By DAVID DUPONT
BG Independent News
The Black Swamp Arts Festival bounced back with a weekend that left thousands happy.
“It went great,” said Amy Craft Ahrens, who chairs the concessions committee. “There was definitely pent up demand. People were happy to be out and enjoying the festival again. The crowds were great. … Everybody had a blast.”
The festival returned after it was canceled last year because of the pandemic.
Because of that, it was hard to anticipate what would happen this year. “The festival had an amazing weekend. We have heard amazing stories from all our vendors, our food vendors and artists. They had an amazing weekend.”
On Saturday night there very little seating to be had in city lot 2 which is transformed into the outdoor concert venue. The crowd steadily built from Suzanne Santo’s set of cut-to-the-bone alternative rock until the closing performer bluesman Cedric Burnside who held the audience’s attention with just his guitar before being joined by a drummer.
Craft Ahrens said, there was some concern because of the resurgence in infections. “It’s an outside event, so there’s a little bit less concern there,” she said. “We had a little bit of luck. It was a breezy weekend – 25 mph winds, do help when you have a lot of people in one place. It helped alleviate it a bit, and quite a few people were in masks.”
Floyd Craft reported that traffic in Ben’s which he owns was as heavy as ever on a festival weekend. As a founder of the festival, he takes pride in its endurance.
Some people say the city needs more events like this, he said, but they don’t take into consideration how much work the festival takes to stage.
“It looks like the community came out to support it and celebrate the arts together,” said Jamie Sands, who chairs the committee of volunteers that has staged the event since its inception in 1993.
The festival faced difficulties after last year’s cancellation. But additional financial support from the community and grants, including $35,000 from Arts Midwest, helped.
That money, she said, “went directly to the arts.” The funds paid for performers, artists at work participants, and guest chalk artist Chris Fry.
Gretchen Rohm, of Visual Arts, said artists were reporting excellent sales, and many made a point of saying they hoped they could come back.
Thomas Gelsanliter, of One Acre Ceramics, said that after people spent a year inside their homes, they decided to redesign, and were looking for new accessories, such as the tiles he was selling. “We’re just riding the wave,” he said of himself and his fellow artists.
Down the street where the future artists were playing in the Youth Arts Village, Amanda Speers, who co-chairs the youth art committee, said they went through 1,000 weaving looms and a 1,000 shirts for tie-dying on Saturday. The area was busy throughout only slowing down later Sunday afternoon.
Because of the uncertainty over how many would turn out, the village offered a couple fewer activities. No one complained, Speers said.
Three young artists from Bowling Green State University were finding inspiration in the juried art show Sunday afternoon.
As part of their art foundations course, the three first-year students were required to attend arts events.
But Charlie DiFranco, an aspiring animator, said it is also “nice being in a college community with things to do to like this in walking distance.”
He was conducting a deep dive into a painting of Frank Zappa by Best of Show winner Said Oladejo-Lawal, analyzing the artist’s brushstrokes.
Jaydin DeLand, who is interested in drawing comic books, came down on Saturday as well as Sunday. He admired the metal work, such as an artisan who crafted knives from recycled materials, such as railroad ties. A large-scale sculpture of a sailing ship also caught his eye.
“The paintings were especially inspiring,” said Kirk Perry, who is studying graphic design. He admired the way painters could focus in on one aspect of scene, letting the rest fade in the background.
DiFranco said he has been pleased what he has found in Bowling Green since his arrival. He had thought of it as a more of a sports-oriented campus.
“The amount of art-centric stuff not just in the school but in the community is amazing.”
