The City of O’Fallon Arts Commission will be hosting the second annual “Art in the Park” fine arts Festival on October 2, 2004 at City Park. The one-day Festival begins at 11 a.m. and will feature hands-on Visual Art activities (that relate to famous artists such as Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse, Pollack, Mondrian) and demonstrations by area artists (sculpture, painting, pottery). The focus of the festival is the “process” of art and furthering appreciation and exposure of the arts to all ages. Activities have been planned and selected to appeal to every age group for this family-oriented event. Free admission; most activities are free or under $1.
Some of the performing arts portion of the Festival will include Joe Wos illustration “A Drawing Performance in Action”, Annette Harrison storytelling (“A Child’s-eye view of the 1904 World’s Fair), the OTHS Madrigal Choir, and showcase performances by area dance studios, Broadway Kids and Day Six.
Theatrical arts include a free movie, “Meet me in St. Louis” that will be shown at 8 p.m. on a 23-foot screen to audiences seated on the park lawn. This theme commemorates the 100th anniversary of the 1904 World’s Fair, itself the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase/Lewis & Clark Expedition. An amateur Celebrity Look-Alike Contest at 6:30 p.m. is open to children, adults and groups for characters dead or alive, real or imaginary. You may enter the contest by calling 618.624.0139. “Surprise performances by professional look-alikes (perhaps “Winona Judd”, “Johnny Cash”, “Donna Summer”) will provide a grand finale to the entertainment. A gigantic inflatable movie-theme slide, face-painting and life-size movie character cut-outs for photo fun will be available. Some booths offer the chance to make your own musical instruments, color your own t-shirt with the festival logo, or make your own music with festival kazoos!
The culinary arts will also be featured with local restaurants providing a “Taste of O’Fallon”, with their ala carte specialties on sale.
An Opening Ceremony will feature local first-graders singing the National Anthem. A large-scale community art project will be created by citizens, and donations received from the participants will be used to purchase a permanent sculpture for a local park.
The O’Fallon Historical Society will display local artifacts from the 1904 era and the World’s Fair, as well as memorabilia of O’Fallon native, Academy-award-winning actor William Holden.
The concept of the Festival was created to not only bring more arts opportunities to O’Fallon, but also to showcase the local talent.
"The Art Festival presents an opportunity for O'Fallon residents to showcase their talents as well as an opportunity for all residents to experience the performing, visual and culinary arts that make O'Fallon a great City in which to live and work", stated Mayor Gary L. Graham.
