Three Rivers Art Festival rolls on in Covington

It’s time to just go with the flow at the free 14th annual Three Rivers Art Festival. The juried show of arts and fine crafts will surge down Covington’s Columbia Street on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“This event has grown from 49 exhibitors and 6,000 attendees when I was coordinator for our first festival in 1997 to 200 juried artists and more than 50,000 attendees over the two-day event,” said Maria Burkhardt. “It is very impressive and gratifying to see the resulting growth and expansion of our arts community, the positive economic impact and the artistic educational opportunities for St. Tammany schoolchildren.”

Medias include fiber art, glass, woodwork, ceramics/pottery, metalwork and more.

This will be the fourth year that Michael Eddy of Covington has participated in Three Rivers. Eddy brings cast and polished concrete pieces that are inlayed with glass. His abstract sculptural pieces range from 4 inches to 8 feet tall.

Eddy started using this type of media when he was taking a sculpture class at Southeastern Louisiana University. He said he was introduced to working with concrete and learned of its versatility and how it could be used to make any type of organic, free-flowing form. He has exhibited his work at Jazz Fest for the past two years, as well as participated in festivals in Florida and Alabama. He also displays his sculpture in a New Orleans gallery.

“Three Rivers has always had a nice, relaxing atmosphere,” Eddy said. “It’s definitely a model for other festivals in regard to hospitality for the artists, in how they take care of them and give them assistance throughout the weekend. My very first experience in exhibiting was at Three Rivers and I got the ‘Best in Show’ Award, so I always enjoy coming back.”

A Louisiana artist creates stunning effects by combining the strength of concrete and the fragility of glass

Michael Eddy is a sculpture artist from Louisiana who works with two very opposite mediums. He blends concrete and colored glass into seamless works of art. Eddy refers to his chosen materials as an ironic pairing, stating that, “To understand glass in the same respect as concrete is to push the concept of fragility vs. strength.” His unique pieces focus on form, space and lighting and tend to have figurative meaning. Read the entire article here!

Here is a link to Jazz Fest’s home page: http://www.nojazzfest.com/

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival is one of the nation’s oldest, largest and most prestigious juried outdoor art festivals, consistently rated among the top shows by Sunshine Artist and American Style magazines. Each year more than 350,000 visitors enjoy the show. This year about 1,200 artists from around the world applied for entry and an independent panel of judges selected 225 national and international artists to attend the show.The National Endowment for the Arts, The White House, Congress and many others have lauded the Festival for promoting art and art education in Central Florida. An all volunteer board of directors runs the annual Festival, now celebrating its 51st year.

AWARDS

The artists compete for 62 awards totaling $67,500. Best of Show is $10,000. The Winter Park Sidewalk Art Festival Committee purchases the Best of Show art and donates it to the City of Winter Park. (All previous Best of Show winners are on permanent display at the Winter Park Public Library.) There are also 10 Awards of Excellence; each is $2,000. There are 20 Awards of Distinction; each is $1,000 and there are 30 Awards of Merit; each is $500. In addition, a $2,500 Award for a Distinguished Work of Art is presented through the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art.

White Concrete, stained glass, mirror

Brunner Gallery ( Covington,La.) has commissioned me to do two sculptures for the brand new Stone Creek and Spa. Stone Creek and Spa has given Brunner Gallery the honor of filling the entire club with artwork by local artist. It’s an exciting experience because it leads to more potential opportunities. I’m just now finishing up on the first sculpture and I expect to install it within the month. I’m now brainstorming on some new ideas for the second sculpture. They’re both very large sculptures and should be quite spectacular when the right lighting is applied. I’m thrilled to have something permanently placed, especially in an upscale club as this.  The landscaping around the club is unbelievable, which will eventually lead to more projects for more large scale sculpture.  Can’t wait to see where all this goes………..Check out the images of the 1st sculpture and look for my website www.stormeddy.com for more work.

The Arts Council of New Orleans is proud to announce that Arts Market of New Orleans artists received top honors at the Jazz & Heritage Festival this year. This year four awards of distinction were awarded to an Arts Market of New Orleans artist.

“My first Jazz Fest showing was an incredible success filled with good people, great background music, honors, and great weather,” Arts Market of New Orleans Artist Rebecca Rebouche said. The combination of music, food and fun provide one of the most spirited arts showcase in the South. Artists from across the nation compete for the limited space and honor of being selected as a Jazz Fest artist.

The Louisiana Marketplace comprises some of the state’s finest traditional and contemporary artists who display and sell hand-colored photographs, pine needle baskets, whimsical jewelry and other creations that evoke the state’s unique cultural history. Arts Market of New Orleans artists Sherryl Lutz and Ben Bullins both received top honors in this category.

The Contemporary Crafts artists section is a highly competitive and nationally-recognized juried showcase of artists from across the U.S. exhibiting handcrafted fine art and crafts. Contemporary Craft top distinctions were awarded to Arts Market of New Orleans artists Michael Eddy and Rebecca Rebouche. The occasion to showcase their work to a culturally-focused national audience offers our artists significant opportunity as evidenced by Rebouche’s near sell-out show and purchasers of Eddy’s work.

“I’m completely enveloped in opportunity at this point in my artistic career. The customers who purchased the most work were from New York City and Los Angeles,” Eddy said. “Having my work spread across the country, coast to coast, is a true opportunity for instant exposure and promotion. I’m looking forward to seeing what the future holds.”

Come out and congratulate these award-winning artists in person. Be the first to purchase new work by these award-winning artists at the Arts Market of New Orleans.