Kirin Mackey, 5 years old. (Photo: Artis Mooney)
By Artis Mooney
alexandrianews.org
On Saturday, Oct. 4, Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray was open to pedestrian traffic only for the 13th annual “Art On The Avenue,” a regional multicultural arts and music festival that took place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Dave Greksouk of The Reserves. (Photo: Artis Mooney)
While the nation is definitely feeling economic woes, that did not impact the overall success of this year’s festival, as people came out by the 10s of thousands to enjoy a feast for eyes, ears, and stomachs. There was a wide variety of contemporary arts and crafts, music performances all day on four different stages, visual and performing arts demonstrations, and the 4th annual homemade pie-baking contest.
Rebecka Boyd, jewelry-maker. (Photo: Artis Mooney)
There were tons of children’s activities, including the
Heather Hulen of Heather’s Clay Cats has a home studio and kiln in Ashburn, VA. She uses coil and slab techniques to build most of her pieces. (Photo: Artis Mooney)
ever-popular ‘Make a Scarecrow’, Bike Rodeo for Safe Bicycling sponsored by Bike Walk Alexandria, fingerprinting sponsored by the Sheriff’s office, a Musical Instrument Petting Zoo presented by T. C. Williams High School Orchestra, moon bounce, face painting, paper lotus flowers by Potomac
“Deep Seated Futility” by Marty Jenkins. Jenkins’ work “seems to appeal to subversive-types, chicks, punk-rockers, musicians, conspiracy-theorists, and other artists.” (Photo: Artis Mooney)
Zen Sangha, and pumpkin painting. Vendors came from near and far, and while a few did say that it was a bit slow for them this year,
Jim Shively looks over a birdhouse and decides to make the purchase. The maker, Travis Tinsman of Butler, TN, was almost sold out by mid-afternoon. Tinsman’s pieces are made from materials gathered from the mountains near his home. (Photo: Artis Mooney)
plenty of artists and craftsmen were doing quite well, including some who were almost sold out by around 2 p.m.
Click here and follow the Recent Events link for more Art on the Avenue.