Small Stones Festival of the Arts announces winners this weekend
The Small Stones Festival of the Arts presents Juliet Feibel, executive director of ArtsWorcester, as the keynote speaker for the Festival’s live awards ceremony Oct. 23, 7 p.m.
The winning artists will be declared in the fine art painting and drawing and photography categories for first ($500); second ($250) and third ($100) place, juror choice and popular choice awards.
The public is welcome to join the free Zoom event by registering at http://smallstonesfestival.org
Feibel will discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the local arts community from a positive and negative perspective. A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Feibel has worked across nonprofit management, membership organizations, the arts and higher education. Leading ArtsWorcester since 2011, she previously served as director of education for the Ann Arbor Art Center and as associate director of Imagining America, a national arts and humanities project and worked for non-governmental organizations in Vietnam and Thailand.
Feibel participated as a juror in the fine arts painting and drawing category during the Festival’s 2018 inaugural year when three art associations — Apple Tree Arts, Worcester County Camera Club and the Blackstone Valley Art Association — collaborated to create a regional juried arts and music festival.
The 2020 Festival is newly envisioned to comply with pandemic safety requirements. In early October, the online exhibit opened and several fine art and photography live virtual talks were held.
Donna Dufault and Scott Erb of Erb/Dufault photography will present the basics of marketing for artist workshop Oct. 21. Juror talks with fine art juror Jim Welu, director emeritus of Worcester Art Museum and photography juror Ron Rosenstock, a renowned photographer are slated for Oct. 23. The Festival concludes Oct. 25 with an extraordinary piano concert with Stephen Drury who will perform Rzewki’s masterpiece “The People United Will Never Be Defeated” and the world premiere of “Apology” by Anthony Green.
A panel of six independent art professionals have curated the show. For this year only, the first 500 entries submitted have been displayed online. The jurors will select 144 pieces of artwork to be published in the Festival’s catalog as well the prize winners and juror choices. The Festival’s printed catalog may be purchased after October 23.
The mission of the Small Stones Festival of the Arts is to elevate the practice and appreciation of fine art and photography in the Blackstone Valley and beyond. The Festival is now under the aegis of a new sponsor, Grafton Arts, Inc., a newly formed nonprofit organization. For more information, visit https://smallstonesfestival.org. or contact Chair Ken Crater at ken@smallstonesfestival.org
