a $16,000 grant from the Riverboat Development Authority that was used to pay for new gates and signs, the wine garden, and harlequin costumes. In addition, MidCoast brought in a new sponsor, Lujack's Auto Plaza.
Transportation to Riverssance will be aided by a MetroLINK shuttle bus going from Hobby Lobby (2121 Kimberly Road in Bettendorf) to the Riverssance entrance every half hour during the festival. And there will be an open-air tram taking visitors from Mound Street Landing to the Riverssance gates every 20 minutes. Illinois residents can get to Riverssance by using MetroLINK's Channel Cat water-taxi service.
Inside the festival, attendees will enjoy plenty of new features. The stilt-walking harlequins "should add some energy to the event," DeVilbiss said. The harlequin has been the logo of Riverssance since its inception, and these eight-foot-tall additions will bring life to it.
And the landscaped wine garden will also be a bright spot. Two Iowa vineyards will offer samples, and people at the festival can get a commemorative tasting glass and tickets for 10 samples for $10. The area will also include hors d'oeuvres and dinner giveaways from the Olive Garden.
Those upscale touches are one thing that consistently differentiates Riverssance from other festivals for art lovers. "We have always maintained a high quality," DeVilbiss said. He called Riverssance "the classiest festival in the whole area."
But the artwork is the main focus of Riverssance, and both Murdock and DeVilbiss said it's crucial to maintain the quality of the artists.
Murdock said 132 artists applied for 105 booth spots this year. Artists submitted four slides of their work and one slide showing how they might set up a booth, and they were judged in four areas: creativity, technique, materials, and how they used their materials. The jury included community members, arts administrators, and artists. "Jurors tend to look for consistency in the work, perhaps something a little different," Murdock said.
While many shows have a jury of one, MidCoast uses a group process. That way, a single juror's biases don't limit the range of work in a show. "You get more of a broad range," she said. Still, "only the best works come out."
For the festival's awards, judge Rob Lipnick will visit each booth on Saturday morning. Prizes total $3,000 with best in show getting $600 and 12 other artists receiving $200. "The artists really appreciate that sort of thing," DeVilbiss said.
Artist Liz Robertson said she and her husband applied to Riverssance last year because of a "good buzz about the quality of the show and the treatment of artists." The couple is back this year. "I liked the idea of artists doing a show for artists. ... All the facets are empathetic to our needs," she said.
DeVilbiss said that because Riverssance organizers have always included artists, the show is more artist-friendly than many. There are, for example, "art angels" who will man an artist's booth while he or she gets food or looks at other artists' work.
DeVilbiss added that in the long run, he would like to see Riverssance bring the number of artists "down to a little lower number, a little higher quality." The goal, he said, would be to help artists earn more from their efforts.
Admission to Riverssance is $2. For more information about the festival, visit (http://www.midcoast.org/riverssance.htm).
