More inspiration--N.Charleston Arts Festival

I recently went with my daughter to the annual North Charleston Arts Festival, something I've dragged my kids to for years in hopes that they will embrace art in multiple forms. The Festival itself takes place over many days in many venues around town, but on the weekend they have a whole mess of arty stuff in one place with free admission and free parking and really, it's hard to beat for an afternoon's cultural enrichment.

There seemed to be fewer vendors this year, or maybe it was just set up differently--I think there were more vendors in the exhibit hall BEHIND the rock and mineral show, which frankly made no sense to me and seemed like poor planning on the part of the Festival.  If you're reading this, North Charleston Arts Dept, please put folks back out in the open so we don't miss anything!  Love you!

(I had hoped to run into Bean and Bug Babyknits or Thrifty Sister again, but if ya'll were there, I didn't see you!)

The first thing we saw when we walked in was this:

If you guessed Bangladeshi folk dancers, you were right.  In the 14 years I've lived in this area, this was my first Bangladeshi dancer sighting.  Very cool. And about time, don't you think?

And then there were "lamps" made from empty (liquor) bottles.  I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions.

There was a lot of gorgeous artwork and photography. Plus this painting of knitting--nice!

And antiques!  I love browsing through antiques.  These, however, were definitely "man"tiques. 

 Proof that art is subjective.

At first I was like, "Cement sheep!  We NEED one of these!" But as I have had occasion to look at this photo, I am reminded a bit too much of the Weeping Angels on Dr. Who and no, I shan't be acquiring a cement sheep now.  Nor will I be blinking...

I saved the best for last.  Talk about inspiration! I absolutely love the work of this year's Arts Fest Design Competition winner, Amiri Gueka Farris. This is "Lowcountry Soiree." These mixed media beauties are still on display at the Performing Arts Center, so if you're local, go! If you have any other chance to see his work, do it!  

There was much more--dance, music, puppets, magicians and a large dollop of people watching.  Plus, I had the satisfaction of knowing that I was immersing a kid in culture again, and that always makes me feel like a good mom.