MONMOUTH COUNTY – Hundreds of art enthusiasts and sellers braved the rain to make their way out to Thompson Park in Lincroft for the annual Creative Arts Festival hosted by the Monmouth County Park System.
The event itself featured around 50-60 different sellers, spread across two barns on the property and along the main pathway between them. To be a seller at the event, artists had to submit their art for review and receive approval from the event organizers to be vendors. A few of the different types of arts and crafts for sale included glass art, oil paintings, pottery, jewelry, animal drawings, landscape paintings, and artisan handbags.
The art on sale wasn’t the only art available for viewing, as the festival also had an art display for the MonmouthNJ 250 Art Show. The display featured several in-depth paintings themed after the Revolutionary War, some of which were artistic recreations of events that took place in the Monmouth County area. However, unlike the vendors at the event, this art was not for sale.
Musicians performed; people could watch or simply listen while they shopped. The musical performances were sponsored by Musicians on a Mission, a group of local musicians dedicated to giving back to their community. The different performances at the event included local acts such as Dan Toye, Cranston Dean, Brian Molnar, Carolann Solebello, Pat Guadagno, and The May Darlings. Although they did not collect any money from hosting this event other than tip jar donations, all of the proceeds raised through their various events that they run themselves go to local charities based in the Monmouth County area.
In front of the stage where the musical acts performed, the event had several tables where those who got something to eat from the food trucks could sit down, eat, and enjoy the musical performances on stage. The various trucks that attended the event included Babushkas Kitchen, La Sirina, and JerseyJuiceCo.
The event also featured several art educational demonstrations, some of which allowed for a hands-on experience. The art demonstrations included a sculpture demonstration, arts and crafts for kids, a portrait demonstration, and a presentation on how to make wire-wrapped jewelry. The portrait demonstration was put on by Kristin Kung, a local painter who focuses on contemporary realism and creating scenes of domestic life that feel both familiar and complex at the same time.
In addition to the presentations, they also held a pottery throwdown, which was a pottery competition where a few students competed against each other to create a work of art that was then judged by the instructors.
One of the main organizers of the event was Christina Carlson, a representative of the Monmouth County Parks System. According to Carlson, this event was put on just to give the public a space to experience and appreciate art in person, and to give something back to the community.
The festival was supposed to have even more to offer than what it did, however some events had to be canceled due to the rain. For example, an outdoor sculpture demonstration was supposed to take place, but had to be canceled. According to Carlson, they would see several thousand people walk through the festival on a clear day; however, despite the rain, the event still had a solid turnout compared to what they were expecting when they heard the weather report.
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