Staff Reports
This weekend is that special time in June where Allentown closes its streets and opens its arms to thousands of people, and Father’s Day might just have to take a back seat to the Allentown Art Festival, the area’s most prominent art festival.
This year marks the 51st annual festival. The festival is sponsored by the Allentown Village Society Inc., a not-for-profit group of volunteers. Not only is the festival a place for art fans to appreciate the creations on display and possibly purchase a piece or two, it is also a place where artists are awarded cash prizes and scholarships are awarded to Erie County high school students.
In 2006, artists raked in $21,275 in award money, according to the festival’s Web site. In that same year, $20,000 were awarded for scholarships to eight Erie County high school students to attend the New York State Summer School for the Arts. Also, 10 percent of the gross profit from the festival in 2006 went to the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo and is expected to be used for future art scholarships.
The Allentown Art Festival features 11 art categories: painting, watercolor, drawing and graphics, sculpture, photography, mixed media, clay, jewelry, glass, hard creative crafts and soft creative crafts. The variety of categories is matched with the amount of artists participating, with more than 400 exhibitors on hand.
According to the festival’s Web site, new content at this years art festival will include creations from Buffalo public school students. The exhibit is scheduled to appear under the tents at the northeast corner of Delaware Avenue and Edward Street. The exhibits were created after taking lessons from teachers in the Buffalo public school system.
Festival organizers did not return calls seeking comment.
IF YOU GO
* WHAT: Allentown Art Festival
* WHEN: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
* WHERE: Between North Street, Main Street, Virginia Street and Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo
* MORE INFORMATION: Visit allentownartfestival.com
