By JULIE CARLE
BG Independent News
Imaginations run wild each year in the Kiwanis Youth Arts Village at the Black Swamp Arts Festival.
Not surprisingly, creativity and imagination know no age limits. That’s why Youth Arts Committee Chair Amanda Speer boldly states, “The projects are zero to 100-plus in ages, so anybody can just come to do youth arts, as individuals or together with kids and grandkids.”
All of the art is “choice-based rather than project-based,” she said, which was a change she helped former Youth Arts Chair Matt Reger implement about six years ago before she became committee chair.
“Today the art is more open-ended. Instead of saying, ‘We’re going to do salt paintings,’ why not just paint? Why not just grab wood and make what you want?” she said. “Here are the supplies. Be creative. That’s my philosophy.”
While she likes to offer new opportunities each year, she said there is one station that is a must-have every year.
“The hats will never go away,” she laughed. “It’s one of the original projects from the very beginning.”
And everyone—all ages— likes to come to make a hat.
“We have kids making pirate hats, adults making garden hats or men making baseball caps,” she said.
The other stations are:
- Tie-dye Shirts are another festival favorite to create tie-dye masterpieces, managed by volunteers from the BGSU Chapman Learning Community. T-shirts are $6 this year, increased by $1 to ensure the quality of the T-shirt will hold the dye, Speer said. “If you’re going to come and pay for a T-shirt, we want it to last,” she added.
- Wood Sculptures return this year for festival-goers to make a one-of-a-kind sculpture using fun wood pieces of all shapes and sizes.
- Mixed Media lets guests use all kinds of painting tools to create paintings unique to each artist.
According to Speer, youth arts averages between 900 and 1,200 people who come to make some kind of art during the festival.
That number is “pretty steady for us,” she said. “If it’s grown in the 33 years, it’s because the festival’s grown, and people want to come and bring their kids.”
From Speer’s perspective, the beauty of the Kiwanis Youth Arts Village is “it’s a lot less commercialized and more about the art,” she said. “I do it because I love the festival and what it represents. I love that it’s a little different than other youth arts events I’ve been to.”
With only the Bowling Green Kiwanis Club as a sponsor, the event is less commercialized and more about the art. She credits Ben’s for being a great source for many of the materials they use, including cardboard and the center of art mats for the painting station.
Youth Arts is located on Main Street at the north end of the festival near the Family Stage and the Wood County District Public Library. Hours are Saturday and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The reward of participating is that everybody gets to be a little creative.
“You don’t have to take a class, make the perfect painting or be this great artist. You just need to use your brain and your hands. That’s it. Come, have fun, make something. And bottom line, if you throw it away, who cares?”
A space dedicated to teens and Teen Arts
For young adults in the teen age range, a separate space on North Main Street near the Family Stage and Youth Arts, lets them try new techniques and mediums, be inspired, create and inspire others.
Erica Grossman, Teen Arts Committee chair, oversees the Chalk Art, Chalk Walk Competition and Beats on the Street, a musical competition for high school groups.
With seven years of planning under her belt (six years of actual festival thanks to COVID), Grossman enjoys seeing the art come together and the students having fun, whether with the chalk art or the musical acts.
“You can always see the love they have of music on their faces while they’re performing,” she said about the acapella groups’ performances.
This year’s theme for the Chalk Walk and Beats on the Street is “The Blended Two: Blending Two Genres into One.” Students from the participating schools must select two different artists (visual art or musical art) or two different genres and blend them into one piece, she explained.
For the Chalk Walk, students use the theme to decorate or chalk the space. Approximately five schools are participating in the competition.
Similarly, the musical groups must blend two music genres or artists to create one song. The same three schools were signed up this year at the time of the interview: Bowling Green, Maumee and Spencerville. She hoped to encourage at least one or two more schools to compete before the festival.
“I’m super excited to see, first of all, what types of art or what artists they pick, how they interpret those and then make them into their own masterpiece to celebrate the festival,” Grossman said.
She also has the pleasure of awarding money to each school that participates. “They get to take the money back and apply it directly to their choir or art room for supplies,” she explained.
The chalk artist Chris Fry, best known as “Chalk Goblin,” returns this year to amaze festivalgoers with his artistic chalk skills. He will be in the Teen Arts space from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Saturday.
“He’s an amazing artist who has come every year,” Grossman said. “And he always creates a unique design just for our festival that he puts down on the road right along with the high school work. So that will be super exciting to come out and look at.”
The high school students will begin their mural work on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Awards will be presented after the creations are made.
Robin Stanton Gerrow contributed to this article.
