Organizers pleased by turnout harvested by local arts festival
Five days of culture features film, music, art

By David Shipley
NB Telegraph-Journal | Saint John
As published on page B3 on September 26, 2005

Showcasing the diverse talent of young artists in the city and drawing crowds into the uptown were two of the goals of the Harvesting the Arts Festival, which wrapped up over the weekend.

Organized by the arts and culture and international committees of Fusion, a local networking group for people under 40, the festival brought together several different arts and culture events under one promotional banner.

The festival featured five days of events such as the Continental Drift International Short Film Festival, local independent music shows, an exhibition of emerging artists at the New Brunswick Museum and Market by the Sea.

"The biggest part of it was to bring people into the uptown Saint John area and also to expose a lot of new and emerging talent," said Holly McKay, chair of Fusion's arts and culture committee and an organizer of the festival.

"We want to promote arts, culture and diversity in Saint John because we want people to know the talent and potential that lies in the city," said Simone Fernandes, also an organizer and chair of the international committee.
Ms. Fernandes said organizers were "extremely pleased" with the number of people attracted by the festival events.

The festival is just one sign that there's more going on in the city than many people realize, said Ms. Fernandes. "The one thing that I really don't like to hear from people from this area is that there is nothing going on, because there is so much going on," said Ms. McKay.
It's a festival they'd like to see continue next year, said Ms. McKay.

A light breeze and a warm sun welcomed hundreds of people who strolled along the Market Square boardwalk browsing among the collected works of local painters, sculptors, photographers, crafters, cartoonists and cooks Saturday.

On display were artwork and goods such as pencil sketches, handmade crafts, jewelry, photography and exotic foods.

While people browsed, musician Karen Palmer sang and played guitar on the boardwalk stage, performing upbeat folk tunes.

At one table near the stage, Chinese students from the University of New Brunswick in Saint John displayed paper origami cutouts and showed curious onlookers what their English names looked like in Mandarin.

Next to their table Alison Gayton, also from UNBSJ, watched with a smile as children shaped animals out of clay.

A potter with eight years of experience, she wrote down contact information for their children's parents so they could pick up the finished sculpture after it had gone through the kiln.

"It's super great, I learn more from them than they do from me," she said. "They look at things in a completely original way."

Further down the boardwalk artist Steve Zainoz said he was glad for an opportunity to show off his pencil sketches and computer-generated images. Mr. Zainoz, originally from New York, moved to the city a year ago.
A self-taught visual artist, he's been drawing for 10 years, he said.

Market by the Sea provides the opportunity to get art out in the city that's a little less conservative, he said. Kennebecasis Valley resident Patrick Grannan said he was impressed with Saturday's festival. He found about it from a relative and took in the sights and sounds and smell of local artists.

"I think this is great for Saint John," he said. "It brings people uptown and it creates a little buzz."