An estimated 300 artists took part in this year’s Port Clinton Art Festival in downtown Highland Park with thousands of people attending.
“Art is a manifestation of your hopes, your dreams and sometimes your memories,” said Aurora artist Mays Mayhew, whose diptych piece “Headwinds Tailwinds” caused people to turn heads to view Mayhew’s booth. “My work is based on emotional narrative,” Mayhew said. “They’re all stories.”
Opening day weather was overcast to sunny for the consecutive two-day free weekend event starting on Saturday, Aug. 28.
“What makes this show so special is, I think, the people who come and support the arts; without them, we wouldn’t have the successful show that we have,” said Amy Amdur of Highland Park, president of Amdur Productions, a fine arts festival company Amdur founded in 1984.
This year’s event nonprofit beneficiaries were WINGS Program Inc., which serves people whose lives have been impacted by domestic violence, and PFLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy organization founded by friends and family of LGBTQ people. Visit https://pflag.org/findachapter/ and https://wingsprogram.com/.
Amdur said more musicians appeared this year on the festival’s three music stages.
“The other thing we’ve tried to develop over the past few years is our music, music stages, every two hours or so, it’s a different act,” Amdur said.
One musician, Allie Kessel of West Town in Chicago, sang “Jolene” in honor of recently deceased singer and writer Dolly Parton.
“Just feels good to pay tribute to her,” Kessel said about Dolly Parton.
Hearing about this, Amy Amdur said, “Art can be very soothing, helping you through a hard time.
“I love her voice,” Amdur added about Dolly Parton. “So beautiful.”
Down the midway from Allie Kessel’s stage was the booth of digital artist Jesse Kunerth of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who had an original portrait work of Dolly Parton for sale. The art piece is 18 by 24 inches, digital on wood, priced at $300.
Kunerth, who participated for the first time at the Port Clinton Art Festival, also offered Dolly Parton prints at $40 and sold several that Saturday. A lot of people stopped by Kunerth’s booth, asking, “Do you have Dolly?
“They bought it usually,” Kunerth said.
Why did Kunerth choose to include Dolly Parton in the inventory of celebrity portraits?
“Oh man, she’s a great person, does so much good work and just like her books that she mailed to kids, she’s just a good person,” Kunerth said, adding then about Parton’s death, “which is sad.”
Amy Amdur spoke of the show’s enduring vitality in honoring people like Parton, whose kindness and legacy have lasting worldly effects.
Amdur also spoke of July 4, 2022 of the Highland Park Independence Day parade shooting which took seven lives at Port Clinton Square with many injured.
“Art is important, but ever since the tragedy (of July 4, 2022), it’s even more important,” Amdur said.
But four years later, “Art is bringing everybody together.”
Visit https://amdurproductions.com/.
Karie Angell Luc is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
