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Taste of the Arts 2015

Annual event happens downtown on Saturday, August 29

By Eddie Torres

Fort Wayne Reader

2015-08-23

Now in its 7th year, Taste of the Arts has rapidly become one of Fort Wayne’s most popular festivals with its unique blend of music, dance, theatre, film and artists, demonstrating a huge variety of styles and talent from Fort Wayne, along with dozens of local restaurants serving a cornucopia of food choices.

A few highlights of the 2015 edition of Taste of the Arts include…

Eleven Stages of Entertainment
The addition of a Downtown Improvement District stage (see the Buskerfest Rain Check) pushes the number of performance venues up to 11 this year — theater, dance, music, and art in all their variety.

Artlink’s Wet Paint
For Artlink’s annual Wet Pain fundraiser, over 20 top local artists set up their easels around the festival and create work “on the spot.” Silent bids may be made all day in Artlink's gallery, but most of the bidding will take place after the artists bring their wet artwork to Artlink at 2PM. Bidding ends at 3PM, and winners can take their wet masterpieces home. All proceeds from the Wet Paint Auction support Artlink's programming.

Artlink Member Show
Artlink’s most popular exhibit, the Annual Member show, featuring over 200 works by local artists, is on display in the gallery during Taste of the Arts 2015. The Member Show is a great visual representation of the area’s diverse artist community. Also, Taste attendees can see M.Y.O. (My, Yours, Ours) an exhibit of photographs by Palermo Galindo in the Betty Fishman Gallery.

Fort Wayne Museum of Art
During Taste of the Arts, the museum will have free admission to the main galleries, with optional access to the Summer of Glass for $5.

Main Galleries include the exhibits: America’s Spirit: Evolution of a National Style, Steve Linn and Robert Schefman, Invisible College, Frogman’s Print Workshop, and Babette Bloch: Steel Garden.

Summer of Glass exhibition includes: 43rdInternational Studio Glass Invitational Award Winners, Christina Bothwell: Spirit into Matter, and Chihuly: Legend and Legacy. More information about each exhibit can be found at fwmoa.org

The History Center
The History Center will also have free admission from 9am-5pm during Taste of the Arts with their portable jail cell outside the building as a fun selfie photo booth.

Bike Valet
Fort Wayne Trails will offer Bike Valet service for the festival again this year near Freimann Square. Leave your bike in a safe place while you enjoy Taste of the Arts. The bike valet closes before dark.

Cinema Center
Cinema Center will host a Lexicon of Sustainability pop-up event at 5pm with light local fare, desserts, beer and wine. This event will also include 2 screenings of the Janet Katz film "From Fencerows To Foodsheds", at 6 and 8 PM. Admission is $10.

EVENING ACTIVITIES DURING DESSERT, THE TASTE OF THE ARTS AFTER PARTY

After 7 p.m., the festival transitions into an evening mode with a half dozen restaurants, along with food trucks Vietnummy, Who Cut the Cheese and others serving into the evening. Several stages continue too with the Old Crown Brass Band, Alicia Pyle Quartet, Kinetic Dance, Hope Arthur Orchestra and more in the Arts Campus. At the nearby Barr Street stage, WBOI’s Meet the Music live concert will be hosted by radio host Julia Meek featuring Secret Mezzanine, Soft and Heavy and the Sweetwater All-Stars. At 9 p.m., local fire dancing troup Pyroscope takes the stage.


BuskerFest “rain check”

Things got a little… damp at this year’s BuskerFest. But acts that were rained out earlier this summer will get their chance to shine on stage. The Downtown Improvement District and Arts United have partnered to provide a special stage located just East of the Auer Center for Arts and Culture on Main Street and promise a fantastic day of entertainment. BuskerFest performers including Rusty Ammerman’s Dimension of Illusion, Fort Wayne Taiko, the Thurgood Marshall Leadership Academy Steppers and many more will be sure to please.

In addition to the highlighted entertainment, buskers will mix and mingle among the 40 activity-rich booths around Freimann Square. See street drummers, dancers, musicians, caricature artists, magicians, jugglers, stilt walkers, and more. Professional performers from T.A.G. Art will join in, as well as professional living statues “Country Boy Fountain” and “Marie Antoinette”. Interactive performers will include fortune tellers, balloon artists, and face painters.

For a full entertainment schedule, lists of participating restaurants, and to purchase food and drink tickets early, visit artsunited.org.