Austin ArtWorks Festival

We went to the 15th annual Austin ArtWorks Festival last weekend. It was a nice fair…your typical pop-up canopy tents set up in an open area of downtown, with lots artists displaying their different forms of artwork: painting, photography, glassworks, ceramics, and jewelry. It was fun to walk around to see it all.

There were food trucks of course, and a small area set aside for local author’s talk, but what was different from other art fairs I’ve been to was an area designated for kids. They had a few craft tables set up for kids of all ages to try printing, calligraphy, painting. Plus, there were two activities that were unique and stood out.

A car was parked on the road and one could line up to get paint and a brush to paint on the car, or one could choose a small bucket of paint to the throw on the car. Kids had fun doing this unusual activity. (I wondered if it was washable paint and if the car could be cleaned afterwards …I hope so.)

The other fun project was a young woman chalked a large mandala on the street and offered colored chalk for kids to color in the different areas of the mandala. I was the first kid (the big kid in me) to color in a star. I thought this was a great idea…the chalk will eventually wash away in the rain, but for a few days it will decorate a street in downtown Austin.

It was inspiring to see these creative ideas helping to get children involved in art…