A local art festival made its debut Sunday, providing Columbia and the rest of Monroe County with an opportunity to see a collection of visual artists as well as dancing, singing and other artistic talents from their neighbors.

Arts in the Park was largely developed by three locals, Marcia Braswell with the Monroe County Arts Alliance, City of Columbia Community Relations Coordinator Marla Rose and Patti French with the Eppinger Foundation.

Braswell provided an overview of how the event came to be from the perspective of the Arts Alliance, which has organized a number of artistic showcases over the years, one of the newer annual events being the Chalk-A-Lot in Waterloo.

As she described, the Alliance – of which Braswell is a board member alongside French – has been looking to start up a substantial event outside of Waterloo, as it is a county-wide organization.

Looking to set something up in Columbia, folks with the Arts Alliance particularly wanted to showcase dance as an artistic medium that hasn’t seen much representation in the area.

“We just were talking about ideas a bit and thought it would be really good to try to emphasize dance as part of it because that’s one area that we don’t have as much exposure to in Monroe County,” Braswell said. “We also have felt that there really wasn’t any kind of event any more since Art on the Bluffs was no longer taking place, there really wasn’t any kind of event in Monroe County that showcased multiple artists at one time.”

As Braswell recalled, recently retired Monroe County Commissioner Dennis Knobloch recommended getting in touch with Rose given her position and connection in the city.

On Rose’s end, she said she’d been interested in getting an art event running in the city since she began her career in Columbia, similarly lamenting the loss of Arts on the Bluff.

“One of the things when I came first into my role with the city was that I really wanted to bring back an arts event,” Rose said. “I grew up going to Art on the Bluffs, and then Historic Main Street took it over, and I always enjoyed that event… It stopped happening for whatever reason, and I just feel like a lot of people missed it, and it was one of those things that just brought a community together.”

The three wound up meeting and discussing the event idea, finding, as Rose said, they all had the same vision and goals.

“A lot of planning went into it,” Braswell said. “At the start of the year the whole process started, so we’ve been meeting pretty consistently since then.”

Rose further explained that the event wound up coming together as Braswell and French with the Arts Alliance had numerous connections to local artists while she was able to make use of her resources and connections within the city.

The Eppinger Foundation, French explained, played a major role in the event’s funding, being the sole funding agent outside of the city’s contributions.

Arts in the Park took place Sunday morning and well into the afternoon at Metter Park, with folks gathering around the stage and pavilions for a number of attractions.

Central to the event were numerous performances at both the central pavilion and the nearby stage which had been rented for the event.

Among those on the event schedule were the Singers Company, Monroe Actors Stage Company, Premiere Dance Company and several others.

Near the stages, a sidewalk in the park was lined with artists of all kinds. Various painters, sculptors, woodworkers and others sold some of their pieces to interested guests or talked about doing commissioned works in the future.

Young artists were also recognized at the event, as the park’s bandstand was full of paintings, sculptures and other pieces done by students from all four high schools in the county, with the schools’ art teachers coordinating with event organizers or students simply bringing their works to the event themselves.

Particularly young artists also got a chance to shine as one of the park’s pavilions had space for children to draw and color throughout the day.

The event also featured a number of vendors, providing guests with plenty of food and drinks throughout the day.

While plenty of folks were in attendance through the day, the morning’s weather initially posed a threat. Rose recalled organizers setting things up in the rain, though the day was ultimately successful.

“We all just kind of trusted that it was just gonna come together,” Rose said. “We really believed it was gonna come together, and the sun came out, the crowd came, the performers were amazing. The artists, from what we heard, had a great time and really enjoyed just the vibe that was in Metter Park.”

French also had good things to say following the event.

“I think the day was fabulous,” French said. “Probably couldn’t have been any better for the first year… I was thrilled. I think all three of us were really happy. We would meet each other in the park and we would go ‘Look at the crowd! I think this is a really good day!’”

Braswell, too, remarked on how the event wound up coming together, likewise noting some of the positive feedback organizers received from those in attendance.

“I think all of us were very pleased with it as a first-time event and very happy with the response that we received from our member groups and participants but also from the people attending,” Braswell said. “We had lots and lots of positive comments and lots of interest.”

As previously mentioned, the event featured a number of artists who set up booths in the park.

One of these artists was watercolorist Christina Gilchrist, who was born and raised in St. Louis but has lived in Columbia for about six years, currently working at State Bank while being “an artist by night.”

She described interest in painting and art in general her whole life, though she wound up developing an interest in watercolors in recent years.

Gilchrist said she specializes in portraits, including families. She’s also done some pictures of folks and their beloved classic cars, though her particular niche has become pet photography, providing folks with a permanent memory of their furry friend.

Regarding Arts in the Park, Gilchrist said she had a rather positive experience, with a lot of folks looking into getting a pet portrait done in the near future.

“I thought it was a wonderful day,” Gilchrist said. “I met so many really great people. I also have a lot of future commission work that I was able to drum up from the conversations that I had with folks.”

Gilchrist can be reached at 314-616-6097 or christinagilchrist22@yahoo.com. She can also be found at her website, christinagilchristwatercolorist.com.

Nancy Lowery Weck was another artist at the event, showcasing ceramics alongside some of her daughter’s paintings.

She recalled pursuing an art degree in college, focusing specifically in ceramics and even earning a Master of Fine Arts in the field.

Weck said she’s worked part-time at Southwestern Illinois College, also attending art shows. Weck explained she enjoys taking artistic inspiration from local nature and is especially drawn to ceramics as she enjoys working directly with her hands.

“I always seem to be getting my fingers into things, and in oil painting that’s not a great thing,” Weck said. “I like to garden too, which has some similarities. I can’t keep my gloves on. I guess I’m just very tactile, and I like form rather than just a flat image.”

Weck also spoke positively about Sunday’s event, describing how she was able to get a decent amount of attention from guests even as the crowd was fairly modest compared to some of the larger shows she’s attended in the past.

Those interested in Weck’s work can contact her at 618-363-7418 or postoakpottery@gmail.com. She can also be found on Instagram at @postoakpottery.

Liam Brauer served as one of the woodworkers displaying at Metter Park with his business 12 Pound Concepts.

His interest in woodworking developed as a child. He recalled flying up to spend a week with his grandfather in Minnesota as a kid, taking a baseball bat and some other trinkets they’d made home with him.

Brauer said he’s focused on functional pieces, from bowls to gardening tools. With his lathe in his basement, he described how he likes to go spend plenty of time downstairs only to come up with a finished piece he can feel proud of.

“I like being able to go down with a chunk of wood and come back with a finished piece,” Brauer said. “I walk downstairs with a random hunk of wood, I spend a couple hours down there looking at it, spinning it, turning it, and I come up with something that’s finished and looks beautiful and is functional.”

He, too, spoke positively about the event, saying it served as a great opportunity for his business to get plenty of foot traffic while he was also able to meet with several other creatives.

Brauer can be reached at 618-340-9093 or 12poundconcepts@gmail.com. He can also be found on Instagram at @12poundconcepts.

Looking ahead, Braswell, Rose and French each spoke hopefully about Arts in the Park returning in the future, with event organization being refined as they hear more feedback from artists and other folks who attended.

They each noted how successful the event was even in its first year, and Braswell expressed a particular hope for this event and others to continue and succeed going forward.

“Monroe County has a wealth of artistic participation,” Braswell said. “It’s really gratifying to see, and I hope people continue to support the arts in whatever form.”

For more information on future art showcases and events from members of the Monroe County Arts Alliance, visit monroecountyarts.org.